Bex Maini is a multi-award winning professional brand photographer based in Sussex, specialising in telling the story of small businesses with personality-packed, bespoke imagery.
Bex is also a photography instructor & mentor, has featured on international photography judging panels, created & published This Detailed Life, an international photography magazine, and co-founded Camera Chameleons photography retreats with Natalie Robinson. She co-authored Be Brand Rich, a rich resource of inspirational stories and advice to help elevate your brand, your business and your visibility. On top of this, she also finds time to be a dentist, wife, mum of twins and a huge fan of colour and rainbows.
I spoke with Bex about her unique approach to brand photography, and her gorgeous images that help to tell businesses’ stories.
What got you into photography?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed taking photographs. My subjects and style have evolved many times over the years, and I still enjoy playing with lots of different kinds of photography. But let’s go back to the beginning…
As a child in the 80s I had an old 110 film camera I took everywhere. But I really caught the photography bug during my round the world trip as a dental student back in 2004. That’s where my passion for photography really began. I bought my first ever digital camera, a little 3.2mp Casio Exilim which I adored. A year later, I received my first DSLR, a Nikon D70, as a graduation present and my love of photography grew. I captured landscapes & nature and even dabbled in underwater photography. I started selling my prints and calendars online and at craft fairs across Scotland.
I was never interested in photographing people until I had my own little people, my twin babies in 2014. I loved capturing their cute faces but honestly, I kind of sucked at it. I didn’t love my photos, I had to learn all over again as my long exposures and tripod-based skills didn’t translate to the rapid paced world of family photography! I hired a mentor for an eye-opening one-to-one session which completely changed how I saw light and shadows and was the trigger to upgrade to my beloved D750 and a 35mm lens which was perfect for more storytelling compositions.
It transformed my work, and I fell in love with photography all over again, capturing my family as the twins grew. I love having our everyday moments on display in our home and my business developed from there. You might think I had enough on my plate as a dentist and mother of twins and you’d be right, but I’d found my passion! In 2018 I started offering family & newborn photoshoots. I loved creating joyful images for other families too, freezing time in beautiful galleries filled with love.
You specialise in branding photoshoots – what attracted you to that particular genre and why do you enjoy it?
It happened almost by accident – I had started my business with family photography in mind, having practised on my own family for so long. A chance encounter at a local event led to my
first storytelling brand photography job in a nearby gastropub and I LOVED it! I soon noticed I was getting more and more headshot enquiries and made the switch to solely offer brand photography in 2021.
I’d always included some element of storytelling in my work so adapting that to businesses came as second nature, especially being a business owner myself. Explaining the benefits of a brand shoot over simple headshots was a no-brainer, I thrive when helping businesses to shine and genuinely love watching my clients succeed and grow with my help.
I pride myself in providing top customer service and my clients often come back to me for top-ups and fresh photos, becoming friends and business confidants. I love that we help each other out and are able to collaborate too. I’m currently working with my client, copywriter Jo Martin (The Grammar Mamma), to put together a budget package for new start-ups who could really benefit from having multiple experts in their corner at the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey.
Do you shoot anything else?
I still love to play with macro photography and adore getting out in nature for my mental health. It’s how I slow down and relax. I also utilise these photos by adding them to my VIP stock library which is available exclusively to my clients and I’m always pondering opening a print shop on my website.
What kind of influences do you draw inspiration from?
Colour is an obvious inspiration for me. I adore vibrant colours, especially rainbows and have incorporated that into my well-recognised brand.
A few movies and TV shows often have me exclaiming – “I adore that light!” or “I would LOVE to shoot there!” Examples that spring to mind are The Queen’s Gambit which has amazing cinematography and when the kids are exploring the abandoned house at the start of The Greatest Showman.
And of course, other photographers, there are so many I admire, and I love to view various competition results to discover new talent. This was one of my favourite things about running This Detailed Life magazine, seeing all sorts of submissions from photographers all over the world and one of the best features we ran was the ‘Under 500’ series when we asked our audience to nominate photographers they love who had under 500 followers on Instagram – we discovered some amazing talent that way and were able to feature dozens of images which I hand-picked from so many “unknown” photographers in our magazine and online gallery.
Do you have any favourite photographers or creative influences that have informed your photographic style, and why?
Absolutely. An early inspiration when I was into landscape photography was found via ePhotozine, the online community I was part of in 2004-2008. Learning from these kind and generous photographers, including in person at meetups in Loch Lomond, had a huge influence on my style and early photographic education in my early twenties.
I did a beginner’s course with Brian Clark, an amazing Scottish landscape photographer, learning about the exposure triangle and other basics as part of Dundee Photographic Society in 2006 and even won The President’s Trophy in my first year as a member! During my time there I learned alongside Shahbaz Majeed whose epic landscapes and aerial shots of Scotland are just stunning.
