Executive Photography Without Wasting an Executive's Time
One thing hasn't changed much in all the years I've been photographing senior professionals. They are busy.
CEOs, board members and senior leaders rarely arrive at a photography session with half a day they don't know what to do with. Their diaries are full, meetings move, calls run over and occasionally I have a very small window in which to get what we need.
I understand that environment. I spent many years working in corporate before building my photography business, and it has had a huge influence on the way I work today.
I don't think a premium photography experience should demand more of someone's time than it needs to.
But there is an important distinction here.
Efficient doesn't mean rushed.
The work happens before you arrive
A great deal of what makes an executive photography session run smoothly happens before the person I'm photographing steps in front of my camera.
What are the photographs for? Where will they be used? What does the person's role require of them visually? Do we need authority, warmth, approachability, energy, or a combination of those things? What clothing will work? What environments are available? What does the organisation's existing visual identity look like?
For leadership teams, there are additional considerations around consistency, scheduling and how the individual portraits will work together.
Those decisions shouldn't be happening while a CEO is standing in front of me waiting.
By the time we start photographing, I already have a very clear idea of what we need to achieve.
You don't need to know how to be photographed
This is probably one of the most common concerns I hear.
"I don't know what to do in front of a camera."
Good. You don't need to.
I don't expect my clients to know where to put their hands, how to position their body, which way to turn their shoulders or what to do with their expression. That's my job.
I guide people throughout the session, making small adjustments as we work. I'm constantly watching posture, expression, clothing, light and all the tiny details that can completely change a photograph.
But I'm also watching the person.
When do they relax? What expression feels natural? How do they naturally hold themselves? When does the photograph begin to feel like them rather than somebody being photographed?
Experience allows me to make those decisions quickly without making the person feel rushed.
Premium service is partly about removing friction
I think this is an important part of working at executive level.
The photography needs to be excellent, of course, but so does the experience around it.
My client shouldn't need to become the project manager for their own photography session. If I'm photographing a leadership team, I want the EA, communications team or People and Culture team to know that I've thought about the logistics. If I'm photographing an individual executive, I want them to arrive knowing I've already thought about what we're creating.
Preparation, location, lighting, direction, consistency and the technical decisions are mine to manage.
Their job is simply to turn up.
There is something quite luxurious about working with somebody who knows what they're doing. Not because everything becomes elaborate, but because everything becomes easier.
That's the kind of premium service I believe in.
Twenty minutes can be incredibly productive
People are sometimes surprised by how much variety we can create in a relatively short amount of time.
A small change of position can completely alter the feeling of an image. A jacket can come off. We can move from a direct portrait into something more conversational. We can change the environment, expression or body language and suddenly the photograph has a completely different job it can do.
The objective isn't to race through as many photographs as possible.
It is to know what we're looking for and recognise when we've got it.
That's where experience matters.
I've spent more than 20 years watching people through a camera. I've learnt when to direct, when to make an adjustment, when somebody needs another minute to settle and, increasingly, when I need to stop directing and simply observe.
Efficiency comes from knowing what matters.
Your time matters. So does the result.
I don't want a CEO looking at their diary and thinking, I really don't have time for this.
I want the photography to fit intelligently around the reality of their working day.
But I also don't want efficiency to become the objective.
The objective is still to create photographs that feel credible, current and recognisably like the person I'm photographing. Images that can represent them confidently across the places their leadership is seen.
If we can achieve that without taking over their day, even better.
For me, that's one of the differences experience should make. Not simply knowing how to take the photograph, but knowing how to get the job done properly while respecting the person, their role and their time.