GOOD VIBRATIONS

Conveying and preserving your unique corporate personality:

Business and corporate photography and portraiture are so much more than taking an attractive photograph. Business photography is a critical means to set a tone, tell a story, convey a message. And in today’s reality of nanosecond attention spans, creating photography that immediately delivers the right message is even more critical than ever. That’s where combining expertise, knowledge from past photo-shoots and good listening skills make the difference between “just a pretty picture” and “hitting it out of the park.”

To that end and to maximize our success during a shoot, I start by obtaining key essential information. Before I take the lens cap off.  Before I set up.  Before I arrive.  I arm myself with the facts that will help ensure reaching the project’s objective. For corporate portraiture or headshots. What character traits need to be demonstrated. In control? Casual? Conservative? Innovative? Additionally, I find out the usage for the photo. Is this for a magazine article in Inc. Magazine, or for Wired? Or is this for a CV or company website? By equipping myself with this information, and instilling that knowledge into how I compose the shot… with relevant background, pose, facial expression, color palette, etc., I produce a successful image that both pleases the client and meets the intended use requirements of the photo.

Even when shooting non-portrait corporate photography, such as a storefront, work process, or staff grouping, I find out the main character requirements for the company. When I am asked to shoot a lab setting, I determine what the company wants to portray. Innovation? Purity? Warmth? Success?  Determination? Predisposition to action? Just like character traits for people, companies have their own persona so to speak. I consider it my job as a photographer to evoke that company persona in every shot. And I don’t neglect the image’s use as well. Is this picture for the Corporate Annual Report, website, lifestyle magazine?  The “vibe” that will be most harmonious with the end use will be the most successful, and will result in the best return for your investment in photography.