Ilkley Camera Club Report – Helen Williams: Life on Set – TV Stills
On Friday 26th September, Helen Williams gave a talk to Ilkley Camera Club titled Life on Set – TV Stills.
Helen is a Harrogate-based television photographer specialising in unit stills and portraits. She gave a fascinating and informative presentation about her career background and her role as a stills photographer for various TV series, including All Creatures Great and Small, Vera, Heartbeat, and Emmerdale.
Helen began by describing her early career in press photography, where she covered events ranging from political figures such as Bill and Hillary Clinton to Leeds United football matches. Her work appeared in publications including The Guardian, Woman’s Realm, and News of the World. During this period, she photographed a wide variety of subjects — from hard news and court cases to the Brit Awards.
After leaving the press world, Helen joined ITV in a staff role. The experience she had gained working closely with people — understanding them and knowing how to capture their best moments — proved invaluable in her transition to television stills photography.
On set, Helen explained, capturing a moment is often easier when a scene is being filmed, but conveying the atmosphere and emotion of that moment can be challenging. Some scenes, such as explosions or stunts, cannot be repeated, so the stills photographer must get the shot right first time. Her early experience working with film photography helped her adapt smoothly to digital and later mirrorless cameras.
Helen also discussed the importance of camera testing — assessing how people look under different lighting conditions — and showed an example from Vera, taken during golden hour in Northumberland. Building relationships with actors, make-up artists, and crew members is essential to the role, and much of the work involves being in the right place at the right time.
She explained that television stills work generally falls into two categories: Publicity Shots, used to promote new programmes, and Unit Stills, which capture key moments within the storyline.
When asked about images with added captions, Helen said she enjoys using negative space in her compositions, as it allows room for text when needed.
Positioning on set can be difficult, as there are often two cameras filming from different angles. The stills photographer must avoid appearing in shot while navigating props and equipment. Careful planning is required to decide when to capture wide-angle or close-up shots, and when to change lenses — all while the scene continues to unfold.
Helen shared some stills from All Creatures Great and Small and described the challenges of working outdoors in the Yorkshire Dales during winter, including one 12-hour day at –8°C with nowhere warm to retreat to!
For period dramas, attention to detail is crucial. Television companies often prefer to use the same stills photographer across series, ensuring continuity and maintaining the trust of actors.
Helen noted that unscripted productions, such as documentaries, are generally easier to shoot because the crews are smaller and the sets less complex, without the lighting rigs and booms typical of drama productions.
When asked about aspect ratios, Helen explained that she does not stick to a specific format but chooses whatever best suits each image.
In recent years, Helen has moved away from TV work and gone freelance. She undertook a personal project to take one photo every day for 365 days using only her mobile phone, capturing moments from daily life — from a fish tank on set to a ladybird, and even triathlete Alistair Brownlee at Otley Reservoir.