Plan the photoshoot
from moodboard to shot list.

Storyflow is the best fit when the plan has to travel from references to the shoot day: the brief, moodboard, shot list and call sheet share one canvas, the AI drafts each from the step before, and the client opens the plan from a link. StudioBinder is stronger for crewed productions that need tracked call sheet confirmations. Pinterest remains the best place to find references.

It should settle the look: light, location, styling, hair and makeup, posing and colour, each reference captioned with what you are borrowing from it. Keep the research pile in a folder and only committed references on the board. Get the look approved before the list is written. In Storyflow the AI can gather a first set for you to cut, on the same canvas as the shot list.

Write the setup each approved reference implies: subject, framing, light, wardrobe look and the crop it must cover. A pose reference might become three setups and a colour reference none. Order the list by light and by wardrobe changes, then mark the must-gets. In Storyflow, select the references and ask the AI for a shot list; it builds a shot card for each, with the image as its frame, for you to cut, merge and reorder.

Each line is one setup: a camera and lighting position, not a look. Note the subject, framing, light, wardrobe look, props, the crop it must deliver and whether it is a must-get, with the reference it came from, since 'window light portrait' means different things until people see it. Order the lines the way the day will run. In Storyflow the AI can build the list as shot cards, each carrying its frame.

A few days is usually enough for a simple portrait session; allow two to four weeks for a styled or commercial shoot with talent, a stylist and a location that needs permission. Location permission and wardrobe sourcing are what slip, so start them first and let the shot list keep evolving. In Storyflow a table with person, date and status cells tracks each prep task, so a late permission is visible before it moves the shoot.

The date, general call time and first setup, the schedule in blocks to wrap, each person's call time and phone number, the location address with parking and access, and the looks in shooting order. Add weather and daylight times for outdoor work, and who to call if something goes wrong. Storyflow's Call Sheet PDF builds the sheet from the board, readable on a phone, and leaves any missing detail visibly blank rather than guessing.

Ask for sign-off twice, on the look and then on the shot list, and never on the day. Send the moodboard first, since changing the mood after the list exists means rewriting both. Then send the shot list with the must-gets and crops marked, so the client approves what they will receive. In Storyflow the client opens the board from a view-only link with no account, and signs in to comment on a specific reference or setup.

Plan it look by look. Each look gets a cluster: garments and accessories, hair and makeup, poses, light and the location or set, with the changes between looks noted, since hair and makeup changes shape the schedule. Build the shot list per look with the must-gets first, and put the running order of looks on the call sheet. Storyflow keeps each look's references beside its setups, so the stylist, hair and makeup artist and model read one board.

It can draft the plan, and the photographer should decide it. Storyflow's AI reads the board, so it can set out a brief from the client's email, gather a first set of references, write a shot list against the images you select and build a call sheet from the schedule. It cannot know your taste or how the location looks at four in the afternoon. AI image generation is on the Pro and Max plans.

Not yet. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. A client or crew member with a view-only link opens the plan with no account. If you need something free today, a shared folder and a spreadsheet shot list will carry a small shoot.

The shot list gets written from memory, so the day covers the wrong frames. The crops were never agreed, so the hero image does not fit the banner. Hair and wardrobe changes were not sequenced, so the schedule collapses by lunch. And the client first sees the look on set. Storyflow keeps each fix on one board: the list written from the moodboard, crops in the brief, looks ordered on the call sheet, sign-off by link.