Tuesday 8 September

BAT Southampton

World Quality Day 2026 portraits, for Phil McCann

On site by
09:00
Gate, pass, find B23, set up
Shooting from
09:45
45 mins to set up before anyone is in front of the camera

Where to go

British American Tobacco

8 Waterhouse Way, Southampton, SO15 8PA

Use the Waterhouse Way entrance, the same one as last time. Not Regents Park Road.

Open in MapsWaterhouse Way, SO15 8PA →
At the gate Say you are here to see Phil McCann. Augustine has already raised a visitor pass for you.

Then head for B23

Building 23, the Quality floor, which is upstairs.

There is a reception in the building, so ask there if in doubt. Once you are in, either call Augustine or go straight up to where global quality sit.

Site map

BAT Southampton site map showing the Waterhouse Way entrance and building 23
Enter top left at Waterhouse Way. Building 23 is the one with the “You Are Here” pin on it, middle left, past 26 and 22. Multi storey car park is building 10, bottom right.

Contacts

Augustine AdamBAT, your main contact on site 07936 735189 Phil McCannMBE, who booked you. Mobile 07977 051497 Phil McCannOffice landline 01753 272062

Arnab Saha is named in the emails but is not UK based, so everything goes through Augustine. Joana collects you after the Quality shoot for the R&S one.

Running order

  1. 09:00Arrive and get through the gateVisitor pass, then find B23 and set up
  2. 09:45Start shooting, Quality teamRuns to about 12:30
  3. 12:30Break
  4. 13:00Afternoon sessionUntil 3:00 or 3:30. They may move you to a different space
Expect this to shift Augustine has warned Quality may be quicker than planned, since there are fewer of them in Southampton now. When you are done with them, Joana comes to collect you for the R&S shoot. So it is two groups in one day, not one long session.

What the shots need to look like

Straight on, at eye level

Phil redrew these after your call. The earlier version had raised, top down angles, which you flagged as very hard on site without a studio and more powerful lighting, because holding both the top of the head and the feet in focus from above needs an aperture you cannot get to.

So every reference is now shot square on. Keep the camera at chest to eye height and stay parallel to the subject.

Two crops

Full lengthhead to feet Very tall, roll up banner shape. Feet must be in frame and sharp.

Half bodywaist up Slightly wider, used for the square ish banners.

Shoot both for everyone if there is time. They get cut out and dropped onto flat colour, so leave clean space around the subject and keep the background even.

Full length reference, woman with tablet Full length reference, man with clipboard Full length reference, scientist in lab coat Full length reference, man with tablet and stylus Full length reference, man with laptop walking Full length reference, man in green jumper Half body reference, woman with tablet Half body reference, man with tablet Half body reference, man with tablet and stylus Half body reference, man with laptop Half body reference, scientist arms folded Half body reference, man with clipboard

The phone shot

Phil asked for one person holding a phone up if you can manage it. He will replace whatever is on the screen afterwards, so the screen content does not matter, but keep it clean and unlocked rather than black.

Reference, woman holding a phone up towards camera
Phone held at chest height, screen towards camera, relaxed stance.

Props to take

This is the one loose end Nearly every reference has a prop in hand. Phil said he would check whether BAT can supply them, but never confirmed. Assume they cannot and take your own.
  • Laptop
  • Tablet
  • Clipboard and a pen
  • Phone, for the phone shot

Kit worth remembering

  • Backdrop and stand, plain and light
  • Lights, plus a second head if you have it, for even full length coverage
  • Spare batteries and cards, two groups back to back
  • Something to mark where people stand
Depth of field, the thing you raised Full length head to toe means keeping the whole person sharp. Straight on helps a lot, but stop down and give yourself distance rather than going wide and close.