As my life and photography changed over the years and I started embracing people photography (something I previously vowed I’d never do!), I learned from great family photographers like Clare Barker Wells and Meg Loeks who are masters of light and colour. I also adore the colourful work of Sarah Krieg and Tenley Clark as well as Alex Eisheid’s creative concepts and Jo Martindale’s vibrant travel photography.
These days I take inspiration from friends like Natalie Robinson (the queen of double exposures) and Kirsty Hamilton, who specialises in destination photography and has become my travel photography bestie. I’ve set up retreats with both of them offering different experiences to advanced photographers who want to learn from and/or hang out with us and our communities.
What kit do you shoot with and what’s your favourite bit of kit?
These days I shoot with my Sony a7 iv and still use a 35mm prime the majority of the time, having invested in the Sony G Master f1.4 when I last upgraded in 2022. My other favourites are my Sigma Art 105mm f2.8 macro, my Sony 20mm G f1.8 and a fun Lensbaby Sol 45mm.
Other than the all-important lens choice, I also love to play with fun bits of kit like the Lensbaby Omni system and all sorts of creative techniques like freelensing and placing all manner of things in front of my lens like straws, fabric and prisms of various shapes and sizes (some of which I sell via This Detailed Life).
What are you working on at the moment?
There’s always something, or multiple things. I am constantly having ideas and forever struggling to keep up with myself!
I already mentioned the new package I’m creating with Jo Martin and Beth Cook (a graphic designer) to offer to start-ups, and the retreats I’m running with Natalie and Kirsty. These keep me pretty busy but I’m also forever pondering creating a book with This Detailed Life, ever since we had to stop producing the magazine. It would be amazing to curate a ‘Best Of’ book or something similar if there’s any interest in it.
What would you say is your goal with your photography?
I’m a big advocate of moving goals. I’m always evolving and looking for new challenges. I think once you’ve met your first goal, which for most of us in business is some kind of success, however that looks for you personally, be it financial or receiving recognition, it’s easier to move on to more fun goals and develop new ideas.
For me, success was finding my ideal clients who came back to me time and again for their brand photography. I have designed my business to not only help them but also fit in with my current lifestyle and busy schedule with two young kids. I can’t (and don’t want to) have multiple photoshoots a week.
I spend a lot of time with each of my clients and need to be able to offer flexibility for those with seasonal stock arriving at differing times or for whom the weather forms an important part of their outdoor shoot, once having to delay three times as the blossom was so slow in bursting out for an orchard session last year! Having just one to two clients a month is perfect as I can juggle my admin days to reschedule shoots if something changes and it leaves me available to give them as much help as possible both pre and post-photoshoot.
Having met another goal of becoming a best-selling co-author with my book about brand photography recently, I’d absolutely love to write a book of my own as I mentioned above. The seeds of a couple of ideas are currently germinating in my mind. One idea is to finally finish my ‘Paint Project’ with colourful artists. It’s been ongoing for a few years now, waiting for me to have the time & energy to develop it further and put together an exhibition and / or book with the results.
As a female photographer, do you feel that you face any particular challenges? Do you feel that the industry is favourable towards women, or would you like to see any changes?
I’m ashamed to say I don’t know a lot about how good or bad the industry as a whole behaves towards women. When it comes to business, I tend to focus on what works for me so I’m not worried about attracting the type of clients who would be unfavourable to female photographers. I target people with similar values to myself – small businesses with heart and a story to tell, my clients are varied and span different genders.
I’ve always managed to find myself in supportive photography environments such as Click & Co. which was made by and for women photographers, helping to support our voices and promote our work.
Even ePhotozine and Dundee Photographic Society, although dominated by older men, were always welcoming to me and I never noticed any judgement or discrimination, although I may have been rather naively blind to it had that been the case early in my career. I have heard of others’ experiences in certain photography groups or circles being frustrating so I’m glad to have found the supportive environments I’m a part of.
What advice would you give to budding photographers?
Pick and choose your influences based on what works for you and remember the best advice might not come from the places you might think. One of my most life changing mentorships was with an artist I admired despite our vastly differing creative choices when it came to colours and the overall feeling of our images. She was able to offer valuable insights into my editing choices and transformed the way I looked at my own work. The aim with mentoring is never to create clones but to inspire and help based on their own skills and goals, this is how I developed my own offering and it’s been so rewarding seeing the transformations in those I’ve mentored over the years since I found success.
Also, one person’s idea of success may not suit you. I’d urge you to develop your skills and / or business in a way that aligns with your personal values and goals. Don’t be sucked into thinking you need to be busy all the time and have clients coming out of your ears, I know many photographers who have burned out and lost all the passion they once had for photography this way.
You can view more of Bex’s beautiful photography on her website.
