Mikkel contacted me after speaking with a mutual friend, who also happened to be Skatteforvaltningen’s go-to photographer. Mikkel was more than happy with the images they were paying for, but their need for a professional photographer was outgrowing their budget.

Shooting Copenhagen’s role was to teach Mikkel how to recreate a similar style to the professional images. We achieved this over two separate workshops, one week apart.

“I simply can’t get enough of Matthew’s photography workshops! In just two sessions I learned so much and will definitely be back for more soon.”

– Mikkel Søndergaard

For the first, six-hour session we used two employees as models. The main focus was portrait composition (foregrounds, backgrounds) and the use of natural light. The workshop took place in office location unrelated to the company.

Our second session together lasted two hours and this time the setting was the main HQ for Skatteforvaltningen. Here we used the surroundings to achieve the type of look Mikkel wanted to recreate.

During our initial phone conversastion, Nicholas told me that our B2B Photography Workshops were “on point”. In other words, they were exactly what Visma were looking for.

Nicholas realised the benefit of having two people from Visma take part in the workshop, and so we were joined by Charlotte from Visma’s marketing department. In particular, the pair wanted to learn how to recreate an environmental portrait that had been taken in their office by a professional photographer.

 “Matthew broke the workshop down into two parts: theory and practical. Both parts complimented each other, and by the end of the afternoon our portraits resembled something we could be proud of.” 

– Nicholas Tullin

After 90 minutes of photo theory in front of a laptop, we spent the rest of the workshop exploring different areas of the huge office space, including meeting rooms, chill-out zones, reception area and outside in front of the building.

An Infographic was sent to them via email a few days later, to help them remember some of the more technical elements of photography.

RPCA arrived with a large group of journalists from various industries, including the global camera company Nikon. Everything had been planned perfectly for the Light Painting workshop: the location, the time, the props and the photo assistant.

Sadly, the rain changed all of that, and RPCA were forced to change their plans at the 11th hour. This meant some very fast decisions for Matthew, who was still shooting pictures with another client at the other end of town!

Once inside Tivoli, the rains continued as the group shuffled across to a ‘dry’ spot on the edge of the lake. They were already drenched to the bone when they started unpacking their tripods, cameras and lighting equipment, and all anybody could think about was: ‘When can we go inside and get warm?’

“What a challenge we created for Matthew” It was a short and wet workshop, but Matthew delivered on his promise.”

– Cloe Rougeyres

Undeterred, Matthew and his assistant continued to explain in broken French what, and how, they were going to learn, and a small, dedicated group stepped forwards with their gear.

Twenty minutes later the lesson was over and the group disappeared faster than you can imagine. Fortunately, the two members of the group had taken some great images, which Matthew agreed to edit and print for them.  

Our first point of contact was via email, where I advised Kristina what camera, lens, studio lights and studio background equipment they needed to buy before we could get started. After a few weeks, the equipment had arrived and we ready to go.

Kristina and her business partner already had a large cellar room available to them beneath their office, so that’s where we set everything up.

For the next three hours, the three of us practiced how to use the lights and what settings should be used for different styles and vibes. They picked it up very quickly, and it certainly helped having the two of them acting as models for one another.

Afterwards, we went through a brief but thorough Adobe Lightroom lesson, where I taught them the basics of colour correction, contrast, sharpening, and how to remove unwanted parts of the image (scars and skin blemishes, for example).

“After the workshop, we were 100% convinced that our own images were much better than the ones we were already paying another company to do.”

– Kristina Sparsø

As you’d expect, Mariarosaria’s home was beautifully decorated and thought through. So we used the apartment as our main area of focus for the workshop.

Going from room to room, we paid a lot of attention to the lines and edges of the furniture, artwork, walls and ceiling. The goal was to show thought and structure to the images, instead of messy distractions that would lead the eye away from the important details.

 “Working within a creative, visual industry means that your images have to be as good as your work. Most often, my clients discover my designs online and on social media, so having a strong grasp on how these images appear was important to me.” 

– Mariarosaria Schettini

Mariarosaria already knew quite a lot about camera settings and functions, so we skipped over much of this. But she did have an interest in understanding flash photography and how to edit her images much more quickly using Adobe Lightroom.

Fortunately for Sara, our workshop took place right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that we had more of a 1:1 session together.

This allowed us to answer her bizarre, yet understandable, question about men hanging off skyscrapers and many others.

“It’s important for us to keep ahead of the competition, and it’s only a matter of time before photography becomes an integral part of every business’ daily operations”

– Sara Jensen

As the name suggests, ICES are a worldwide organisation who specialise in ocean science. Due to the global nature of their work, finding a professional photographer in each and every location they visit can be a time-consuming task. They were ready to take matters into their own hands.

I arrived at their offices in Copenhagen and this is where the first half of the workshop started out. Five members of the team joined me for an intensive morning of camera functions and settings, as well as composition and lighting tips.

“We saved money on hiring a photographer in the US, and we learnt so much – especially about portraits.”

– Terhi Minkkinen

After lunch, we made our way out to the harbour to put some of these ideas into practice, and the group literally got down and dirty on the ground. Which is not negotiable.

Later we returned to the offices to finish off with staff portrait techniques.

Those particular staff members are now better equipped for taking stronger event photos and company headshots when they don’t have the time, nor budget, to hire a professional photographer.

I returned recently to review some of the team’s photos and advise them how best to move forward with their edits.

Kristina was already more than familiar with her digital camera when Matthew arrived at the company’s HQ in Odense, Denmark.

Although not officially the in-house photographer, her photography skills were quickly earning her that extra accolade at work, and she was taking more and more photos of employees, events and behind-the-scenes.

“Lightroom makes so much more sense to me now. And how aperture and focus work together.” 

– Kristina Liebute

Matthew and Kristina spent half a day going through Adobe Lightroom together, and in between she received some additional photography advice whenever it came up during the session.

A team of six awaited Matthew at København Sprogcenter – the very same school where Matthew learnt to speak Danish – for a lesson in the fundamentals of photography.

Over the course of the day, Matthew practiced his Danish while his students practiced their photo skills. In particular, they learnt how to take better portraits of people interacting with things, such as magazines and other reading materials.

 “We had so much fun with Matthew, especially when we started practicing our new portrait photography skills.” 

– Lene Marie Kjems

The entire workshop took place inside the offices of København Sprogcenter, and the students very quickly adapted to their digital cameras, despite not knowing a great deal about them at the beginning.