Scenes use differentiated outfits and may include props, interactions with the environment, or other approaches to avoid giving the impression of a staged photo shoot or making your audience wonder why the photo was taken. 

We want your photos to look effortlessly captured in different places and on different days, like they naturally accumulated over time with friends.

We’ll meet on a call so I can get to know you, your goals, and how you spend your time. From there, I’ll suggest specific scenes and photo ideas tailored to what’s authentic to you.

I’ll ask you to share a shortlist of the scenes you resonate with best. Better yet, if you have your own ideas, I’d love to incorporate them – it’s helpful when clients know exactly what they like or don’t like.

Otherwise, my process is set up to make it easy for those who may not know where to start. You don’t need to feel like you’re the most interesting person in the world – I have recommendations that can work well for anyone.

Once we’ve decided on our scenes, I’ll take the lead in building our shoot-planning table to address each decision.

This approach works for nearly everyone, but there are always unique ideas, priorities, or circumstances to accommodate. I’d love to chat about what you’re thinking!

For inspiration on scenes, check out my dating photography gallery and my 70+ dating photography scene ideas.

These themes are a good starting point for strong dating app profiles:

1. A confident portrait

2. A candid lifestyle shot

3. An athletic action shot

4. A smart-casual or formal shot

5. A social (or travel) photo

6. A potential date photo

Once we decide on our scenes, I’ll location scout and suggest photoshoot spots (with accompanying reference images) that meet our goals and have an elevated feel.

If there's a particular neighbourhood that's meaningful to you, I can focus my location scouting there – especially if you know of (or have special access to) any unique shooting locations.

To spend more time shooting rather than commuting, I often base our shoots around two main hubs in London, with multiple agreed locations ideally within walking distance of one another.

Those two hubs are often centred around what’s most geographically dependent in our shoot plan; for example, a particular landmark, museum, or bookable space.

Some locations are geographically ambiguous, such as cafés, restaurants, and parks. These offer various options where we may already be based, and we can choose the most efficient one, balanced with aesthetics in mind.

What keeps me passionate about these shoots is making them different for everyone. I make a point of shooting somewhere new with every client.

I provide outfit feedback and decision-making for the majority of my clients.

In short, we want a different outfit for every scene.

I ask clients to send me any number of photos of themselves wearing fully completed outfits, either by taking mirror selfies or using a cellphone camera on a timer.

The fit of the clothing is often the most important part, and seeing how your outfits fit allows me to make informed recommendations.

Once we know the scenes we’re creating and the locations we’ll be shooting in, we can determine complementary colours and style choices for an overall cohesive look.

From there, I’m best suited to recommend pre-made outfit matches for our scenes. For example: outfit 1 to scene 1, outfit 10 to scene 2, outfit 6 to scene 3, and so forth – abandoning some outfits, adjusting others, and other feedback based on the overall look.

If you have staple outfits in your wardrobe that you know you’ll wear, share them with me early in our process so I can recommend locations that best complement them.

It’s totally fine to reuse pants or shoes in multiple looks. Shoes won’t be shown in all photos because most people look better (and taller) with some amount of legs cut off.

The best rule of thumb is layers: light jackets, jumpers, over shirts, etc. – easy to take on and off, and gives natural ways for your hands to interact with them. There’s more to be told with more clothing than less. Also, wearable tech will not make your photos look timeless.

For my professional headshot sessions, here’s what I communicate to clients on how to dress and what to prepare.

This level of wardrobe feedback is enough for most clients.

If your wardrobe needs an update – or if you don’t know where to start with these outfits - I partner with a talented personal shopper who offers professional styling services, taking outfit decision-making off your plate.

I invite you to read more in the add-ons below.

I find it’s easiest to direct with actions rather than poses. Giving you an action or movement to focus on – rather than your focus only on being the subject of a photo – loosens you up.

More importantly, relationship and comfort are the most important elements to relaxed posing in lifestyle photography. This starts with our introductory phone call and carries through the conversations during the planning process and photo shoot.

For expressions, it’s hard to stare at the camera for extended periods. Your expression will face. Looking down, then up at the camera, or eyes closed, then open, creates a moment and a fresh look worth photographing.

Ultimately, it’s a big game of what to do with your hands while keeping your arms away from your body with a slightly angled elbow and confident body language. Holding things, interacting with clothing, and engaging with the environment are ways we vary how we use our hands. They should always be doing something, and we’ll know what that is in advance in our shoot plan.

Finally, I strongly recommend avoiding researching posing or expression videos – it often makes clients overthink it, with much needing to be unlearned to not conflict with the relaxed feeling we’re going for. You only want one director.

I’ll walk you through everything during our session – just arrived well-rested.

If you’re interested in learning more about my posing process, check out how I pose people who aren’t models for portrait and headshot photography.

Feeling awkward is normal. Everyone is unique in their comfort level in crowds.

I typically schedule my sessions for when most of the population is at work, to avoid an audience watching us.

