Creative Commercial Company Head Shots

Creative Commercial Company Head Shots

Creative Commercial Company Head Shots

I've just finished editing a quick commercial company head shot shoot which I photographed in London last week between board meetings. 

I didn't have long with each subject but we managed to do a quite a few different group shots as well as a load of different head shots / profile portraits for each board member in colour and in black & white. I like the challenge of working quickly with people who aren't used to having their photo taken. 

If you're looking for any company profile shots / commercial & business staff head shots / corporate profile shots, please do give me a shout as I'd love to hear from you.

Company brochure photography

It's always nice to see your work in it's finished form for a commercial client. I love the way that graphic designers work with my photographs and incorporate them into company brochures. I'm so used to seeing them in a 3 x 2 ratio and straight out of camera, that it's really interesting seeing how they are manipulated and changed to work with the final graphics.

So this was a shoot that I did for Riverside Environmental Services via a design agency, a while back where I got to spend a day with them at their business headquarters and see the kind of work that they do there. It's always really useful to spend time with clients and see how the business works as I feel this is reflected in the final photography.

If you're interested in finding out how I can help your business, just get in contact. I'd love to hear from you. 

Why I’m changing how I use Instagram

Why I’m changing how I use Instagram

I’ve really started to think long and hard about how I use the wonderful photo sharing app Instagram. The world of photography has changed a hell of a lot in the last few years and it’s got me thinking. 

So as a bit of a background my profile on Instagram says: “I shoot people. Usually for work. Always for fun. ——— All photos are taken on an iPhone.”

Flickr

Back in the day I was a massive fan of a photography sharing website called Flickr. You may have heard of it? But do you use it to share your photos?

I don’t any more. I used to on a daily basis. In fact I was on there before I was on Facebook and used it so much, that I thought what’s the point of this new fangled Facebook with Flickr being so popular. 

Well around 2009 I just found that Flickr died a death. I used to do a 365 Day Self Portrait project and my photography was regularly getting loads of hits a day and seen by so many people. But that just stopped. I wasn’t checking it as much and chances are all those other people weren’t. 

Where do I upload my photography to now?

Well I put a very limited amount of family and friends stuff on Facebook. My wedding photography goes on my wedding photography website www.vivaweddingphotography.com and my commercial photography goes on my commercial photography website www.adambronkhorst.com. The final bit of the puzzle is my iPhone snaps of everyday life. Well that goes on Instagram.

I suppose there isn’t one place where you can see all my photography. Well all the stuff that i’m proud off and want to show off. This all seems a bit fragmented. After all i’m a photographer and I use the same creative vision no matter what i’m shooting. So it seems only sensible to have somewhere to use as a photography sharing platform for all the best bits.

Instagram

Onto Instagram. I joined and started uploading iPhone photos to Instagram back in 2010. I’ve only ever uploaded photos which were taken on my iPhone. I thought that it’s a mobile photography platform to be used and viewed on a mobile device. So I used to be all snobby and couldn’t understand why people would upload anything else. 

I once wrote a book on ‘Smartphone Photography’ called Snap Shots. I looked at apps for shooting, apps for editing and apps for sharing. Instagram does all three of those in one app. It’s just brilliant. The fact that I don’t shoot or edit with it doesn’t matter. I do share my photos with it and whats more it’s not just an app for sharing your photos on other sites. It’s an amazing social network.

And thats the key. It’s a social network. It’s been embraced my so many photographers to show off their work and so much more. Why am I not using this? Why am I just using it to show, what is for me, the least interesting of my photography? And by that I mean the photos I put the least effort and thought into?

Instagram is so much more than just a photo taking app. It’s become the place to view photographers work. I don’t have to just put my iPhone photos up there. I can share my commercial portrait work. I can put the odd wedding photo on there. I can also put my family and friends stuff up there and everyone can see it all in one place. It’s my photography and my style will hopefully be obvious in all my work. Why limit myself?

The plan

So from now on my Instagram account is going to look very different. There’ll be a load of other work on there for everyone too see. I’ll still post the iPhone photography. But i’ll keep that to Square and i’ll tag it with #iPhone. After all the best camera is the camera you have with you. I still love shooting with my iPhone, so that’ll never stop.

