M&S Press Photography in St Albans: London Colney Case Study

Photographing inside a working M&S store

The store remained open throughout the shoot, so the photography needed to fit around customers and employees without disrupting normal activity.

The morning was relatively quiet, which helped. We used quieter areas of the store and waited for natural gaps whenever customers or other colleagues moved through the background.

This kept the photographs clean while allowing the store to continue operating normally. It also meant we could include recognisable departments and retail context without making the images feel overly staged.

Clear communication was important. Everyone knew where they needed to be, but the atmosphere remained relaxed enough to produce natural expressions rather than stiff corporate poses.

Working with bright sunlight outside

The main outdoor composition needed to show the colleagues with the M&S sign clearly visible behind them.

Unfortunately, that angle also placed the bright morning sun directly in front of the group.

Rather than abandoning an important branded photograph, I kept the outdoor setup concise and gave the group clear direction so we could work efficiently. Small adjustments to positioning, timing and exposure helped keep faces clear while retaining the recognisable store entrance and M&S branding.

Working quickly also minimised the time the colleagues needed to spend facing the bright light.

The result was a clean, immediately recognisable group photograph that gave the press team useful context without losing the people at the centre of the story.

Making the most of the store’s ambient lighting

Inside the store, I needed to work with the existing retail lighting.

Different sections of a large store can produce variations in brightness and colour, so I selected positions where the ambient light worked well on people while still showing the relevant department.

I also looked for uncluttered backgrounds, clear branding, and sufficient separation between each colleague and their surroundings.

This allowed the photographs to feel like genuine environmental portraits rather than staff members placed against an unrelated blank background.

Adapting when the original plan changed

The original brief involved five colleagues. On the morning of the shoot, one colleague was needed at another location at short notice and could no longer attend.

That is normal in a working retail environment. Operational requirements have to come first.

I adjusted the planned shot list around the four available colleagues and focused on creating variety across different store departments, individual portraits, group arrangements, and the exterior location.

The change did not prevent the PR team from receiving a strong and useful collection. It simply meant using the available time carefully and making each setup count.