SAIT was sending its WorldSkills 2026 team to Shanghai. Welders, fabricators, and tradespeople representing Canada on the international stage. The marketing team needed editorial portraits, not yearbook headshots. One shoot day. One consistent series across multiple competitors.
Six tube lights placed for hard edge separation. A deep black backdrop. Tethered for live approvals so every hero frame locked before the competitor walked off set. Wardrobe stayed simple. SAIT red, on body, no distractions.
The portraits had to work in a magazine feature, on a press kit, on a social grid, and on the wall. So we built them that way.
Prep. Sandrine Murray, SAIT's Communications Specialist, reached out a week before the shoot. We scoped the brief, sourced six tube lights, and locked the schedule with five competitors and their trainers.
Shoot. One day on site at SAIT. The fox machine fed atmosphere into the beams for the editorial frames. It set off the fire alarm. Building got evacuated. We came back, ran with less haze, and finished the day on schedule.
Edit. 55 finished edits delivered across the team. Graded, retouched, cropped for every format SAIT marketing actually uses.
“Every now and then, I still get compliments from folks at SAIT about those photos. I just really loved how crisp and clear the photos you took were.”