I’m hoping that it’ll open up my photography to a whole new audience and people that liked my wedding photography can see that I love commercial portraits. And people that love my commercial work can see that I put just as much effort into shooting my family and friends and you never know where things will lead. I’ve seen some amazing things happen on Instagram so i’m embracing change.

So it looks like Flickr is alive and well now; it’s just called Instagram and everyone has it in their pocket. 

I’m also going to change my profile and remove that snobby saying “All photos taken on an iPhone”.

Adam Bronkhorst’s Instagram Account is dead. Long live Adam Bronkhorst’s Instagram Account.

10 tips to look good in business head shots / professional corporate portraits / about me profile shots

10 tips to look good in business head shots / professional corporate portraits / about me profile shots / staff photos

I’ve been shooting professional commercial portraits for almost 10 years now and I’ve picked up a few tips that can really help out when having your photo taken. Lets face it, no one gives you any advice, so I thought i’d try and help you get the most out of having your profile photo taken. So here they are:

1. Think about what you are going to wear

So don’t wear any graphic logo t-shirts or band names or funny slogans on your top. The chances are that they may be cut off in the shot and look silly. After all who wants to wear a T-Shirt with the slogan “my mum went on holiday and all I got was this lousy T-shirt’. When thats photographed and it’s just a head shot, it’ll be your face with the words ‘my mum’ below it. You’d be surprised how many people have writing on their tops and it just looks bad. After all this photo is probably going to last a couple of years on the companies website. So a band who may be cool now, might not be in two years time. Or you might have got a promotion and don’t want to be associated with One Direction any more now that you’re a manager.

Also patterns and thin stripes don’t work well on camera and computer screens. There is a thing called the moire effect when thin strips close together create a secondary rippling pattern. This is especially evident when an image is small on a screen. Also patterns which look cool on your clothes may just be a busy visual noise on camera. So if you can think about wearing something plain that will look good no matter what size the image is.

A lot of portraits get converted into black and white. So something else to consider is the tones that you wear. That pink tie with that light blue shirt may look great in real life, but by the time the image has been converted to black and white, they may be the same tone and just blend into one an other. So think about contrast and tones and if in doubt take a couple of shots of yourself in the mirror on your phone and convert them to black and white and see what looks good.

2. Shiny skin

Most of the time when a photographer comes into your work place and sets up a studio the chances are they will be using artificial lights. This is to ensure that they can get constant results from the portraits. This is great as they will usually set up the lighting to get the most flattering image of you. However one of the disadvantages of studio lighting is that it can often make your skin look shiny / glossy / sweaty / greasy. This is especially true in the summer when it’s a hot day. So ladies i’d recommend a bit of concealer / foundation. And gentlemen I trip to the toilet to wash your face just before you have your photo taken, or a quick wash with a baby wipe also works well. As no one wants to look like a sweaty mess in their photos.

3. Your hair

I’ve had so many people arrive to have their staff photo taken and they’ve just rushed over to me though the wind and their hair is a total mess. I have to admit this is more likely for women than men as the guys tend to have shorter hair and it doesn’t get messed up that much. But the ladies with long hair, I’d always recommend bringing a brush with you to the shoot. You want your hair to be like a shampoo advert. Looking all smooth flowing, full bodied and neat. Don’t have loads of straggly strands of messy hair. Make sure that it’s all brushed and neat around the edges. If you have a fringe and want that looking good, try not to have any big gaps in there, unless that’s what you like. Photoshopping hair is so difficult as there are so many different lines in so many different directions that it really is a specialist job and usually over and above what is included in the job. It’s so much easier to get it right before the photo is taken than afterwards.

4. Make up

This is a professional shot of you at work. So think about that when you’re applying your make up. A natural look always works best. Don’t go overboard, what you’d do for a big night out, probably won’t work for a corporate head shot. Keep it simple and make sure it feels good for you. If you normally wear a strong lipstick, then thats fine, but don’t go for a bold look if you don’t normally look like that. After all you want the image to be a good professional representation of yourself. 

