Daniel®

I run a studio myself, so I am fussy about who I let point a lens anywhere near me. He worked very quickly, explained almost nothing, and simply got on with it while I entirely forgot to be self-conscious. The frame he chose was not the one I would have picked, and he was right. It has been my profile photo since.

I had turned down three photographers before him because every single set came back looking like a catalogue. He let me wear my own clothes, put on music, and shot for a full two hours without directing me once. What came back looked like me on an unusually good day, and I have already booked him twice more since.

Our team page had gone badly stale and nobody wanted to sit for another round of portraits. He arrived on a Tuesday morning, set up beside a window, and had all eleven of us finished before lunch without one complaint. The consistency right across the whole set is what sold it. Every frame belongs beside the rest.

He shot my album artwork in a stripped-out old warehouse with a single light and a great deal of patience. We ran nearly three hours over and he never once mentioned it or even looked at his watch. The cover ended up being a frame from the very first roll, before I had relaxed at all, and it is still the best one.