That said, in my experience in London, commuter areas are easy – most folks are on autopilot. Areas full of tourists, on the other hand, can be trickier. They have a tendency to stop and stare; they’re on holiday and aware of the new surroundings (hence avoiding weekends where we can).

If discomfort in busy spaces is a concern, let me know in advance. Regardless, the decisions I make are to put you in the most relaxed position.

For example, I use a secondary small camera or my tiny pancake lens for scenes inside businesses. They never attract attention. For gym photos and other indoor shots, I have affordable private spaces to recommend where it’s just you and me.

I aim to start our sessions with just you and me in a space, like my studio, to warm up before moving to busier spaces.

For perspective on what’s achievable to your comfort level, I include a publicity level in my 70+ dating and lifestyle photography scene ideas.

It’s great if you already have recent, existing images on your dating profile – that means not all our eggs are in one basket. You have options to test and curate the strongest profile for yourself.

On my end, I’d be happy to review the images you have already and provide unbiased feedback. There are many kinds of photos that just aren’t possible for us to recreate in our session.

However, I recommend having someone in your target dating audience review them (including the ones we take) – they’re the ones you’re trying to please.

That said, most of my clients come with little to no recent images they’re confident with. We make sure your basics are covered (like an opener portrait), then curate the creative shots – unique to you – that start conversations.

Shooting for half a day gives us enough time for you to feel comfortable in front of the camera. The photos that my clients feel are the strongest are often from the latter half of the session because they’re the most at ease.

In my experience, any longer, and we have diminishing returns – our energy fades. Any shorter, and we focus only on the basics, leaving no room for creativity, resulting in less momentum and rapport.

We start with scenes that have actions and movement to avoid stiffness – it’s easiest when you have something to focus on. We end with the most straightforward portraits.

While we shoot, you’ll see the images in real time, so there are no surprises. This creates a feedback loop, enabling us to develop a formula for the best elements to repeat in each scene.

Most importantly, if you see a photo that you feel hits the mark, it makes the rest of our session so much easier. You’ll know we’re speaking the same visual language.

I recommend we execute all six of our available scenes, but that may feel like a lot for some. You’re welcome to prioritise fewer scenes in favour of adapting other variables – just ask!

The short answer is, it varies.

Unlike some photographers, I don’t structure my sessions around a strict time limit. Instead, I work based on the number of scenes we’re creating, so neither of us is distracted by the clock.

In my experience, it can take time to warm up in front of the camera – and I never want that to rush us through the remaining scenes we’ve planned. Spending time chatting before the camera comes out is an essential part of my process and key to creating relaxed, natural images. Being tied to a timer isn’t conducive to a great experience.

However, for your scheduling purposes, I can share a general estimate of how long your session should take based on our agenda.

Because we have a detailed plan with criteria to weigh our shoot against, we know exactly what we’re trying to get and when we’ve got it. We review all the photos as we go, moving on when you know there are strong contenders to select from.

Given my approach, I only schedule one session per day and a limited number overall, ensuring your shoot and its planning have my full focus and creative energy.

When shooting outdoors, there are equal pros and cons to shooting in overcast or sunny conditions.

Direct sunlight, when the timing is right, creates strong jawlines and creative shadows. Overcast skies offer soft light that’s flattering for everyone, anywhere, at any time of day.

On the other hand, sunny days make it harder to make the images feel like they were taken on different days. Overcast offers skies we likely don’t want to feature.

The pro and con list continues on, but we will get strong photos in any kind of light. I have an equal number of examples from each weather type in my dating photography portfolio.

However, rain is, generally, what we don’t want overhead. I come from Vancouver, Canada, which is in a temperate rainforest biome. When it rains, it rains the entire day without end – for about 169 days per year.

While people complain about London, the rain here rarely has a negative impact. When it rains, it often rains for 30 minutes, then passes – often opening up clearer skies.

Most of my shoots mix indoor and outdoor shots, and we prioritise the indoor shots if they keep us covered while the rain passes.

As I don’t time my shoots, I don’t mind hanging out for a while. We’ll only get an accurate forecast 48 hours out. In Canada, we have a saying that “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only poorly prepared people”. I’ll have an umbrella on hand, plus a packable towel to wipe anything down.

For those who are new to being photographed, feeling relaxed and comfortable in an environment where we have control over the variables will almost always produce better photos than waiting for a particular time of day and rushing all of our shooting into it.

When it’s overcast, anywhere works, any time. When it’s sunny – even at the sun’s highest point in the sky at the peak of summer, shooting outdoors is straightforward when you understand natural light: shooting with backlight, indirect lighting, shade, bounce, and diffusion.

Shooting when everyone else is off work, on the other hand, creates more complications and uncomfortable situations.

However, weekends are an option if preferred and the schedule permits. Scheduling our session for weekday mornings is my recommendation based on my experience.

Five working days after our shoot, you'll receive a personalised selection gallery with all the best angles (watermarked) from our shoot, shared for your selection.

I narrow the shots down to the ones I feel are worth your time to review, and also separately share my own favourites. However, you will have the option to view every photo I took – though I try to avoid you feeling the paradox of choice. I take a lot of photos; the selection gallery I share is usually 10-15% of them.

