All posts by Andrew Mason

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Corporate Portrait Photography London

Corporate portrait photography doesn’t have to be boring! OK, so you can have a standard company headshot against a plain white background. I can do that. But if you want to show some of the character of your people and your organisation, that’s the better approach in my humble opinion.

Start by thinking about the location where your company portraits are taken. You could use a studio, which may or may not work depending on staff logistics and numbers. If you have at relatively large room in your office, you could use that and set up a small, temporary studio quite easily.

My favourite option is to try to use some of your environment in the images. This helps in several ways: it helps tell a story about your organisation, and it makes people more relaxed if they can sit or lean on some office furniture! Using your office means minimum downtime for your staff too.

Here is a small selection of my favourite corporate portraits, taken over the last few years:

Half a day is usually enough to create portrait photos of up to 12 staff at your organisation, but I have done 60 in one day. That’s a kind of conveyor belt approach. Giving a bit more time to each person means they can be more relaxed and get a company photo that they’re happy with.

Think about how your corporate portraits will work with your website and social media channels. You may want a happy, relaxed image along with a more serious photo, depending on what you do and where the images will be published. Do your staff blog, speak at events, meet clients? These are important considerations too.

Warning your staff in advance is important. You may be surprised how apprehensive some people are and how much preparation they may or may not want to put into how they look in their image!

If you’d like to discuss your corporate portrait photography in London or elsewhere, call me on 07779082909 or send me an email. I can help with ideas to get you the best photos.

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Magician Photography

One of the great perks of my jobs is working with people who work in massive variety of occupations. A typical week may consist of me shooting a banker, several barristers, a few LinkedIn headshot, a musician or two and a magician!

This year I’ve photographed two magicians. They are a really great subject because a) they know exactly what they want (maybe from being slight control freaks, I guess they can’t leave anything to chance, a bit like a photographer), and b) they do amazing magic tricks, not that either of them gave me any insight into how they do it…

The first musician I photographed was John Conway. Actually he’s a conjurer and you can see many of my photos on his website.

Magician Photography
Magician Photography
OK, not a musician, but a magician
OK, not a musician, but a magician
Magician Photography
Magician Photography

John swallowed a LOT of needles during our shoot, I was quite worried, but he seems totally relaxed with a mouthful of pain. No bleeding either, which was impressive.

The next magician I photographed was Marc Spelmann, who is currently appearing on Britain’s Got Talent. This shoot was much more of a collaboration, with images by me and then Marc using his own Photoshop skills to create something amazing like this which is now on his website:

Marc Spelmann
Marc Spelmann

Marc does amazing things with a Rubik’s Cube and can solve it by passing it through the audience completely mixed up, only to return to him completely done! Highly impressive, and I’m still working out how to get two sides done.

Both were great people to work with and strictly adhered to the code of the Magician’s Circle. No matter how hard I tried, neither would reveal the secrets behind any of their tricks. I wouldn’t trust either of them if I was wearing a fancy watch…

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Photography For Websites

Nearly every photo I take is used by clients on the web. This is obviously no surprise.

Recent projects have included an government department, a therapist, a leading business school, a barristers chambers and an investment bank.

Here are a few examples:

If you’re reading this you know it’s important that you, or your company is represented well on the web. I work with clients to make this happen. Two things are important to get right:

  1. The look of your photo needs to match your website, for example: do you want a studio shot, or to use your office as a background.
  2. The look of your people is important too! Should they look super formal or happy and relaxed.

I work with clients to get both of theses things right and create images which are exactly what’s required. If you’re a small company or contractor I’ll probably suggest you come to my studio and we create some professional website photography. If you have more staff it will most likely be easier for me to visit your site and use your office to create a studio or to incorporate the work environment into the images.

Website photos are then edited to be the correct size for your website, and I can create photos that have a similar look to the photos you already have if that’s what’s required.

I can turn photos around on the same day if needed, so if it’s urgent I can hand over the photos on a usb stick before the end of the day. You may want to select a few photos for editing.

In addition to clients’ own websites I also take photos for listing websites and obviously for LinkedIn as well!

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Staff Headshot Photography

I regularly shoot staff headshot photography for company websites, LinkedIn profiles, intranets and other uses. Most often I do this by visiting a client’s office, and can bring equipment so we can create studio type images against a plain background, or I can use the office environment and natural light if that works better. I’m happy to consult with you to get the look you need. I can also liaise with your web designer to get things right.

Here are some examples of my staff headshot photography, showing a range of clients and different types of images. I aim for consistency across each set of staff images.

Staff headshot photographer for London’s leading business school:

Staff headshots for an ad-tech startup in Farringdon:

Headshot photography for the new website of a leading barristers chambers in London:

In a day I can photograph up to 60 people, and I’ve photographed headshots for up to 250 staff over a period of several days. I also regularly work with smaller companies with as few as three staff. I’m happy to give you some advice on the best way to organise the shoot.

Staff Headshot Photography in London

All I need to create staff headshot photography at your office is a room to work in. A large meeting room works best, but I’m pretty adaptable to any space. If you have good natural light and a characterful office, that works well. We can also use the environment around your office, or set up a studio in a room.

I take the same approach to staff headshot photography as I do to all my work and try to make the person I’m photographing enjoy the session, even in we only have a few minutes together. One of the most enjoyable challenges of my job is to create a good photo of someone who’s having a bad day in the office!

If you need good staff headshot photography then get in touch.