Capturing the craft, process and people behind a heritage roofing brand.

Factory photography at Keymer

The challenge

Factory photography always comes with a few moving parts.

You’re working around active production, mixed lighting, tight spaces, and processes that can’t be paused for long, and you still need the final images to look polished enough to be used on websites, in brochures, across campaigns and social content.

The challenge here was capturing a wide variety of imagery in a working environment, without disrupting the day-to-day flow while still coming away with a cohesive image library that told Keymer’s story properly.

The approach

Before the shoot, we planned a clear set of priorities through an onsite recce in Ewhurst. This enabled us to set the goal to produce an image set with purpose, not just “nice photos”, but photography that Keymer could genuinely use across multiple formats and touchpoints.

The focus was on building a balanced set of images that captured:

• People at work — the skill and pride behind the process
• Process storytelling — shaping, handling, finishing and production moments
• Product detail — textures, edges, surfaces and craft
• Scale and environment — machinery, layout and the working space
• Brand moments — subtle details that communicate heritage and identity

The shoot

The session itself was about working quickly, staying out of the way, and capturing the strongest moments as they happened.

Some of the best images came from leaning into the real atmosphere on site — material in motion, hands-on processes, and the kind of honest detail that can’t be faked.

Process and craftsmanship

A big part of the story was the hands-on nature of the work — capturing the action in a way that feels natural and authentic, rather than over-staged.

That meant focusing on moments that show skill:

• shaping and finishing stages
• quality control
• the physicality and rhythm of production
• dust and texture that gives the images real atmosphere

These are the shots that instantly make the work feel real, and make the brand feel more credible because you can see exactly what goes into the product.

Alongside the action, I captured close-ups that show the quality and texture of the finished tiles — surfaces, edges and subtle details that help communicate craftsmanship.

To balance the close-up detail, I also captured wider images that show the scale of Keymer’s operation: machinery, production space, and the working environment.

These kinds of shots work brilliantly as banners and hero images because they give instant context. They show capability, scale and heritage in a single frame without needing loads of explanation.

The result

The final set of images gave Keymer a flexible library of industrial photography that can be used across:

• website banners and page content
• brochures, catalogues and sales material
• social media and content marketing
• PR, press and internal communications

Most importantly, Keymer now has photography that reflects the business properly. Not generic factory photography, not stock photos, but a visual story that feels true to the brand: heritage, quality, craftsmanship and scale — captured in a modern, professional way.