Event Photography Shot Checklist and Coverage Counter

How do you build an event shot list from the timeline?

Start with the planner's run sheet or the client's schedule, not with a generic list from the internet. Go down the timeline and, for each block, write the fixed moments that happen in it, the groups that become possible in it, and the coverage that is easiest to get during it. Table settings are easiest before guests sit down. Exterior shots are easiest in the last good light. Family groups are easiest straight after the ceremony, while everyone is still in one place.

In Counter App, create one counter for the event, named with the client and date so it is easy to find later. Use the counter's description for the planner's name and phone number, and the link field for the shared shot list if the client sent one. If you shoot a lot of events, a nested category such as "Events > Weddings > 2026" keeps the counter list from becoming a wall of names. Categories go three levels deep, take their own colors and can be pinned, so the current season sits on top.

One tag per checklist item

Inside the event counter, add one tag per item, in timeline order. Tag order matters more than people expect: when the list on screen follows the order of the day, the next item is always near the top of your attention.

Colors carry the three kinds at a glance. One possible scheme is red for fixed moments, blue for groups and green for coverage, but any consistent choice works. The important thing is that you can glance at the screen in a dark reception room and see immediately whether the gaps are red, blue or green.

Name tags the way you would shout them across a room. "Rings" beats "Exchange of rings (ceremony, front angle)". The longer detail belongs in the tag's notes, where it is available when you need it and invisible when you do not. A tag can also carry a location, which is helpful when the ceremony and reception happen at different addresses and the second shooter needs to know where the sparkler exit will be.

Targets, alerts and auto-lock

Targets turn a list of names into a list of progress bars. Set them per kind.

• Fixed moments: target 1. The tag either moved or it did not. One tap means "I have a frame I trust".
• Groups: target 2 or 3. Use the target to mean usable frames, so you only tap when you have checked for closed eyes and turned heads. Two clean frames of a twelve-person group give you a safety margin for retouching.
• Coverage: a modest number. Eight table details, five exterior views, twelve dance floor candids. These are your floors, not your ceilings.

When a tag reaches its target, an optional sound or vibration confirms it. For fixed moments, auto-lock on target is the feature that earns its place: once the ring exchange is captured, that tag locks itself and cannot be bumped while you scramble for the recessional. For coverage tags, leave auto-lock off, because you will often keep shooting past the target when the light is good.

Counting with the camera in both hands

For most of an event, both your hands belong to the camera. Counter App can count with the phone's volume keys, also in the background and on the lock screen, through a foreground service. It is off by default; turn it on in settings, choose which key adds and which subtracts, and give each key its own sound or vibration so you know what you pressed without looking. Some devices may still show the system volume bar when you press.

Test the behaviour at home before the event: open the counter in the view you will use, lock the screen, press the keys and check in the history which tag received the counts. Knowing that in advance means you never have to guess at the reception whether a press landed on the right item.

There is also a lock-screen notification with minus, plus and Stop buttons. If an assistant is following you with the phone and logging for you, the notification is often faster than unlocking the screen.

Timers for planner-timed segments

Planners love timed segments: ten minutes with the couple during golden hour, five minutes for the bridal party on the stairs, three minutes for the sponsor wall before the doors open. Every tag on a shoot also carries a separate timer and stopwatch. Choose a preset (30 seconds, 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 minutes) and start it on the tag for that segment. Countdown beeps warn you as the end approaches, and you can pick an alarm sound and vibration that cut through a noisy room.

The stopwatch is useful the other way round. Running it during family formals tells you how long the sequence really took, which is information you can feed back into the next client's timeline.

How do you check for missing shots at each break?

Most events contain built-in pauses: the cocktail hour, the gap between courses, the band changeover, the moment the speeches end and the dance floor has not filled yet. Treat every pause as a gap check.

Open the counter in list view and look only for items at zero or below target. Then open the dashboard, which shows the counter's total against target, per-tag progress and a pie chart of where your counts have gone. A pie chart dominated by candids while the group tags are thin is a clear signal to change priorities.

A few working rules make the gap check decisive:

1. Fixed moments at zero after they have happened are lost. Note them for the client conversation and move on.
2. Groups at zero by the second break need action now. Find the coordinator, name the people, ask for five minutes.
3. Coverage below target goes on your list for the next quiet patch, ordered by which light it needs.

The check should take less than a minute. If it takes longer, the list is too long or the tags are badly named.

Notes and reference photos for the edit

Context evaporates between the event and the edit. Notes on count events catch it while it is fresh: "man in navy suit is the bride's godfather", "speech two shot from the side, front blocked by the AV desk", "flowers on table 6 were the bride's grandmother's". The All Notes screen gathers every note from the counter in one sortable list, so the edit starts with a briefing instead of guesswork.

Each tag can also hold up to six photos. A phone snapshot of the seating plan, the couple's handwritten list of family groupings or the sponsor logo sheet fits naturally on the relevant tag. The built-in photo editor lets you draw with a brush, add text in several fonts and colors, and rotate the image, so you can circle the two cousins who must not stand next to each other or mark the order of a line-up.

Reading the history after the event

The history log records every count with its exact time, the value before and after, the tag and icons for any attached note, photo or location. After an event this log is more useful than it first looks.

It gives you the true order of coverage, which helps when you build a story-ordered gallery. It shows where coverage was thin, for example a forty-minute stretch with no taps during dinner. And it shows mistakes you corrected on the night, because a minus step is logged just like a plus step. If the client later asks whether the cake cut was photographed before or after the speeches, you have a timestamp rather than a memory.

Exports, backups and the next event

When the event is finished, export the counter. An HTML report with embedded photos and notes makes a readable summary for your own records or for a second shooter. CSV or Excel files suit photographers who track jobs in a spreadsheet. When you export, tick the sections the client needs: Summary, Events, Notes and Locations.

Before reusing the structure for the next event, make a ZIP backup of the finished counter, then reset it. Backups include photos, can be limited to chosen counters or categories, and can compress photos to keep the file small. Importing first shows a preview of the file's contents, where you choose to replace, copy or skip duplicates. Importing as a copy is a tidy way to keep a "template wedding" counter that you duplicate for each new booking.