Professional Business Portrait
Business Photography Session, Business Portrait in the Studio, in the Office, Outdoors
fotosceny
► Feel free to take advantage of my offer of business photography sessions
Business portraits are taken in order to place them on official company websites, in e-mail footers, in internal applications for mutual communication, in company profiles held in social media. Apart from the electronic form, business photos are very often used in printed form - in company materials, newspapers and brochures, on badges, in some cases also on business cards. They are also often used in materials published in the official press - trade journals and magazines. So, as you can see, a single business portrait can have a really broad application.
Video Business Portrait
Portraits visible outside the company - on websites, in social media, on a business card or other printed forms, contribute to building a professional image, strengthening the company's credibility. They also have a decisive impact on gaining the trust and sympathy of potential customers, distinguishing themselves from the competition. In the company's internal tools, they constitute an important element of the organizational culture, they integrate employees, and facilitate communication.
A good business portrait must meet all the requirements for the final effect, therefore a photographer requires a lot of experience and excellent technical knowledge. In any case, he should first listen to what the expectations are, but also share his own ideas or advice. On this basis, it should create an implementation concept and propose several variants tailored to the requirements. In the case of the concept of an image session at the company's headquarters or outside, a site visit is always necessary to find out what the situation is in terms of the existing lighting, as well as the geometry of the space - the place where the photos can take place. Based on this, it is necessary to choose the best option. A face-to-face meeting also definitely has a positive impact on building a beneficial relationship with a company representative who will work with us during the session.
What should you remember and what should be followed when planning and implementing a business session, as well as at the stage of processing and retouching the photos taken? I present tips from my experience below:
► Place of the session - office, studio, or maybe open air?
This is an extremely important element and largely depends on the expectations of the ordering company, although each solution has its advantages and challenges. A session carried out in the studio is the most comfortable for the photographer due to the stable conditions inside throughout the shooting and the availability of all photographic equipment on site, without the need to transport it to another location, set up and configure. From the point of view of the ordering client, the advantage is that the session can take place in an independent place, without affecting the current situation in the company's office and the need to prepare / organize part of the office space that could be in the frame, as well as dedicate the necessary space required by the photographer for the placement of all equipment.
The downside of the studio is the fact that each of the photographed people simply has to come to it, which in the case of a larger number of employees is associated with a logistic challenge that each employee arrives at his part of the session without delay - any, even a slight delay, can affect the entire session schedule, the need to constantly provide information to other employees, which may disorganize their work, and in the case of too long waiting on the spot - negatively affect their motivation, fatigue or nervousness, which may also adversely affect their appearance in the photo.
A business session in the office means more work for the photographer, who has to transport all the required equipment to the company's office, set up and start up. The company also has to allocate office space not only for the shooting location, but also for storing the photographer's equipment. It is necessary to decide whether you want to photograph people against a plain background or against a natural scenery. In this case, the place where the photos will be taken must be properly prepared - tidy and aesthetic, with no unnecessary objects in the field of view of the camera lens. The places should be nice and, if expected, have elements related to the company's brand in the background - logo, brand elements. As far as possible, avoid places with light sources of very different color temperature - as long as such points of light are to be placed in the background of the photo as illuminating points.
It is also important that the session location is more secluded and away from the main aisles - heavy traffic of other employees who are keen to watch the session can depress the people photographed and hinder the photographer's work.
A business session outdoors - for example against the background of modern office buildings, it can add a very good effect, influencing the viewer's perception more strongly. However, such a session brings many additional challenges, depending also on the size of the photographed team. Apart from the obvious question of logistics and scheduling for individuals, it is very important to illuminate the photographed person. As in every option, also here the photographer uses additional artificial light, although in this case the key influence on the photos is also the available light and its influence on the coherence of the appearance of all photos. If there are some clouds in the sky on the day of the session, then it is known that there will be periods of full sun and shade - photos taken once in the sun and once in the shade will significantly differ from each other, adversely affecting the coherence of all photos. Even if the day is cloudless, but we have a large number of people to portray, then the mere movement of the sun during the session can disturb the lighting of the scene, e.g. by moving large shadows of office buildings on the set.
There are many other issues - for outdoor sessions, additional assistants are needed to take care of the lamps, ensuring that, for example, they do not tip over in the case of even a little windy weather. Of course, the photographer must have flash equipment equipped with batteries with sufficient capacity for the entire session. Even slightly windy weather can have a negative effect on hair loosening, which, especially in women, may have an undesirable effect. The choice of the day for the session itself may also not be easy - in changing weather, it may be necessary to postpone the session to another day, so with a larger group of people the session outside may be disqualifying for this reason.
► Company employee to cooperate with the photographer and session logistics
It is an absolute necessity for the company to delegate one employee who will work with the photographer on all communication, organizational and logistic matters. Such a person will be the first point of contact between the photographer and the company - providing the photographer with all the requirements, information on the possibilities in the office space, feedback from employees, as well as providing employees with the details of the planned session, taking into account the exact shooting schedule as well as additional requirements and tips. In the event of delays in taking photos, or, for example, a random delay of a given employee, such a person must be able to coordinate the availability of other people based on the current schedule.
► Employees' clothing
This is a very important point in many respects. It is important that, as far as possible, the colors of the clothing are similar to the company's brand - if the company's flagship colors are subdued, photos of people wearing clothes of very bright, flashy colors may look unfavorable. Similarly, the colors of the clothes should take into account the background color in the photo - on the one hand, not to contrast too much, on the other - be different enough not to blend in with the background. If the clothes are to be more casual or lifestyle style - all employees should dress in a similar direction. If in business attire - then also coherently, e.g. all men either in jackets or just shirts.
For the aesthetics of business photos, it is important that the clothes are in perfect condition, i.e. without any signs of creases - in practice it is of course almost impossible, but it is definitely worth minimizing, for example by changing into the final outfit in the office.
► Glasses
The reflections in the glasses from lighting appearing in the photos are a natural matter, but it is worth minimizing this effect as much as possible. It happens that people wearing glasses only use them in specific cases - e.g. when working at a monitor - then it is advisable to remove the glasses during shooting. If the potential effect of reflections in the glasses is definitely undesirable by the client, then this fact should be communicated to the photographer before the session, so that during the session he can apply special effects leading to the complete elimination of reflections.]
In any case, it is important that the glasses are perfectly clean - removing all kinds of dirt and dust can be very expensive in post-processing.
► Makeup
This issue, of course, concerns mainly women, but some comments may also apply to men - unfavorable light reflections on the skin caused by the type of makeup used or simply by sweating the face. It is necessary to inform the ladies in advance so that on the day of the photo session they use makeup that does not exacerbate the reflections of light. For the purpose of minimizing reflections of sweaty skin, special facial degreasing wipes must not be missing on the set.
► Hairstyle, hair
It is practically always necessary to correct the hairstyle directly on the set - so it is very important that the photographed people have a brush or comb with them.
► Face retouching
Face retouching is carried out in the process of photo processing and consists in removing skin imperfections from the photo. This is done in a gentle way so as not to affect the image of the person being photographed under any circumstances. For men, the retouching is usually symbolic, for women it is adapted to the needs. In the event that a given person wishes to retouch a stronger one in a specific direction, then it must be given to the photographer in good time.
Feel free to view my portfolio with examples of business portraits, and to contact me and take advantage of my image photography offer.
