Headshots
Corporate headshots have become a personal favorite area of photography. It may sound contradictory, but there’s a certain freedom in the limitations imposed by the realities of the shoot. Maybe not a freedom, per se, but certainly a degree of creativity that comes from the scenario.
The limitations in a corporate head shot session are many. The main one is that your time is dictated by the availability of people who are very busy and not very inclined to make time for a photo shoot. CEOs are no different from the rest of the world – given the choice between a conference call and smiling for the camera, the conference call will win every time.
Beyond the time factor, however, there are other limitations. The shoot will almost always be on-site at their offices, and their offices will often not be what they want to have published. Again going with the “CEOs are no different” theory, the desks of busy people tend to look, well, busy. That’s not always the makings of great photos.
So I was very fortunate when I did a recent photo shoot with the executive committee of Ventana Medical Systems in Oro Valley, AZ. The company needed headshots of the CEO, CFO, and COO – both individually and as a group and in two different sets. We did the studio background first. The background shown in the image at left is a white vinyl window shade (click the image for a larger view). We used several different color gels until we found a backdrop that made everyone happy.
After the individual shots, we shot the three CxO’s as a group. For this, we decided the easiest and best option would be isolated against a white background. That had its own set of challenges, mainly the height differences among the three men. One of the things I love about commercial photography is that many times it’s more about problem solving and engineering solutions than about aesthetics. I suppose that appeals to my inner geek.