Headshot Portrait Session With Helen Philpot

Helen Philpot is something of a local media celebrity in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. One time TV presenter, then with a long-running and successful radio show for BBC Look North and Radio Humberside respectively, Helen balanced all this with a career as a media expert and business consultant too. I personally first met Helen when we joint presented a motivational seminar for HE and FE students at Lincoln University. This go-getting, business power-house still fires on all cylinder’s but has recently located to London where she is now heading the Editorial Development (multimedia & digital) department at media giant, News International. I recently discussed with Helen the idea of marking her new role in London with a Dakeyne Photography concept shoot, featuring an artistic composite project and some corporate headshot portraits for her business and social media avatars. She happily agreed and we set a date for me to visit her in London to grab the images needed.

Helen was dressed in suitable business clobber when I arrived at her and Husband, Phil’s home on an early December morning. With just two hours before the couple’s next appointment, I set up my lights in their front room (and what a beautiful house they have I might add) – firing a single Bowens flash through a Photoflex Octabox and illuminating a neutral coloured back wall with enough light to give an off-white (to blown out) background for Helen’s headshot. Sitting comfortably with the contemporary trend for cropping tight, filling the frame and placing the subject with negative space, I led a very enthusiastic and co-operative Helen through different ‘corporate’ poses (it’s important to maintain complete, ‘as the eye sees’ perspective when shooting this kind of portrait so I used my 50mm 1.4 lens on the Nikon D700). Following the headshot session, I took Helen through the motions for what would eventually be a near to full length shot of her (with suitable iPad prop in hand), ultimately to be ‘cut-out’ in Photoshop and placed into a dynamic, business orientated composite work at a (soon come), later date.

Throughout the constant ‘try this,try that’ direction from me, again Helen was patient and very willing to get ‘the shot’. She really pulled in her TV experience too as, at the drop of a hat, would go from giggling her head off at husband Phil’s shenanigan’s in the adjacent room, to dropping straight into formal, business mode as the camera shutter was poised and ready to fire. Soon after this, we’d wrapped the main shoot up, but with just a few minutes to go before time was up, I suggested a quick photo opp for Helen and hubby Phil together. With a quick wardrobe change to something a little more ‘Sunday lunchtime’, Helen posed with Phil in one of the other rooms in the house, and we grabbed some fun, relaxing and easy going moments, which all kind of gelled together in the one perfect image of this attractive couple above.

Big thanks then go to Helen and Phil for their patience and hospitality – check back here for a blog on Helen’s corporate composite image in the not too distant future. You can follow Helen on Twitter via ‘OiPhilpot‘ and follow her website/blog at helenphilpot.co.uk too :-)