Creating portrait photos for the director of one of the greatest British brands such as Tesco Bank is always a challenge. Photos have to be creative and classic at the same time and usually, the time you have to spend on the photoshoot is not your friend as directors are always too busy.

Our appointment was for 9:00 in the morning at their headquarters in Newcastle and it is only one of the very few times that we start a corporate photoshoot that early in the morning.

We arrived about half an hour before our appointment and we were really surprised that Mr Dave Thompson, was waiting for us at the reception of their huge building. Keeping all the safety and protection (because of the pandemic) rules we took the lift for the 2nd floor of the building, where is his office.

A really “tiny” office with glass walls, very hard to avoid reflections and with just a small space where we could set up our equipment. From the very first time we met, we recommended just to be himself and nothing more than that. No stylized poses, no “do this” and “do that”… Just to behave like a normal day at work.

I still believe that this was the main thing about the success of the photoshoot. Being himself, sending emails and writing on the computer, talking to his partners and assistants, just like a normal day at work.

After a few shots at his office, we moved to an empty office next to the huge windows of the floor with a great view outside. Just to have some different photos in a different environment sunnier, where we combined speed lights with natural light. Our conversation was nothing about the photoshoot. It was more like a friendly conversation about his daily job, the pandemic effection and topics we all discuss on a daily basis.

Just before packing our equipment, we noticed a narrow hall with some nice blue stripes decorating the wall. “May I take some photos of yours here ?” I asked. “Of course” he replied and I took just some pictures with only one speedlight as there was a great light there.

We left the building, really happy as we knew that the results would be outstanding. Sometimes you don't even need to check your photos on the computer. You already know after the photo session that you have a great raw material…

It supposed to be a much harder photo shoot. In corporate-business portrait sessions you don't have an experienced model but a professional who is (most of the times) not so keen in front of a camera.

But… positivity and creativity can make everything much better and easier.

Photography Equipment Used:

Camera: SONY A7Rii

Lenses: SONY 24-70mm F4.0, SONY 70-200 F4.0

Speedlights: Godox V1, Godox 685

Speedlight Accessories: MagMod MagSphere, MagMod MagGrid

Manfrotto tripods

UK Wedding photographer and videographer