I ask a client about the level of business they currently work towards, their desired £-increased uplift from a rebrand/refresh and what they wish to achieve from my photographs. To understand any new potential client profiles they want to target and to know their USP. In summary I need to be totally conscious of their business, as much as I possibly can, from a few hours of meeting in order to gain a substantial overview.

From this I can then start to anticipate how best to represent my client visually and in photographs. I continue by spending a couple of hours further to research images and compile a shoot list of scenarios, details and portraits/styles.

We then discuss my suggestions and search for a suitable location. With a location may result in requesting permissions to shoot, within a clients office maybe or in a common space, all need agreeing upfront and discussing what can and cannot be photographed in line with other persons and the exclusion of other client brands. We talk about people demographics for our documentary/ meeting illustrations and who we can ask to participate. We discuss diversity and how we are inclusive.

We gained permissions to shoot on location in Salford, Manchester. The shoot building is a charismatic and contemporary space and provided a great urban backdrop and modern feel for Nick’s brand plus also illustrating a certain level of client.

Nicks shoot was primarily for a new website build, with ongoing marketing support, a regular copywriter on board and a robust marketing campaign in place. His aim is to substantially increase his business.

His images will be used for premier posts, articles, any on line content to maximise and elevate his brand.  His personal branding images play a key part as they tell us so much about his personality and why clients will want to connect and work with him.  Our decisions are as much emotionally driven as they are practical . We shop with our eyes. His photos will regularly accompany text to really push his brand visually and position above his competitors.

Every detail in Nick’s shoot was accounted for. Every item included in every photograph a considered discussion, to add subconscious messaging throughout.

We also discussed the detail shots ensuring we had the most up to date manuals etc. We discussed multi-media usage, what would be ‘real’ in terms of what Nick normally uses. With every image/scenario staged,  before I started observing and shooting I would ask the question ‘is this photograph truthful?’ ‘Does the content truly represent a scenario we are aiming to re-create?’ This process ensures that every image is accurate, ‘on message’ and ‘on brand’.

Nick is an R&D tax consultant with a history in engineering. I wanted to distill this experience into his photos because his engineering background provides greater wealth, insight, service and a definite USP for potential clients.

Nick’s total commission included:

5 hours pre-work/in preparation

8 hours /a day shoot on location (of which a maximum of 5-6 hours is image making)

8 hours/ a day in post-shoot editing.