Thirty years is a long time in any industry. In photography, it feels like several lifetimes.
When Darren started out, every frame cost money. You loaded a 5×4 large format camera, took a Polaroid test to check the exposure, adjusted the lighting, mixed the chemicals by hand, and hoped for the best. There was no checking the back of the camera, no instant review, no Lightroom slider to rescue a slightly off exposure. You had to know exactly what you were doing before you pressed the shutter.
That discipline — that deliberate, considered approach to every image — is still at the heart of how we work at dpix today. The tools have changed beyond recognition. The mindset hasn’t.
How it all started
Darren’s career began in a professional photographic laboratory, spending six years producing high-end colour prints for advertising photographers. It was exacting, detailed work that gave him a deep technical grounding — understanding what makes an image work at a chemical level before he ever got behind a camera professionally.
From there, 18 months assisting at a large advertising studio in Highgate, Birmingham, followed by seven years as a photographer at a respected Redditch studio. In 1995, dpix was founded.
Julie joined in 1998, bringing her own years of photographic experience and an instinct for the careful styling that elevates a good image into a great one. The two of them have been the creative engine of dpix ever since.
The digital revolution — and why we embraced it early
Over 20 years ago, when most studios were still debating whether digital was “good enough”, we made the switch. Not because film had failed us — it hadn’t — but because we could see where things were heading and we wanted to be ahead of it, not scrambling to catch up.
That early adoption meant we could offer clients something genuinely better: faster turnaround, instant review on set, and far more creative flexibility. The transition wasn’t entirely painless — early digital files looked very different to what we were used to — but we worked through it methodically, and the results spoke for themselves.
From medium format digital backs to today’s professional mirrorless systems, we’ve continued to invest in the right tools. Not because new kit is automatically better, but because the right technology in the right hands makes a measurable difference to what we can deliver.
What’s stayed the same
Thirty years in, the fundamentals haven’t changed. A well-lit image with a clear creative purpose will always beat a technically clever one with nothing to say. We still start every project with a proper brief. We still take lighting seriously. We still care about the detail in the corner of the frame that most people won’t consciously notice — but that makes the difference between an image that feels right and one that doesn’t quite.
Clients have trusted us with their brands for decades — some of them for the full span of dpix’s existence. Vax, B&Q, Next, Peugeot, Kitchen Craft — alongside countless smaller businesses, designers, agencies and entrepreneurs. That trust isn’t something we take lightly.
Where we are now
Today, dpix operates from our studio just two miles from the M5 at Junction 5 in Worcestershire. We work with brands, marketing teams, design agencies and in-house marketers across the West Midlands and UK-wide, specialising in commercial, product, food and brand photography.
In 2025 we celebrated 30 years — and honestly, if you’d told Darren back in 1995, loading a 5×4 film holder in a darkroom, that he’d still be doing this three decades later and loving every minute of it, he’d have believed you. He just wouldn’t have believed how much everything around him would change.
The camera is different. The process is different. The passion for getting the image right? Exactly the same.
Ready to work with us? Get in touch — we’d love to hear about your next project.
Find out more about who we are and how we work on our story page.
Related reading: Working With Creative Agencies: What We’ve Learned Over 30 Years.
Want to know more about the people behind the camera? Visit our Meet the Team page. dpix also has a long history of supporting local charities and community organisations in Bromsgrove and the West Midlands.
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