Corporate Portrait

Research

When i think of a corporate portrait firstly i think of an office with the MD sat behind the desk, this certainly isnt the type of Photography that i find appealing despite the fact that there is money in this field.

Through this part of the brief i would like to try to explore a slightly less cliche side to corporate Photography, this was something that Andy mentioned as an option in the briefing and i think it would be more successful and interesting to try to do a 'fine art' take on the corporate portrait.

I decided to look up some examples of Corporate Photography first of all:

This could be classed as corporate in a sense but it is perhaps bordering more on advertising as the model is in low contrast black and white as opposed to the ring which is in colour to make it stand out.

This is perhaps a typical example of a corporate photograph, a woman dressed in formal office clothing, although the composition is slighlty unusual. This isn't the type of image that inspires me as i would like to produce something a little more personal.
For the corporate portrait i initially thought of doing a 'typical' shot of someone in an office. As i work part-time in a large finance company i would have been able to use one of the directors as a model. On thinking about this i have decided this would be quite dull and its not something i would find particularly interesting or rewarding.

I was asked to Photograph someone for their new business venture so that they can use the images on both the website and the various methods of advertising, i decided to use this as part of my Corporate Portrait research. I offered the client a discount on the price in and in return i will produce both the images they require and some experimental images that i may use for part of my work.

I have booked the studio and will show the images at a later date but in the mean time i decided to research to find some inspiration, both myself and the client have a few ideas but i suggested they find a few images they like and i also do some research and we can possibly try to re-create this and maybe gain other ideas from this.

This is a photograph of Booty Luv a girl band, i like the style of the shot with the black background and also the almost candid style.

Unfortunately the models i were using turned out un-reliable and after cancelling a shoot three times throughout the last 3 months they have said they cant make it until the summer.

I thought about finding alternative models but i have experimented quite a lot with corporate and i would rather focus on an area that interests me more.

Practice

I decided to go into the studio and try a few practice shots. I have booked the Studio for the 12th March when i have a client coming in for a Corporate shoot,  i wanted to make sure i was prepared (especially as they are paying me) so decided to try out a few types of lighting.

Although last semester i experimented with different lighting and modifiers, the subject was a piece of fruit and a bottle so where this gives me an idea of the effect of different lighting setups, the effect will be quite different on people.

Here i will will show the effect of different lighting in portraits.

I already have some examples from last Semester's work which are:

Natural Light

F6.3, 1/40 Sec, ISO 400

This was an image i took in a Studio session with the model and using natural daylight coming through the windows in front of the model, the white backgroud reflecting the light back toward the window, and a gold reflector underneath her to fill in any dark shadows on her face and warm up her skin slightly.

As you can see the lighting is very effective for Beauty shots like this as the flooding of light makes the skin look flawless (this image hasn't been edited).

Daylight & Halogen

F5.6, 1/80 Sec, ISO 800

This was taken in the studio with daylight coming from above and two Halogen lights also, i think this creates quite a cold light not ideal for portraits.

F5.6, 1/50 Sec, ISO 1000

This was an image taken for a group task using a continuous fluorescent light on the right, i wanted a cold feel so it was appropriate for the image and also worked well with still life such as flowers but not something i plan to use for the corporate portrait.

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 500

This was a test shot i did in the daylight studio, using natural light from the front in the same setup as the previous images with the model, i think this is quite effective although it is a little cold this can be warmed up in lightroom.

F5.6, 1/200 Sec, ISO 100

I decided to try a different lighting setup and so i used two softboxes on either side of the model using an approximate 45/45 setup. I think this is the most appropriate type of lighting that i have tried so far, this image hasn't been edited and still the models skin looks flawless and the light is very even.

After a Photoshop workshop last week i have been practising and wanted to try to use these skills for this image, here is the edited version:

F5.6, 1/200 Sec, ISO 100

I am really pleased with the result, i think its probably easy to tell where i have edited this to a 'trained' eye, but for my first attempt at 'airbrushing' i think it works very well. This was only a test shoot but i have learned a few things from doing this that i will put to practise when i do my Corporate shoot.

