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This is a different brief from headshots

I know a lot of photographers who treat executive portrait work as an upmarket version of their headshot service. Same lighting setup, same studio, just a slightly higher rate and a slightly more formal subject.

That works for some clients. But the further up the seniority ladder you go — FTSE directors, senior partners at law firms, C-suite at PE-backed companies — the more the brief changes. And what changes most isn't the lighting. It's everything around the shooting.

What "proper client facilities" actually means here

An exec who's been CFO of a listed company for eight years isn't going to say anything negative about a chair by the fire exit. They'll just book a different photographer next time.

Client facilities for this brief means a few specific things. A proper waiting area — not a corner of the shooting space with a foldaway chair, but a separate area or room where someone can sit comfortably, check their phone without feeling in the way, and arrive early without affecting the shoot in progress.

A grooming area with a decent mirror and good light. Not a bathroom mirror. A mirror on a stand with a light ring or a daylight-balanced LED panel, with a surface they can put things on. It doesn't need to be elaborate — but it needs to feel considered.

And somewhere to hang clothes and put a bag. A coat hook behind a door isn't it. A proper rail, ideally in a separate changing space, with room to lay out an alternative jacket or a second shirt without it getting creased.

The studio I should have turned down

I took a booking two years ago — eight senior partners at a City law firm, half-day studio session for a rebrand. The brief was clear: formal, individual portraits, white background, delivered within four weeks for a website relaunch.

I chose a studio I'd used for fashion test shoots. Beautiful space in Shoreditch. Terrible for this brief.

The waiting area was a bench against the back wall. The changing space was a curtained corner. The building had another booking in the adjacent studio all morning — a music video, as it turned out, with a drum kit. Every portrait in the first two hours had a subtle tension in the subject's jaw from the noise coming through the wall.

I retouched it out. But that's not the point. The point is I chose the studio for its light and floor and forgot to choose it for the client experience.

What the Profoto B10 Plus does for this brief

The Profoto B10 Plus — 500Ws, fanless, near-silent recharge — is the workhorse for this kind of session specifically because it's quiet. An exec portrait session has a rhythm to it: greeting, positioning, a few test frames while they settle, then the real work. That rhythm breaks if there's a loud flash recycle fan running between every frame.

Most of the executives I photograph are used to having their picture taken badly. The thing that relaxes them is when the session feels quiet and unhurried. Fanless flash gear, a proper waiting space, and a studio that doesn't have the energy of a busy production day — these things all add up to portraits where the subject looks like they chose to be there.

Location matters differently for this brief

For fashion or product work, studio location is mostly about access and price. For C-suite portrait sessions, location is about how easy it is for the subjects to get there without it feeling like a detour.

Studios in EC1, EC2, WC1 — Clerkenwell, Farringdon, Holborn — are well-placed for City and legal sector clients who can walk from their offices. A well-appointed studio 8 minutes from Bank station is more likely to get eight individual booking slots confirmed than an equally good space in Hackney Wick that's 35 minutes away. People at this level will skip a slot rather than manage a complicated commute for a photograph.

For Manchester, studios near Spinningfields or the Oxford Road corridor. For Leeds, anything within 15 minutes of the central business district by taxi. For Edinburgh, Leith is fine for photographers — less so for senior partners who have 45 minutes in their diary between meetings.

Privacy as a spec requirement

Private-use studios matter for this brief.

Most studio hire is in shared buildings. That's not usually a problem. But for senior executive clients, having strangers walk through the corridor, having a production crew from a neighbouring studio spill into the building's shared areas, or having any sense of public-facing foot traffic can shift the whole feel of a session from controlled and professional to improvised.

Ask the studio directly: "On this booking, will there be any other productions in the building?" Not just in the adjacent studio — in the building. A studio complex where three rooms are running simultaneously has a different energy from a solo space where your booking is the only thing happening that day.

Some studios specifically offer private-use bookings at a premium — the whole building, not just your room. For full-day leadership portrait programmes with high-value clients, that's often worth the extra £200–400.

Day rates for this kind of room

In London, a studio genuinely suited for executive portrait work — quiet building, private client area, proper changing facilities, Clerkenwell or Bermondsey or Marylebone location — runs £150–250 per hour or £900–1,800 per day depending on size and exclusivity of the booking.

That sounds high compared with a Hackney Wick production space at £400 a day. But the production space isn't the same brief. You're paying for proximity, client experience, quiet, and a space that justifies the rate you're charging your client for the portraits. If you're billing £3,500 for eight senior partner headshots and £500 of that is studio hire, the maths is fine.

Outside London, the equivalent rooms in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham run £80–150 per hour. Availability is better, prices are more predictable, and the competition for slots is lower — so last-minute bookings are more feasible than in London.

The spec to check before you enquire

Here's what I go through every time I'm booking a studio for this kind of work. Not comprehensive — just the things that eliminate the wrong options quickly.

Is the studio self-contained or in a shared building with other concurrent bookings?
Is there a private waiting area separate from the shooting space?
Is there a changing or grooming area with proper mirrors and lighting?
Is there parking nearby for clients arriving by car? City-of-London postcodes rarely have this, but it matters for clients outside London visiting for a day shoot.
Is the street-facing entrance and reception area presentable? Not beautiful — just professional.
What's the noise situation — from adjacent studios, adjacent buildings, passing traffic, or HVAC equipment?

And the one that catches people out: what's the heating like? An older studio with poor temperature control is a problem in November when your client has taken their jacket off for shots and needs to stay comfortable. Ask what temperature the room maintains and whether it's controllable.

Lighting the brief properly

Most executive portrait sessions are single-subject — one person, 30 minutes, a handful of selects. The lighting setup I use most often: a single Profoto B10 Plus through a 75cm octabox as the key, a large white V-flat as fill, and a hair light from a small reflector above and behind. That's it. Three light sources, all controlled, no fan noise, recycles in under two seconds.

The background depends on the brand. White is requested most often — clean, versatile for website and print. Dark grey or black is occasionally asked for when the brand identity skews darker. Some clients want a specific coloured background to match their brand palette, which is either seamless paper or a painted wall. Whatever the background, the key is consistency across all eight or twelve or twenty subjects — same light position, same power, same distance, same camera position.

Tethering matters. Clients in this sector almost always want to see selects before they leave. Having a calibrated monitor on a production table where a brief review can happen without it becoming a 40-minute committee decision is part of what makes the session feel professional. I use a laptop tethered via Ethernet or USB-C, not wireless — corporate photoshoots are too short to be debugging a wireless tethering drop.

Finding the right room

Studios suited for senior executive and board portrait work aren't always marketed that way — they're often listed as general photography or headshot studios. The things to look for are: quiet location, client facilities mentioned explicitly, private or semi-private building, and reasonable proximity to business districts.

Search by location and brief at creativestudiohire.com and contact shortlisted studios directly to ask about their client facilities before you commit.

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