Theatre campaign photography on location: Sherman’s Imrie (OOH, social, web)
The shoot was to produce two shots, that were part of a sequence but needed to work independently.
This one was a proper ‘you have to capture this, fast’ kinda shoot.
Sherman Theatre commissioned me to create campaign photography for Imrie - imagery designed to complement the show’s main artwork and work across OOH advertising, social media, and the website. We also produced a short social video, captured alongside the stills.
The show features Rebecca Wilson and Elan Davies, and the goal was to create a sleek, modern key images that matched the atmosphere of the production, while still being practical for designers to use across multiple formats. This campaign was photographed on location at Sherman Theatre in April 2023 and is being added to my portfolio now (finally!!).
About the production, Imrie
Imrie is a Welsh-language production at Sherman Theatre, written by Nia Morais and directed by Gethin Evans, with Enfys Clara as Assistant Director. The cast features Rebecca Wilson (Josie) and Elan Davies (Laura), and the wider creative team includes Cai Dyfan (Designer), Eädyth Crawford (Composer), Ceri James (Lighting Designer) and Sam Jones (Sound Designer). It’s a bold, atmospheric piece that blends coming-of-age energy with a slightly other-worldly edge - which gave us a really clear visual tone to match in the campaign photography. Find out more at Sherman Theatre.
The challenge: building a studio setup inside the theatre
Although this was studio-style work, it wasn’t shot in a studio.
Building the photo studio on location at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff.
We built the whole setup on location at the theatre, working out of a small make-up room. Space was tight, time was tighter, and the schedule meant we had a maximum of around 10 minutes with each performer to capture what we needed.
This certainly focuses the mind.
When you’ve only got a few minutes per subject, there’s no time for trial and error - you can’t be figuring out lighting, angles, or poses while the talent is waiting. So the shoot had to be approached like a mini production:
Lighting and gels set and tested
Camera dialled in and ready to go
Position marks set
Test shots done in advance
Pose ideas pre-planned
A simple, repeatable workflow so we could move fast and stay consistent
This is exactly where on-location studio advertising photography earns its name: you’re bringing the control and polish of a studio shoot into a real-world environment but under real-world pressure.
The look: cyan & magenta gels, plus mist for atmosphere
A key part of the visual idea was creating mood in-camera and not trying to ‘fix it in post’. That’s been the great thing about working with Sherman Theatre - being a visual arts institution - they appreciate when things are captured in the moment.
To help build the scene and give the final image its cinematic feel, I used:
Cyan and magenta gel lighting to create a modern, stylised palette
Mist/haze to add depth, glow and separation
A clean, controlled composition that would hold up for large-format use (OOH) as well as social crops
The result was a crisp, contemporary images with atmosphere - the kind of key art that can carry a campaign and keeping on brand with the Sherman’s brand style (core person, central to scene, room for various crops.
Deliverables: campaign stills and a short social video
Alongside the stills, we captured a short video designed for social media - keeping the setup consistent so the moving content felt like part of the same campaign world (not a behind-the-scenes afterthought). These were produced in landscape and portrait - with different text treatments for each (not just a cropped version)
Why this approach works for theatre marketing
Theatre campaigns often need to work across a lot of surfaces quickly: posters, outdoor media, web headers, listings sites, paid social.
Shooting ‘studio-style’ on location means you can create visuals that are:
Bold enough for OOH advertising
Flexible for social formats
Consistent with the production’s tone
Delivered fast, without needing multiple shoot days
Need on-site studio photography for a campaign?
If you need on-location studio advertising photography - whether it’s theatre, events, professional services, or product campaigns - I can build a clean, stylised setup on-site and capture campaign-ready visuals quickly, even with tight schedules.