5. Glasses

This isn’t a big one, but it’s probably worth mentioning. So if you normally wear glasses and people are used to seeing you in them. Wear them. If you only wear them for computer work (like me) and don’t often wear them when meeting people, make the decision beforehand whether or not to wear them in the photo. If you aren’t going to wear them, make sure you take your glasses of way before you come to have your photo taken, so you don’t have two red marks either side of your nose. It takes a while for them to go down. So leave plenty of time. 

If you are going to wear your glasses, there are a couple of things that are really worth doing. First of all give them a really really really good clean. It’s surprising how much dust / fingerprints / eyelash hair etc. can show up in the final image. So make sure the lenses are spotless and if your frames pick up fingerprints or grease marks give them a clean as well.

Lastly when you’re having your photo taken, make sure you push your glasses back as far as they will go. Often glasses just slip slightly down the nose and tend to cover your eyes every so slightly. In profile photos, it’s really important to see your eyes, so when the glasses are pushed back that shows them off to their best.

5. Your best side

A lot of people know how they look on camera and what side of their face they prefer. I personally don’t so it always surprises me when people say this is my best side. But it really helps me and makes my life easier as I’ll focus on that side and work with it. 

Likewise if there is a feature of your face that you don’t like or something that you are self conscious of let the photographer know. So I’ve often had people let me know that they don’t like the fact that one of their eyes is bigger than the other. So i’ll make sure I shoot with that eye closest to the camera, so perspective makes it look slightly bigger. I’ve also had lots of people tell me they don’t like their teeth, so we’ll get them smiling with their mouth closed. It’s much easier to tell your photographer these things, than to put up with a portrait that you don’t like. Think of us photographers like doctors, you can tell us anything without being embarrassed. Chances are we’ve heard it all before.

7. The right height

Try to get the same height or just below the camera lens. Your photographer will always advise you what works best for the portrait. However if you’re very tall you are probably used to seeing photos of you shot from below. This can emphasise double chins and isn’t the most flattering of angles. So if you are really tall, one thing you can do is to spread your legs as wide as you can. Yep thats right adopt that rock pose. This will have the effect of bringing your height down a couple of inches. It’s much better to do this than to squat a bit. When you squat for a period of time, it tends to hurt. Thats why lots of people do it for exercise as it’s a good work out for your muscles. However when you’re in pain, guess what, that tends to show on your face. Which will show in the photo and you’ll look awful. So the advantage of spreading your legs is that it’s much more comfortable that a squat.

8. Shut up

I can guarantee that one of the first things that people say to me when they come into have their photo taken is ‘I hate having my photo taken, I’ve never had a picture that i’m happy with.’  And then they proceed to nervously chat away in front of the camera and all i’m capturing is them talking and pulling faces. So if thats the kind of thing that you’ll do to calm yourself, don’t. Stop talking for a few minutes. Take a deep breath and relax. You’re in safe hands. The photographer wants to take the best picture that they can of you and make you happy. Just have trust in them.

Saying that I often talk to my subjects to relax them a bit and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera, but just be aware of how much you’re talking and if you’d talking too much.

9. Smile

Easier than you may think. How do you like yourself when you’re smiling in a photo? Lips shut or lips open? If you’re not sure, ask your photographer what looks best. They can take a few tests shots and can work with you to find what suits you best. Or take a few photos of yourself and ask friends and family.

I’ve always found that when you ask someone to smile for the camera, it tends to look a little fake. It’s not a proper smile and what I mean by that is that it doesn’t show in the eyes. So I never ask people to smile. I either try to make them smile or I ask them to think about someone or something that makes them laugh. That way I get a great reaction and a genuine smile. So if you think about someone / something funny when having your photo taken it’ll look much better and more natural.

10. Visit the mirror just before you have your photo taken

Lastly, I’d always advise a quick stop off to check yourself in the mirror before you go to have your head shot done. The chances are that the photographer has never met you before, so they don’t know what you look like. So just give yourself the once over to make sure that you’re happy with the way you look. That your hair looks good. Your necklace hasn’t slipped round. You’re tie is straight and the top button isn’t showing. There is no food in your teeth etc.

-----

So thats about it for now. I may do a follow up one at some point in the future as this isn’t a definitive list by any means but just some easy tips that i’ve picked up over the years.

To have a look at some of my company profile head shots have a look at this link.

If you have any more tips or anything that’s worked for you, or you’d like to add to this, please do leave a comment below.