In this video, I'm going to walkthrough some tips for taking better
business portraits, what to consider before you start shooting:
lens choice, backgrounds, lighting, camera settings
and how to get the best from your subject.
Over the years as a commercial photographer I've shot
thousands of business portraits from small local business owners
to CEOs in Hong Kong, bankers in Switzerland,
and i've even spent a week shooting an entire skyscraper of business people in
London. Speed and efficiency are key to ensuring
a successful shoot but there's far more to consider
than just that. In our portrait section on Karl Taylor
Education, you'll find a number of business
portrait photography classes along with a very important class on
business portrait theory but here I've outlined some of
the key elements to give you a good start to
successfully tackling a business shot. Now, at first glance it
may seem pretty obvious what a business portrait
is - they are sometimes for a company website, a brochure,
an annual report, or for a newspaper, or magazine
article and of course they feature an individual
but it's important to remember that the images represent the company
not the individual and the sooner you realize this
and concentrate on the requirements of the company
as well as the individual then the more successful you will be.
For example, nearly everyone hates having their photo taken
and 7 out of 10 people will probably dislike
seeing their own photo unless they're a supermodel.
That's normal, it doesn't mean it's a bad photo,
it's just something people dislike... like going to the dentist.
The point is, you're not generally shooting it for the benefit of the
individual, you're shooting it for the benefit of
the company and if they, or their marketing team, like it and it
meets expectations, then that's what counts. Of course you
must do all you can to satisfy the individual
but remember they will not always be the decision maker so find out
what the company needs and don't pander to requests for... I think I'll be
better if I'm here, or I prefer to stand like this. If that's
not what the person booking the job requested. Depending on the company that
booked you, they may have a very rigid structure and
image guidelines that they want you to follow
or they may have hired you for your creative input.
Be clear on the expectations and what's required before the shoot.
Before you start shooting, when taking business portraits,
it is essential to understand and remember the purpose
of the images. The most important thing to remember when taking business
portraits is that your client will want your
subject to appear confident and approachable. That's easy in theory
but not everyone feels confident having their photo taken.
Companies don't want grinning Cheshire cats and they don't want grumpy
unapproachable looking staff either because it's not good for business.
Fortunately there are a few things you can do that will help your subject
appear more confident. The first thing is adjusting their
posture. By getting your client to stand up straighter,
they automatically appear more confident. A better posture also helps people
appear more alert and slimmer and help smooth out any
wrinkles in their clothing. Now as the photographer you have to be
confident too. Your confidence will transfer to your
subject and help put them at ease. When I greet
my subjects I immediately talk them through
what's going to happen. I explain the process,
what I'm going to be doing and why I'm going to be asking them to do it.
By explaining all of this to them they feel less
awkward and realize that you're in control.
Maintain that control politely or with a sense of humor
when it comes to posing. Again, it's important to remember why you're taking
these pictures. The subject should look relaxed, yet
confident and approachable. For male subjects, I ask
them to put their hands in their pockets, this helps them adopt a more relaxed
pose and also helps the shoulders to sit better. For female subjects I generally
get them to hold their hands in front of them.
It's also usual to turn your subjects at a 45-degree angle to the camera,
this slims the body and looks less confrontational. Also
don't shoot from too low down, or from too
high up, just slightly from above eye level
is a good shooting position on a standing shot
but you can shoot from above if they're seated at a desk
as part of the shot. Lens choice. Lens choice is an important factor when
it comes to portrait photography and business portraits are no different.
This 'Lens choices for studio work' video, which forms part of our portrait course,
is a great example of the effects of different lenses and
explains how to choose the right lens for your portrait photography.
