corporateHeadoffice, London

Schmidt Kitchens , UK Team Headshots

Two visual registers for one team. Formal black-background headshots for directories and LinkedIn. Environmental portraits in the Angel showroom for brand storytelling. Both produced within an ongoing two-year partnership.

Client

Schmidt

Role

Photography

Location

Headoffice, London

2 photos

Case Study

Schmidt's UK division needed team photography that could serve two distinct purposes simultaneously. Internal directories and external profiles demanded formal, standardised headshots , clean, authoritative, reproducible as the team grows. Brand and social channels required something warmer: portraits grounded in the physical environment of Schmidt's Angel showroom, connecting the people to the spaces they design and sell. Rather than treating these as separate commissions, Schmidt brought both under a single ongoing production partnership , a two-year relationship that ensures every new team member receives the same visual treatment from day one.

The Brief

Develop a unified visual system for Schmidt Kitchens UK , formal individual headshots against a standardised background and environmental team photography within the Angel, London showroom , delivered as part of a continuous production partnership.

The Challenge

A dual-format brief means two distinct lighting setups, two different compositional approaches, and two separate post-production workflows , all managed within a single production relationship that must remain efficient over two years.
The standardised headshots must maintain absolute consistency across all current and future staff members, which means the lighting and processing specifications need to be documented and precisely reproducible months apart.
Environmental showroom portraits require balancing the architectural lighting of the Angel space , designed for displaying kitchens, not photographing people , with supplementary portrait lighting that flatters without overpowering the setting.
An ongoing partnership means photographing new team members individually as they join, maintaining the same technical standard achieved during full-team sessions months earlier.
The black-background formal headshots needed enough visual distinction and quality to sit comfortably on LinkedIn, the company website, and internal systems without looking like passport photos.
Team and group compositions in the showroom had to avoid the forced quality of traditional corporate group shots while still communicating professionalism and cohesion.

The Approach

Established a documented lighting specification for the formal headshots , key light position, modifier type, background density, and processing parameters , creating a repeatable recipe that guarantees consistency across sessions months apart.
Set up the studio headshot station using strictly controlled lighting against a pure black background, producing a modern corporate aesthetic that isolates each individual with clean, authoritative framing.
Photographed the environmental portraits within Schmidt's Angel showroom, using the architectural context of kitchen displays and design features as natural backdrops that connect each team member to the brand's physical presence.
Balanced the showroom's display lighting with portable portrait lighting to ensure faces are properly exposed and flattering while the environment retains its spatial depth and design detail.
Structured the ongoing partnership as a standing production brief , new team members are photographed to the same specification within their first weeks, maintaining the asset library's completeness and visual continuity.
Delivered all imagery in formats specified for each use case: tight crops for directory listings, wider compositions for website team pages, and social-optimised versions for LinkedIn and platform profiles.

The Execution

The production operates from Schmidt's UK headquarters and showroom in Angel, London. Formal headshots are captured in a controlled studio setup , consistent lighting against a pure black background, producing standardised portraits that maintain visual uniformity whether the subject was photographed in the first session or two years later. Environmental portraits move into the showroom itself, placing team members within the kitchen displays and design spaces that define Schmidt's brand. The architectural lighting of the showroom provides spatial context while supplementary portrait lighting ensures each subject is properly rendered. The two-year partnership model means this isn't a one-off shoot but an evolving asset library , each new hire is photographed to the same specification, keeping Schmidt's visual identity current without the overhead of re-commissioning.

The Outcome

Schmidt's UK division now operates with a structured and scalable personnel photography system. The formal headshots provide the marketing department with a standardised library for directories, profiles, and corporate communication. The showroom portraits offer a warmer, contextual alternative for brand storytelling, social content, and website use. The ongoing partnership eliminates the inconsistency that typically accumulates when team photography is handled ad hoc , new starters receive the same visual treatment as founding team members, and the asset library grows without drift. Within the broader Schmidt relationship, this headshot programme sits alongside exhibition coverage, showroom films, and property tours as part of a comprehensive visual system that Morax maintains across the brand's UK operations.

Team photography that grows with your business

A standing headshot programme that photographs every new team member to the same standard, year after year. If you want consistency without re-commissioning, let's set up your ongoing portraiture partnership.

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