My gallery viewing platform has a favouriting tool so you can make your picks, get feedback from others, and even leave comments for me if there are specific editing changes you’d like to see.

If possible, I emphasise that you get one person you trust in your target dating audience to make a favourites list, too. You’ll be surprised at what they pick. It’s a healthy exercise.

I recommend trusting a single source of truth and trialling their suggestions. In the same way that hiring multiple personal trainers would give you conflicting feedback, the same goes for building your dating profile.

Your mates are likely not the audience for these photos. Be careful and intentional with who you take advice from.

You'll receive your edited, retouched photos five working days after all selections are made. You're welcome to request any revisions you'd like to see made.

My editing goal is to keep the final product looking natural, but refined, with each scene and image approached independently.

The images created in follow-up photo sessions are favoured for most clients because the rapport we’ve built makes relaxed lifestyle photography feel effortless.

In my experience, any more than six scenes in a single session (for subjects who are not models or on-camera personalities) have diminishing returns. Energy runs low for both you and me.

Scheduling multiple sessions is well-suited for clients with multiple use cases for their images.

Entrepreneurs, content creators, knowledge leaders, and working professionals in the public eye find personal branding photography a priority for some of their scenes. They’re environmental portraits in your element, doing what you do, unique to each person and their goals.

Understanding that multiple sessions may be on your roadmap is helpful early in the process; it enables us to allocate our time effectively and save the most important shots for later, when you’re well acquainted with the camera.

Clients are happiest when I have a clear idea of what looks good in their eyes going into the session.

I’ll share homework along the way, such as asking for your preferences on the scenes and locations we discuss, taking photos of yourself in outfits, and finding reference images that exemplify what you consider good, whether from my own portfolio or elsewhere on the internet.

Everyone has varying degrees of what they consider polished, posed, or AI. Some clients prefer outtakes over the ones we set up. These are all things I’m conscious of and actively work into my shooting style, along with the technical choices I make with my camera equipment, settings, and post-processing.

My goal is to avoid any surprises (this is why there’s so much text on this page) and to share exactly why I do things the way I do while we shoot.

Your engagement, reflection, and thoughtfulness on homework areas result in better photos. There’s no right or wrong way to approach the session, but I find the best balance is a level of engagement where clients actively share what they like and don’t like while trusting the process and my past experience.

I encourage you to fill out my contact form‍ ‍– even if you don’t have all your thoughts fully articulated yet. I’d be happy to hop on a call and help determine if I’m the right fit.

When it comes to outfit planning, many clients feel their wardrobe is outdated, doesn’t fit right anymore, or they don’t know what looks best on them.

My personal shopper and stylist updates your wardrobe and takes outfit decision-making off your plate.

She cares about styling just as much as I care about photography. With a female perspective, her advice overcomes the biases you or I may have.

She builds full looks, sourcing you up to 12 new clothing items across six scenes: shoes, pants, shirts, jackets, accessories – depending on what you need or already have.

After getting to know your style and existing wardrobe, she prescribes looks that flatter your skin tone, body type, personality, and budget.

Outfit combinations, integrating new clothing items with the ones you already have, are prepared for you in a slide deck, visualising each look head to toe in respect of the scene we’re photographing. It’s a bespoke guide with colour palettes to inform any of your future clothing purchases. Plus, the deck is a reference tool we’ll rely on during our photoshoot.

London-based, she offers options in different price ranges, travels the city to source the items for you, provides fittings, and handles all returns and alterations to ensure you feel confident in the final look.

Reach out for an introduction, to see examples of past clients we’ve collaborated with, and to learn more about our shared approach.

Groomers are hair and makeup artists for men – something most overlook.

If you’ve been asking for the same haircut for years and don’t know why, she specialises in helping men find their new hairstyle – telling you what to communicate to your regular barber or hairdresser, plus the recommended products for your skin and hair. Maybe it’s time for a fresh set of eyes.

For skin, I carry oil-absorbing sheets and, at times, translucent makeup powder while I shoot to help reduce the appearance of shine on my clients – but that isn’t always enough.

She offers salon-style cuts, skin fades, beard trims, and skincare for men (makeup without looking like makeup) on our session date before we shoot, working with all hair types and textures.

She’ll get to know you, your career, face shape, and style – communicating directly with my stylist where applicable – to recommend new looks and facial grooming best suited to you while addressing any problem areas with your skin.

You can go to her hair studio or have her come to us on location, at your home, or to my photo studio.

She works with celebrities and on-camera talent, including Premier League football players, music artists, actors, and most F1 drivers, such as Max Verstappen, to create a polished yet natural look.

If you’re interested in having a groomer’s perspective – whether to tidy you before our photoshoot or to equip you with what to say to your regular barber for a new hairstyle you can maintain, reach out for an introduction and to learn more about our combined approach.

For my female clients, I’ll happily introduce you to my recommended hair and makeup artists, tailored to your style.