I also tried another idea, which was a different twist on the idea of a corporate image:

F5.6, 1/200 Sec, ISO 100

I like this image although it may not be classed as corporate this was just some experimenting, i do think i may have gone a little too far with the 'spray tan'!

2nd March

I got a call from a business looking for some corporate portraits after seeing my Facebook business page, they wanted images of the directors and also some of the staff. I thought these images would be perfect examples of my  Corporate Portraits.


The client wanted 'typical' posed images including the directors at their desks and in the board room, i found it quite difficult to Photograph people in this environment as it was certainly a first for me! It was very formal and at one point they had a business meeting but asked me to Photograph them whilst they were talking.


I think this was an invaluable experience for me as although i work in an office and therefore corporate environment, i learned a lot about what is required with this type of Photography.


Luckily i had borrowed the flash from Kevin so still had this with me to do the job, i found it quite problematic because i had little experience in using this equipment. I practised at the weekend but still couldnt get used to the functions it offered and as this was a last minute job i didnt have time to prepare.

When i arrived i was asked to take photographs of all the staff both individually and in groups, and also photograph the directors together in a meeting and also seperately both posed and un-posed. The images are going to be used on the companies new website and some may be used in the booklets, leaflets and advertising campaigns in the future, no pressure for my first ever paid job as a Photographer then!


Here are some of the images i took:

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 800

This was one of the first images taken during the meeting, it was difficult to get a good shot where the mens faces were all reasonably expressive with no one blinking. I think this shot looks quite professional and hopefully will be what the clients were looking for.

Another challenge was that with them being in the middle of a meeting i was unable to give direction on the pose or position of the men so simply had to make the most out of what was in front of me. Once i had finished photographing them i had stand and wait for them to finish the meeting which i thought was quite uncomfortable. This isn't the type of Photography that i enjoy doing, i found it hard to relax and make the person i was Photographing feel comfortable but i think with confidence in my ability that will improve.

F5.6, 1/100 Sec, ISO 800

F5.6, 1/100 Sec, ISO 800

F5.6, 1/100 Sec, ISO 320

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 320

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 320

All in all i feel that both the shoot itself and the images are quite banal but i understand that they serve a purpose and most importantly they are what the client wanted for their website.

I found it difficult to get a shot that i was happy with because the clients had a clear idea of what they wanted and they didnt respond to direction even when i assured them it would get a better result.

Although this type of Photography doesn't interest me it has helped me to see some of my weak points and things that i need to improve on. The main things in my opinion is building my confidence to photograph people- which will only come from practice and experience, and learning how to make the best out of the available light. So i plan to buy a flash gun and read the manual firstly, and i think by reading many of the books i already have this would definitely help

improve my skills for now.

Another Corporate Shoot

I was asked by a local building firm to produce some Corporate images for them to use on their website and advertising.

Using two large softboxes to create a soft natural light i produced several images that the client was very pleased with, below are the edited photographs.

F4, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

This shot was taken with my lens set to a wide angle of 17mm so the model looks slightly odd in that his head looks very small and the bottom half of his body appears to dominate the frame, i may just be being picky here though as the client was more than happy to use the shot on their website.

F4, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F4.5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F4.5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

The lighting here looks very uneven, i think this is because the model has moved forward and closer to the camera and softbox so there is not enough light around the front and instead mainly on the right hand side.

F4.5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F4, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F4, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F5, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

I wanted to see what these images would look like de-saturated, i like the above image although its probably not something that would be used in a corporate sense or for web and marketing use.

F4, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

F5.6, 1/100 Sec, ISO 100

This image has been edited by increasing the fill and blacks in LR, some people have said they dont like this effect but on certain subjects i like the painterly quality that it gives an image, although it wouldnt be appropriate for everything.

I have learnt a few things from the Corporate portraits, although i have found that its not something i would want to do for a career. Saying this though, it may be something i have to do to earn the money for the things that i am passionate about.