A portion of our work consists of corporate portraits for various businesses, big and small. At times it’s an environmental portrait, say for a restaurant or small business, but a lot of times it’s portraits of a number of employees with a studio-style set-up. We usually ask clients to provide samples they like for reference or we create a gallery of some of the corporate portraits we’ve done over the years to help narrow down what look and feel they are trying to portray.
Each company has their own brand and they want it to remain consistent in all their materials ranging from websites to brochures to LinkedIn photos. It’s our job to create the proper lighting or look, but equally as important is to make each person comfortable in front of the camera and make the experience a positive one.
How do we do that? With years and years of experience we are able to make even the most time constrained CEO relax for a few minutes and make sure we get the shot. Executives and board members as a rule do not particularly like having their photo taken, and rarely have time to spare. It becomes a bit of a song and dance routine as Dale generally takes the photo and Michele powders faces, straightens clothes, fixes hair, pokes and prods (in a professional manner), both of us keeping the mood light but professional. As a Communications person you do not want any grief from your CEO or executives about how bad the experience is with the photographer.
In addition to being able to move quickly and efficiently, we shoot with the camera tethered to our laptop, which also appears on our iPad via Bluetooth. The images show in real time and both of us are able to adjust any fine details on the fly. After we photograph the individual, we hand them the iPad and give them a chance to quickly flip through the photos to make sure there is something in there that they like. We encourage their input as in the end the photo has to represent them. ‘You’re not allowed to leave unless you are happy’ is our mantra for the corporate world.
Lastly we have a full time photo-retoucher who makes each person look their best without giving the photos a fake look. We have been known to fix the odd crooked nose or smile if the client requests too.
It’s important to hire a photographer who has the experience and professionalism needed. We’d love to shoot for you and your company.
