Category Archives: executive portraits
White On
Headshot/White Background
Occasionally a client requires us to supply a headshot using a white background. This is usually at the request of a public relations firm, marketing firm or advertising agency, etc. The idea here is that we take your “corporate type” (in this case, consultant Larry Poe) and shoot a nice headshot portrait in front of a pure white background and they can do several things with it. For the most part what they are going to want to do with it is “knife it in” to some type, just like I have done with one we shot yesterday to show as an example. In this case a company wanted a half-dozen shots of a corporate executive for future uses that would fit many needs. To do this (as your headshot photographer should know) you really want to light up the background at least to match or better the f-stop of the subject matter. This way it is nice and bright, or “blown out” as many call it. Otherwise it will go light gray and be harder to work with. We do this by using two separage umbrellas and shooting them right at the background itself to really light it up. Now the nice thing about this type of file, is that it can be used later on with a background that you can drag and drop it on to. With a little nip and tuck it will look pretty darn passable and not have the “copy/paste” look to it. Since we have our client where we want him / her we like to offer a bit more service, so we toss in a few real backgrounds while they are there and shoot some headshots for them without the white one the original client requested. That way the person having his or her headshot photo done has the option of having a nice, headshot portrait in the more traditional way with one of our available backgrounds.
Sal Sessa /Dallas Headshots
Headshot Backgrounds (Go For It)
Hotel Headshot Background
On a recent corporate headshot portrait shoot in Dallas at the Hilton Park Cities Hotel, our client wanted a “natural background” vs. a standard background for a new look they were trying to get for their web page. She showed me a bunch of samples and they were good. Good enough to make me excited for a bit of a challenge. Well, the challenge got more interesting when we entered the hotel which was, albeit beautiful, small. I mean the lobby was very small and, being a lobby, busy. There were only two hallways available which were uninteresting, dark and busy. We would have to shoot the thing at 1/4th of a second, even at ISO 400 with this, and even that would be at 2.8. This is photographer lingo for, uh, not good. The assistant and I worked intently to try and come up with something, but the clock was ticking and getting closer and closer to the appropriate time to start shooting the corporate executives. At this point I was hoping someone would just shoot me. This is when you either decide to “go for it” or “punt.” But only if you know what to expect after-the-fact. We had looked at a background (a very large mural painting) that had a lot of nice swirl and warmth to it, that I felt would be perfect. But we spent 3/4 of the time looking for something better, which was our first mistake (oh, yeah, we make them!) LOL. Since we had tested it when we walked in, and were (please excuse the football analogy) on the 5 yard line, 4th down with seconds to go we went for it, re-tested quickly and were in gear as our first of nine Moneygram subjects walked out for their headshot portrait. So when shooting headshot portraits on location you not only have to be geared up for surprises, but you have to know that when it comes down to it, intuition and going with your gut is important as well.
Sal Sessa /Dallas Headshots
Headshot Portraits (Keep the background)
Business Portrait Background
Okay. Well? Say you actually need to have your headshot photographer provide you with a background for your company’s corporate business portraits. It is a requirement, or it is how they have been done in the past. You know. Company policy! You look at your website’s headshots and screech! Ahhh. What were they thinking? And / or, “Woa. All over the place.” The former, is an easy fix if all of your executives, managers or employees are available in the same town, but trickier if they are all over the country (more later.) So, let’s say you want backgrounds. First things first. Just my opinion, but I would avoid the whole “green screen” thing. You know, the one where the photographer brings in a background and then “paints in” one you pick from a lineup later. To me? Looks fake. Next step? When you are interviewing photographers, you want to look at their headshot samples and ask if they can just show you examples of backgrounds by themselves. At Dallas Headshots we have samples of what we use on location all in a row, so you can see side-by-side, and additionally samples of all three with headshots in place. Of course, we have more than three, but to keep it simple we offer these first. We will expand the conversation on backgrounds in the next few headshot photo-blogs. But in general, you want to make sure your photographer gives some separation between the subject and the background and maybe lights the background as well. It just adds a nicer look, and allows the headshot photographer to blur out the background more. This results in less distraction from the background and the eye going to the headshot subject (your very busy, important executive type!)
Sal Sessa /Dallas Headshots
Portrait Headshots (Dump The Background)
Business Portrait Background
Sometimes a headshot just won’t do. You might need something more powerful and more creative. That’s when we dump the background and “go commando” in the corporate client’s office to show them off in all of their glory. We do do this by using some different lighting usually (soft-boxes vs. umbrellas, very slow exposures and shallow-depth-of-field to blur out the background.) Usually these type of executive portraits are three-quarter shots and the executive can be leaning a bit, or have a hand on a chair, etc. Just so they are not stiff looking in a straight, up and down position. I mean, you want them to look strong, but not dead. I once had a very high-end, head-of-the-company (and a very big company at that) tell me “I don’t lean.” In that case there is a lot of stuff you can do, but that (posing) can be looked at in another conversation. Here we want to take a look at setup. What’s the photographer’s nightmare? Well, he / she walks into the company’s office and finds nothing but rows of cubicles, low ceilings, iridescent lights and windows to brick buildings. In this case we look for anything that we can turn into a shape to frame the subject, and thus make the portrait more interesting. We also like incandescent (like the lightbulbs you have at home) lighting in the background as it makes the headshot-portraits nice and warm. We use a different type of lighting on these. And, in the case of the portrait photo on the left, we can use a bit of more interesting composition if allowed. Still soft, but we like to “carve in” a bit and light just the subject while letting the background do it’s own thing. This type of job usually takes a headshot photographer AND an assistant. We really feel it’s worth the additional expense as it makes everything go much smoother for both the client and the photographer. More later.
Sal Sessa /Dallas Headshots
Portraits vs. Headshots
Dallas Executive Portrait
So. To continue the conversation. Last conversation we coined the term “Headshot Portrait.” A “better headshot” than you might expect to get. Something we all want (a little something better!) But when you hire your headshot portrait photographer (in my case, here in Dallas) you may want to make the distinction as to what you expect from him / her. We (at “Dallas Headshots”) distinguish between headshot portraits and portraits.
If you are a company wanting to line up a bunch of your employees and are going to feature them side by side or top to bottom, you want the the background to match and a nice, uniform look. The traditional headshot will do you perfectly fine here. It is tight in on the head-and-shouldders, and since it is usually run small will look good with that crop. Plus in this case all anyone wants is a good look at a smiling face!
But if you want to show off your CEO, top brass or head honchos, you might want to consider stepping up the game a bit and asking your photographer for an “executive portrait.” The difference will be (at least how we approach it) that the portrait will be a (in most cases) singular experience where the photographer will come in, scout the office / lobby area for a beautiful background that will compliment the portrait. In my case I look for something creamy and dreamy that is warm. I want to throw it out of focus anyway so as to make the subject stand out nice and sharp. This is where you want your headshot guy / gal to have a good eye. Picking the right background as _almost_ as important as the business portrait itself. But we can get to the “taking of” the executive portrait next time.
Sal Sessa /Dallas Headshots
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