My many years as a press photographer in Middlesbrough stood me in good stead with marketing and PR agencies, who know that only the best pictures will be chosen by the press, or influence the people reading marketing literature or browsing websites.
Teesside-based Jo Hand Recruitment is a respected name in the competitive world of recruitment. Its marketing agency commissioned me to take a series of pictures to support the forward marketing plan, for use in brochures, newsletters, on the website and with press releases.
The brief was to capture corporate headshots of the people behind the business, showing the approachable, knowledgeable team that founder Jo Hand has built around her. As a professional press and pr photographer in Stockton on Tees I have a portable studio with high performance flashguns, reflectors and other tools of the trade. This meant I could quickly turn the firm’s central Middlesbrough office into a studio. The fresh and fabulous lime green walls - the company’s signature brand colour – created a perfect backdrop for pictures of the team.
Part of the brief was also to reinforce the company’s roots in the region. Teesside, north Yorkshire and County Durham are the heartland of Jo Hand Recruitment’s customer base so the next job was to go out and vary the shots by working with a range of local landmarks. I chose two iconic backdrops that are right on the doorstep, to save Jo travelling time. First stop was the 35ft high tempered steel Bottle of Notes sculpture in the centre of Middlesbrough, with its clean lines providing a perfect background. We followed up with some lovely shots in front of the funky new CIAC RiversideOne apartments, in the Middlehaven district.
Jo and her team were relaxed in front of the camera and a delight to work with. Press and PR photography is essentially about people, and I like to retain the same relaxed, informal style that I use in my wedding and portrait photography
In the studio I edited around 40 key images, making adjustments and checking colours. Because I use top quality lenses I can capture natural brightness in a subject, bringing out the warmth of people’s faces, keeping the colours true and resulting in minimum re-touching. The two-hour PR photography shoot in Middlesbrough meant I was able to give the marketing agency a great range of images to use in its plans to help Jo Hand Recruitment reinforce its position as one of Teesside’s leading recruitment agencies.
