Headshots Photography Case Study – Aidan Severs

Aidan Severs has made rapid progress in his teaching career. As well as moving through the ranks in schools in his home area of West Yorkshire, he has written extensively on primary education in his own blog and in the Times Educational Supplement. On the back of that success, and with a very sizeable Twitter following, he has now launched Aidan Severs Consulting – his own business providing training and support to primary school teachers and leaders across the country.

Aidan asked me to visit him in his home town of Keighley, West Yorkshire, to get a good range of initial images: headshots and action pictures for his new website. He also had in mind possible subsequent press releases and other publicity. The name of the game in this kind of shoot is to really listen to how the client wants to come across, and to help them make their vision a reality.

Aidan wanted to convey a sense of seriousness, business-like competence, professionalism with warmth and humanity. He wanted to root the photos in his home area. We worked hard for a day, using both available light and flash in his own home, and then a second sequence on the streets, around an old mill, and in one of the rooms at the classroom at the Keighley Business Centre where he runs courses.

Headshots photography shoots are intensive, fun, and still relatively economical for my client. I aim to deliver a good number of usable shots (more than shown here) and my commitment is always to get the brief right or I won’t send an invoice. That’s the road to customer satisfaction!

I love this kind of photography. Being involved in helping a new business off the ground is always exciting, and the challenge of getting a good variety of images of one person is absorbing.

I used the Nikon D5, the D800 for a few long zoom shots outside, and three separate flash units to get the lighting I wanted. I was actually especially pleased with a number of natural light shots, using the very soft diffused light at a bedroom window. Lenses were the Nikkor 24-70 and 70-200.

If you would like to enquire about headshots or personal branding   please call Andrew King today on 07983 787889 or, if preferred use the form on the contact page.