What matters in practice
The difference between a collection of pictures and a photo series is selection. A collection holds everything that came out well. A series holds only what works together. It reads more strongly for having fewer images in it.
What holds a series together is a short list of things: the same light, the same colour treatment, recurring distances from the subject. A collection photographed in one look looks like a collection. The same pieces shot in five lighting situations look like five separate occasions.
Sequence is content
A series does not open with the best image and close with the second best. It alternates between wide and detail so the eye has something to do. On a website, in a lookbook or in a carousel post, that ordering decides how far anyone gets.
Stills and video on the same day
Producing both in one day is common and sensible. But never simultaneously. Video wants movement and continuous light; stills want the arrested moment and often a different lighting set-up. Expecting both in parallel usually yields two mediocre results. It is more honest to split the day into two blocks or to bring in a second person.
What matters afterwards
- Agree the formats first. A square crop out of a landscape composition rarely works. If vertical is needed, it gets shot as vertical.
- Usage rights and the people pictured belong in the same conversation as they do for film.
- Storage and naming. A series nobody can find again gets commissioned a second time a year later.