Alt text for featured image: MarkWheelwright commercial headshot photography session on location in Leeds forPaystrax fintech brand
Some briefs are straightforward. Others ask you to hold twothings in tension at once — and the results are more interesting because of it.
The Paystrax project was the second kind. They’re aLeeds-based fintech company with a 20-year track record in payment processing,a string of recent industry awards, and a clear sense of who they are. Whatthey needed from me was a set of commercial headshots that communicated bothauthority and warmth simultaneously. In financial services, that’s not alwayseasy to land.
Here’s how the shoot came together, from the planning stagethrough to delivery.
Before I pick up a camera on any commercial photography job in Leeds, I spend time understanding what the imagesare actually going to do. Where they’ll live. Who’ll be looking at them. Whatimpression they need to leave.
Paystrax had a specific challenge. Their entire brandproposition is built around the human touch — real account managers, no chatbotautomation, genuine relationships with the merchants they work with. That’sunusual in fintech, and it’s a genuine differentiator. The headshots needed toreflect it. Corporate rigidity would have undermined everything their brandstands for.
At the same time, they operate in payments and financialservices. Credibility isn’t optional. The images had to read as professionaland trustworthy to merchants evaluating providers — people who are, rightly,selective about who they trust with their payment infrastructure.
The brief, then, was warmth and authority. Approachable andcredible. Not one or the other. Both, in the same frame.
This was an on-location commercial shoot rather than astudio session. With a team of multiple people to photograph, bringing everyoneto a fixed space is sometimes less practical than building a temporary studiowherever the client is based. For Paystrax in Leeds, we worked within their ownpremises.
I always visit a location before shooting. The things thatmatter aren’t always obvious from a description or a photo — ceiling height,available power, the direction of any ambient light coming through windows, howmuch room I’ll actually have to position lighting correctly. All of it affectsthe final result, and none of it can be improvised well on shoot day.
Once I’d assessed the space, I planned the lighting setupaccordingly: a key light at 45 degrees for clean facial illumination, asecondary kicker to add depth and prevent the flat, passport-photo look thatsingle-light setups often produce. Background options gave the team flexibilityacross different image uses — what works for a LinkedIn profile isn’t alwaysthe right choice for a website hero image.
On a multi-person commercial shoot, the time you put inbefore the day saves twice as much time on it. I sent wardrobe guidance, timingdetails, and preparation notes to every Paystrax team member in advance.
It’s not just admin. The practical effect is that peoplearrive knowing what to expect, which means they’re calmer when they sit down infront of the camera. And calm produces better headshots than almost anytechnical adjustment I can make on the day. Confidence shows. So does theabsence of it.
Wardrobe guidance for this kind of commercial shoot isspecific: solid colours over patterns, navy and mid-tones ahead of black,garments that fit properly and feel comfortable. I recommended two options perperson so we could make a final call on the day based on what actually workedagainst the backgrounds we were using. For a fintech brand, the goal ispolished but not stiff — clothes that look professional without looking like auniform.
“Calm produces better headshots than almost any technicaladjustment I can make. Confidence shows. So does the absence of it.”
Each person had 10 to 15 minutes. That sounds brief, butit’s workable if the setup is right and you use the time well.
The first few minutes of any headshot session are rarely thebest ones. People need to settle. I’ll usually start a conversation — ask abouttheir role, what they’re working on, something that shifts their attention awayfrom the camera and into actual engagement. The expressions that come out ofthat are real ones. They’re not held poses waiting for a shutter click.
Direction on a commercial shoot is mostly small adjustmentswith a significant cumulative effect. Chin position. The angle of a shoulder. Aslight forward lean that reads as engaged rather than static. These are thedetails that separate a headshot that looks professional from one that justlooks like a photograph of a person.
Each team member received a personal QR code during theirtest shot — a system I use to keep the post-production organised and giveindividuals access to their own gallery for selection afterwards. On amulti-person shoot, it keeps everything clean and prevents the confusion thatcomes from sorting through hundreds of frames after the fact.
I photographed traditional headshots, three-quarter lengthportraits, and looser conversational shots. That range matters for commercialclients. Different platforms need different crops and framings, and buildingthe variety into the shoot means Paystrax aren’t locked into a single formatacross every touchpoint.
My editing approach on commercial headshots is the sameregardless of the client: light retouching, consistent treatment, nothing thatmakes people look unlike themselves.
The rule I work to is simple. Temporary things — a strayhair, a crease in a jacket, a spot — get cleaned up. Permanent features stay.The aim is the best version of how someone actually looks, not a version thatwould surprise them when they meet a client in person.
Technical consistency is something I take seriously on anycorporate shoot. I document camera height, focal length, and preciselight-to-subject distances for every setup. It sounds methodical because it is— and it’s the reason I can replicate results exactly when Paystrax adds a newteam member in six months’ time. For a growing fintech company, that kind ofvisual consistency across their team is part of their brand identity. Itmatters.
Final edited images were delivered within 48 to 72 hours,organised by individual, cropped for both LinkedIn and standard web use. TheLinkedIn crop in particular needs more space around the face than most peopleassume — the circular profile format removes the corners, and images that lookfine as a square often lose something important when they’re cropped into acircle.
The Paystrax project is a good example of what commercialheadshots do when they’re planned properly. They’re not just photographs ofpeople. They’re part of how a business presents itself — on its website, acrossits team’s LinkedIn profiles, in pitch decks, in marketing materials, at themoment a potential client decides whether to get in touch.
For financial services businesses in particular, the visualcredibility question is real. Clients are assessing trust before they’ve spokento anyone. A set of consistent, professional team headshots doesn’t just lookgood — it communicates that a company is organised, serious, and worth engagingwith. That’s a commercial outcome, not just an aesthetic one.
If you’re a Leeds business looking at your current teamphotography and feeling like it no longer reflects where you are as a company,that gap is worth closing. The brief for that kind of shoot doesn’t need to becomplicated. It just needs to be honest about what the images need to do.
Whether you need a full team shoot on location or a studiosession at Dock Street or Aire Street Studio in central Leeds, I’m happy to talk through what would work best for yourbrief. Commercial photography, headshots, and studio hire are all available — and every project starts with a conversation.
Get in touch at mark@isophotographic.org or book directly at dockstreetstudioleeds.co.uk.
Commercial photographer & studio owner • ISOPhotographic Ltd, Leeds
Dock Street Studio, Leeds city centre • AireStreet Studio, 30–34 Aire Street, Leeds LS1 4HT
Mark is a commercial photographer with 12+ years ofexperience working with brands, businesses, and individuals across Leeds andWest Yorkshire. He runs two professional photography studios in Leeds citycentre and has completed 900+ projects with a 1M+ shutter count. Clientsinclude Clear Channel, Habitat, Kirkstall Brewery, and Paystrax.
