Profile Shots
When you're asked to take some relaxed informal business portraits / profile shots of the board members for a London financial / Insurance business, where better is there to go than to a coffee shop and make the most of the different locations in there.
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.
It's always nice to see how your work ends up being used and i'm very pleased to share this with you.
So this is the end result of a head shot / profile shoot that I did with the lovely Hayley Lawes (who I met back in 2010 when I shot her wedding). She wanted something simple that could be used in a few different ways, so I suggested a few different set ups and a change of clothes to get the most out of the portrait shoot. And I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I didn't think the website would be as image heavy as it is and I think it looks great.
Hayley is so professional and great at what she does and I love how her coaching site really shows her off as she is really selling herself.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
Award winning boutique digital agency Bite Studios, commissioned me to take some portraits for them at their Brighton studio. The idea being that we would take a few different types of images that could be used for different purposes. So we took some classic head shots / profile images, some half body portraits and some more character full length portraits. Each of these can be used in different ways for example, on the 'about' page, on blog post to denote the author, on LinkedIn profiles, any company marketing material, when they give talks at conferences etc. By taking a few different styles of portraits in one session we made the most of the photo shoot and Bite got real value for money. Also as with all my corporate portrait shoots, we made a note of the set up, so that when they expand we can shoot new staff members in the same way.
I won't make this a long blog post, i'll just let the pictures do the talking. So check out the big group shot, which can be added to should we need to, the character portraits and the profile shots (which i've converted to black and white, to show you something different as lots of companies want black and white images instead of colour ones)
If you'd like some company profile shots and want to take advantage of my HALF PRICE HEAD SHOTS offer check out the link and get in contact with me.
Business head shots. Company profile photos. Corporate Portraits. Call them what you like, i'm offering them all half price in February!!!!!
Yes thats right, HALF PRICE HEAD SHOTS. If you've been thinking of getting some new photos of staff, for your 'About Us' page on your website or for any of your print needs, well now could be just the right time.
Having good photos of the people who work for a company raises the profile of that business. It says that you invest and take pride in your staff members and if you value your staff, you'll value your clients and customers. How often have you looked at a companies website to see who you are dealing with? Checked out the person who you regularly speak to on the phone? Well we all know that people buy from people and it's always good for business, to place a face with a name. Have you ever seen a companies website where all the photos of the staff look so different and disjointed? It just isn't professional and what does it say about that business?
Why not used an experienced professional photographer to come into your place of business and set up a mobile studio, with minimal disruption to the working day, and take quality portraits of your staff members. I also document how the photos are taken, incase people can't make the shoot that day, the company expands and gets new staff etc. So that we are able to duplicate the photos at a later date, should we need to, so that they can fit into the existing about us page.
I'm very experienced in taking portraits of business people and have been doing so for a number of years, my portraits are regularly used in magazines and online. I've written photography books, I teach other photographers and regularly write articles for leading photography magazine. I use traditional portrait techniques to achieve the best photos of people who are not used to being in front of the camera. I work with the minimal of disruption to the working day and produce quality images for clients time after time. I'm based in Brighton, Sussex but i'm able to travel all over the South East and London.
Why not use an experienced professional photographer to help show of your company?
If you'd like to find out more about the HALF PRICE HEAD SHOTS deal or to speak to me about any other photography needs that you may have, please do get in contact with me by clicking this link.
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I really like doing company profile shots. I can guarantee that most people who I have to shoot a portrait of for their work, always start the conversation off with "I hate having my photo taken and have never had a nice photo taken of me." Admittedly it's not the best way to start a conversation off with someone who's about to take your portrait, but the conversation usually ends with "Oh, I'm really pleased with that photo. Thanks."
I see taking someone's portrait as a two way process, so I always involve my subjects in the decision making process and we work together to get a great image of them that they are happy with. This way we end up with comments from people like "That's the best photo that anyones ever taken of me" and "oh you're such a genius"......OK that last one was made up, but it's really nice to change someone opinion of photography and having their photo taken.
These images were from a recent corporate portrait shoot that I did for a Brighton based business psychologists Criterion Partnership's new revamped website (which at the time of writing this blog post is still in development, but should be up soon).
If you'd like some company profile shots / corporate portraits / company head shots, call it what you like, but please do get in contact with me here, as i'd love to help you out.
