The Reality of Shooting Editorial Test Shoots in London
People often think test shoots are easy. You grab a model, find a cool location in London, take some editorial photos, throw them on Instagram, and that’s it. In reality, they can be absolute chaos sometimes but honestly, that’s also part of why I enjoy them.
As a London editorial photographer, test shoots are still one of the best ways for me to experiment creatively without the pressure of a commercial client standing behind me. They’re where you can try new lighting, different styling ideas, weird locations, or just create something because you genuinely want to shoot it.
But pulling everything together is rarely as straightforward as people think.
Getting Everyone Together Is Half The Battle
One of the hardest parts is honestly just organising people. Models, makeup artists, stylists, assistants everyone’s freelance, everyone’s busy, and everyone’s schedules are all over the place.
You can spend weeks putting together mood boards and planning a fashion shoot in London only for someone to cancel the night before. It happens constantly. Thankfully i managed to find two great people to help me with this job. With styling all done and produced by Hannah Sadler and with great help from my usual assistant Antony James. Making sure the lighting was positioned correctly.
And because a lot of editorial test shoots are collaborative, everyone’s usually fitting it around paid work. So when a shoot finally does come together, it feels like a miracle.
Trying To Make Something That Doesn’t Look Like Everything Else
London is packed with photographers and models shooting editorial work every day, especially around fashion week or during summer. The difficult bit is trying to create something that feels fresh without overthinking it too much.
I think social media has made that pressure worse. You end up seeing so much content every day that it’s easy to accidentally reference other people’s work without even realising it.
Most of the time I’m just trying to create images that feel natural and strong without forcing it too much. Sometimes the best shots are the unplanned ones in between setups.
Shooting In London Is Always Unpredictable
London’s one of the best cities for editorial photography because there’s inspiration everywhere, but it definitely tests your patience sometimes.
The weather changes every five minutes, locations get crowded instantly, and if you’re shooting outside there’s usually:
scaffolding
traffic
tourists
random security guards
someone walking through the frame at the worst possible moment
People trying to steal your equipment
Even when you think you’ve found the perfect location for a fashion or model shoot, something unexpected always happens. I’ve learnt to just work with it rather than fight it. We decided on Alexandra road estate in North London for this shoot. A brutalist estate in the north of london. The architecture means that it is the perfect background for a shoot, with exposed concrete and beautiful lighting.
Making Models Feel Comfortable
Not every model walks onto set feeling confident, especially newer faces building their portfolio. A big part of the shoot is honestly just creating a relaxed atmosphere where people stop overthinking.
I’m not massively into overly stiff posing or making things feel too serious. The best editorial portraits usually happen when people loosen up a bit and forget the camera’s there.
Sometimes the conversation between shots ends up creating better moments than the actual planned poses.
On this shoot I was lucky enough to have Alyona Sumara in front of my lens, a highly experienced model who has been in so many major campaigns that i would need another page just to list them. Having met her during POET labs show during London fashion week we stayed in touch afterwards.
Having such an experience model really made my life a lot easier, posing came natural and the shoot flowed well.
The Editing Never Ends
People see the final photos online but forget how long the editing side actually takes. After the shoot there’s still:
selecting images
colour grading
retouching
exporting
resizing for web and Instagram
sending previews to agencies or models
Film development
scanning
That part usually takes way longer than the actual shoot itself.
Especially with editorial photography, I think the edit is where the mood really comes together. The colour, contrast, grain, tones that’s usually what gives the images their identity.
Why I Still Love Test Shoots
Even with all the stress, test shoots are still probably my favourite thing to shoot. They remind me why I got into photography in the first place.
There’s no huge campaign brief, no heavy restrictions, and no pressure to make something overly commercial. It’s just about creating strong imagery, collaborating with people, and trying ideas out.
A lot of my commercial work has actually come from personal editorial shoots. Brands, agencies, and clients usually connect with the work that feels the most genuine.
That’s why I still think test shoots are massively important as a photographer especially in London where the fashion and creative industry moves so quickly.
