Daz Campaign - Billboard Photography with Troy Hawke

Advertising photography at its best - and this one was a real career high. I had the absolute pleasure of working as the campaign photographer on a nationwide billboard campaign for the iconic British brand Daz. This wasn’t just a local run, these visuals were spotted on billboards up and down the UK, a front page takeover of The Metro, and a wide-reaching social media campaign. A proper full-scale commercial photography job, and one I feel proud to say I executed successfully.

The shoot took place at the brilliant Big Sky Studios in London, a go-to location for any studio photographer who enjoys a day of controlled light, clean backdrops, and good vibes. I was commissioned to photograph the hilarious and charming Troy Hawke for the campaign. He’s a total dream to work with: jumps right into character, takes direction without hesitation, and even brings a cracking taste in music. We had tunes blasting throughout the shoot to keep the energy high, just the way I like it.

From a technical side, this was a classic advertising photographer setup, a three-light configuration:

• One large umbrella top-left to evenly light Troy’s face and the Daz product,

• A strip light camera-right to shape his body, and

• A rear hair light to lift him nicely from the background and give a bit of punch to the overall image.

Everything was shot tethered into CaptureOne, with a secondary monitor set up for live client approvals. That meant we could tweak and adjust in real-time, essential for commercial photography jobs where every expression, angle, and highlight matters.

Big shout-out to Ardy Mirhashem who assisted me on the day, he was invaluable. From light testing to client feedback relay, he freed me up to stay locked into my role: keeping the flow going with Troy and making sure we got the absolute best out of each frame.

As a London photographer working across all kinds of projects, I love jobs like this, clean, sharp, creative studio photography where everything comes together: the team, the subject, the space, and the energy. And to see the final work displayed all across the UK? One of those proud pinch-me moments.

If you’re looking for a commercial photographer in London to help bring your campaign to life, whether it’s for studio photography, outdoor advertising or a full-scale billboard campaign, I’d love to hear more.