COMMERCIAL LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
CAPTURING STUDENT LIFE ON CAMPUS

AUTHENTIC LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY FOR LANCASTER UNIVERSITY TO SHOWCASE STUDENT SOCIAL SPACES ON CAMPUS.

THE BRIEF

Lancaster University offer an incredible campus experience for their student body and needed an experienced commercial lifestyle photographer from the Lancashire / Manchester area to organise and capture new photography of their dedicated college spaces, including the bars and common rooms.

The colleges split the University into smaller communities where each college has its own events and social spaces open to all students. They needed authentic and professional lifestyle photography to showcase the range of social and study spaces, while demonstrating the welcoming and friendly environment of the colleges. The photography needed to feature students to bring the spaces to life and showcase student life on campus.

PROCESS

The University and creative agency EXP. organised this student lifestyle photoshoot across two days, covering all of the colleges and their respective locations on campus. They also lined up a selection of students who were to be our models across the two days. What I then brought to the project was how we would direct each of the scenarios, so as to deliver photography that met the requirements of the brief. As a freelance commercial photographer I have worked on a lot of lifestyle photography projects for a wide range of clients in different sectors, so I come with real and relevant experience.

HOW TO DIRECT PEOPLE (WHO AREN'T PROFESSIONAL MODELS) IN LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY?

This is one of the most common elements of a photoshoot that I get asked about. Commercial lifestyle photography often means using non-professional models for a variety of reasons. But more often than that it's about capturing authenticity. As a university marketing photographer one benefit can be having access to student volunteers who are happy to get involved and be photographed.

But whoever is it that you are photographing, if they are not professional models then you can't direct them as if they were. It's not fair on anyone and probably won't give you the results you need. So I always take the brief and create imaginary scenarios for each of the required shots. For example, if the location for this particular set of shots is a games room, I will find out what is in the room that we can utilise or ask the client what they want the photography to focus on. Then look at how many models we have for that location and give everyone a role.

Think about splitting people into mini groups and then give them a real-life situation that they can just act naturally in. Consider who is "talking" to who, what they might be talking about and what they are doing together. Give them props so they're not thinking about what to do with their hands. Get them to actually play a game of darts, or sit them in front of a laptop and make up an imaginary topic for a "project" they are working on together.

Sometimes it can take a little while for people to feel like they can relax into these roles when they have a camera pointing at them but allow for that extra time and you'll see them start to get it.

Once the framework of the scenario is in place and people are in their roles, interacting with each other, then you can step in and offer notes on where and who to look at, or whether to smile more, or move people into the right light.

Bottom line – make the scenarios as real and relatable as possible so the people in them don't feel weird!

The other consideration for these photographs was to consider how and where the images were going to be used. This is marketing photography so will be used across all platforms, from printed prospectuses to awkward-shaped web banners. So I made sure to consider the space around the subjects in the frame, and would shoot multiple options for each scenario to try and cater for as many final-use situations as possible.

RESPONSE

This project was all about providing Lancaster University with photography to showcase the smaller communities they foster through the different colleges on campus. Student life can seem daunting to prospective students, so offering a glimpse of what to expect on campus is crucial. And it's not all about study!