Beyond the Studio: Introducing Captured Isle
From business portraits to fine art landscapes - discover how fine art photography enhances professional headshots. Introducing Captured Isle, a new fine art landscape photography practice.
You know me for headshots. For the past few years, I've been helping
professionals across the South West feel confident in front of the camera, creating images that
open doors and start conversations. It's work I genuinely love – there's something magical about
watching someone's face light up when they see a headshot that truly represents who they are.
But there's another side to my photography that most of you haven't seen.
The Pull of Empty Places
Long before I ever photographed my first executive — you can read more about how I got here — I was drawn to the quiet places. Dawn on
Dartmoor when mist clings to granite tors. The last light catching on limestone cliffs along the
Dorset coast. Those moments when the landscape feels both ancient and immediate, shaped by
centuries of weather yet utterly present.
I'd find myself setting the alarm for 4:30am, driving to some windswept ridge or forgotten
valley, then waiting. Sometimes for hours. Waiting for light to shift, for atmosphere to build,
for that precise moment when everything aligns and the camera captures not just what a place
looks like, but what it feels like.
This wasn't work – it was something deeper. A need to document the quiet drama of the British
Isles, to create images that hold the weight of geological time and the fleeting beauty of
changing weather.
Two Sides of the Same Vision
For years, I kept these two practices separate. Headshots were my profession; landscapes were my
passion. But gradually, I realised they weren't separate at all.
The patience required to wait for perfect light on a mountain ridge is the same patience I bring
to finding your most natural expression. The understanding of how atmosphere transforms a valley
directly informs how I use light to enhance your professional presence.
Composition techniques that make moorland vistas compelling also make business portraits more
engaging. The ability to read natural light across changing landscapes translates to creating
flattering illumination in any office space. Most importantly, both practices require seeing
beyond the surface to capture something essential – whether that's the character of an ancient
woodland or the authentic confidence of a business leader.
Introducing Captured Isle
After years of creating this landscape work quietly, alongside my headshot practice, I've decided
it's time to share it properly. Today, I'm launching Captured Isle – a fine
art photography practice focused on the elemental reaches of the British Isles.
The work explores three main themes:
- Sentinels
traces enduring forms across the British Isles – from wind-bent
hawthorns to mountain ridges that have held their ground for millennia. These are images
about presence and persistence. - Stone & Sky (coming soon)
focuses on the dialogue between human-made structures and natural
atmosphere: standing stones, weathered churches, castle ruins – places built to last,
now held beneath shifting skies. - Whisperwood (in development)
ventures into ancient forests where light falls like memory. Moss,
bark and filtered light invite stillness and reflection.
Each series represents countless hours spent learning these places: their moods, light, and
rhythms through the seasons.
Why Share This Now?
Honestly, because these images deserve to exist beyond my hard drive. They represent my most
considered work – photographs that required patience, solitude, and presence.
In a world that moves fast, I believe there's value in images that invite you to slow down. These
landscapes haven't changed in centuries. They offer perspective on time, endurance, and what it
means for something to last.
These aren't tourist postcards. They're the edges and margins – the forgotten corners where the
true character of the British Isles reveals itself most clearly. Photographing them has become a
way of documenting something that feels increasingly precious – genuine solitude, unmanaged
wildness, the conversation between land and sky that continues regardless of human concerns.
The Unexpected Connection
What surprises me most is how much this landscape work has improved my headshot photography.
Clients often remark on the atmosphere in their portraits without realising it comes from years
of watching how light transforms a hillside.
When you've developed an eye for the subtle interplay of light and atmosphere across a mountain
ridge, creating compelling illumination in a boardroom becomes intuitive. When you understand
how different types of natural light affect emotional response, you can recreate those effects
in any professional environment.
The patience landscape photography demands also transforms how I work with people. There's no
rushing a perfect moment – whether that's waiting for mist to lift from a valley or helping
someone find their most confident expression. Both require presence, attention, and the
willingness to wait for exactly the right instant.
A Different Pace
Creating fine art landscape photography works to a completely different rhythm than commercial
work. There are no deadlines imposed by launch dates or conference schedules. Instead, the work
unfolds according to seasons, weather patterns, and the slow process of really understanding a
place.
Some images take years to capture. I might visit the same location dozens of times, learning how
light moves across it at different times of day and year, waiting for the particular combination
of atmosphere and illumination that reveals its essential character.
This slower approach has influenced how I think about all photography. Rather than simply
documenting what's in front of the camera, I'm increasingly interested in capturing what a place
– or person – actually feels like. That takes time, patience, and a willingness to look beyond
the obvious.
An Invitation
If you're curious to see this other side of my photography, I'd love you to visit Captured
Isle. The work is quite different from the headshots you know me for, but I
think you might recognise the same attention to light, mood, and that precise moment when
everything aligns.
These images are available as signed fine art prints, and I'm always happy to discuss custom work
or licensing for those interested. But honestly, I'm sharing them simply because I believe they
deserve to be seen – and because they represent the complete picture of how I see and work with
light and atmosphere.
The landscape work keeps my visual skills sharp and my perspective fresh, which ultimately
benefits every headshot session. But more than that, it satisfies a different creative need –
the desire to create images that exist purely for their own merit, that invite contemplation
rather than action.
Both Worlds
I'm not stepping away from headshot photography – far from it. Helping professionals present
their best selves remains incredibly rewarding work. But sharing the landscape photography feels
like completing a picture that's been partially hidden for too long.
Both practices inform each other, both require technical excellence in service of artistic
vision,
and both aim to create images that resonate beyond their immediate purpose. Whether I'm helping
a
CEO project confidence or capturing the morning light on an ancient hillside, the goal remains
the same: to create photographs that reveal something essential about their subjects.
Thank you for being part of this journey, whether you've followed my headshot work for years or
you're discovering both practices together. I hope you'll enjoy exploring this quieter, more
contemplative side of my photography at Captured Isle.