How to shoot people, with a camera, obviously! Work place culture photography at it's best.

No one likes having their photo taken, no one.

Even over confident people who always pose when they see a camera won't like everything about the image.

Why is this?

We have an idea of how we look, we might like how we look, we might not, the camera shows us for who we are and this can often be a different view than the one we are used to.

Plus, our expressions are often forced because we have a camera pointing at us and someone telling us to smile. That is real pressure, right there and it can make people feel uncomfortable.

Especially when shooting head shots, the most horrible type of people photography there is, for photographers and for their subjects.

Lifestyle, or personal brand photographers allow more freedom,more costume changes which allows people to be them selves more but it is not who they are, often it is who they would like to be, and still the smiles can appear staged.

How is work place culture photography different?

It is different because it is pure reportage, I do love that word but I prefer to use the expression, in the moment.

Let me explain what that means to me.

Engagement between people is the most natural thing in the world, conversations happen all day, every day, people interacting with each other, helping each other and solving problems together.

These situations provide the most natural and engaging photos because they are in the moment and therefore, completely natural so the expressions on peoples faces are completely natural, a smile is natural, a laugh is natural, the energy is natural.

People do then recognise themselves and are more likely to actually like their photograph because it is natural and shows them off well.

It is this natural story telling through photography that captivates the viewer and leaves them wanting to know more, because people are naturally curious about other people.

It is human nature, after all.