The last thing you want is a lens that will distort your subject and make them
look nothing like they do in real life. Your focal length should also place you
the right distance from your subject. If you're using a 20-millimeter lens it
goes without saying that you'll be too close and you'll have distortion. On
the other hand a 200-millimeter lens will place
you too far away and your subject will feel
disconnected from the viewer. Also, if your focal length is too long,
the perspective will appear too flat and the subject will look chunky. My
go-to lens for business portraits is my 100-millimeter lens on a medium format
camera which is the equivalent of around
85-millimeter on a 35-millimeter full-frame camera
but you can make good business portraits with anywhere from between
50-millimeter and 100-millimeter in the 35-millimeter
full-frame format or slightly wider if you're doing an environmental
portrait where you need to include more of the surroundings.
Background. Now talking of surroundings, the background is an essential element
for a business portrait but unfortunately it's often overlooked.
Backgrounds for business portraits should be fairly neutral,
they shouldn't be distracting. If it's a busy background then it should be
decluttered and depth of field reduced. For studio-style portraits, I often go
for a neutral grey background with a gradient light
unless the client specifically requests otherwise.
Paper backgrounds, although a common choice, tend to warp
over time and you'll start to see small ripples appearing.
So store paper backgrounds carefully, vertically
is better to avoid the ripples which can become very obvious in your photograph
which means you'll have additional retouching work to do. You can avoid this
by using a solid background wherever possible
or vinyl, or stretched backgrounds. If you're shooting part of the location
as the background then never be afraid to de-clutter the background
and move things as necessary. You can always put them back when you're
finished. Lighting for business portraits.
Throughout my photography courses, whether it be fashion or product
shoots, you'll often see me starting with my background light
and then working forwards one light at a time,
testing each light individually, and it's far
easier to do this if you have an assistant in fact
if you want to make a career from business portraits, having an assistant
is a real asset. They can help you carry and set up all
that kit from location to location and they pose for you as a test shot
while you perfect your lighting and save wasting your clients' time. I've used a
number of different modifiers for business portraits depending on the mood
that the client wants to convey. The most common and flattering setup is
a large softbox or diffusion. This works especially well with older
people with more wrinkles as it smooths out the skin and creates
less texture. Place them slightly above your subject
and angle them down. Light always looks more natural coming
from above and put it as close to your subject as
you can to get the softest light possible.
For a more dramatic setup I'll use a silver umbrella,
beauty dishes, or my favorite, the Para133. This parabolic reflector is a more
aggressive lighting setup and although it isn't always the most flattering
light on older people, it does create a lovely catch light in
the eyes and a slight shadow on the edge of the
face has a slimming effect. The para also creates much more three
dimensionality. If you want a softer light you could
switch this out for a 150 Octa box from above
or even a 170 white umbrella. I've got lots and lots of different
lighting setups on my platform as well as the comparisons on lots of
different modifiers. Recommended camera settings for business
portraits. Once you've set your lighting you're
ready to start photographing. For this camera settings are fairly
standard. Your shutter speed should be at its
fastest flash sync speed if you want to reduce
ambient light pollution, which for 35-millimeter format cameras, is usually
around 1/250th of a second. Remember you can also
cut out ambient light pollution by switching off their office lights if
necessary. Of course if you intend to bring natural
light or ambient light into the mix then you'll need to reduce the shutter
speed accordingly. Take a test shot with and without flash
though, so you know what's going on with both of
the ambient light and the flash at different settings.
For many business shoots, I shoot at f11 on a medium format camera
which is about f8 on a 35-millimeter camera.
That ensures the whole face is sharp but sometimes you may want to open up to
f5.6 or more for creative reasons or simply to reduce
distracting backgrounds. Again it's important to remember why
you're taking these images and understand the client's requirements
in advance. Often you can simply show a client other
business portraits to get an idea from them
the direction they'd like you to go. As always there is no
universal camera setting there is only the camera settings
that are best for the scenario you're faced with.
Retouching business portraits. Retouching is almost the final step of a business
portrait shoot and I rarely deliver business portraits
without at least minimal retouching. Subjects
might have a hair out of place, a pimple, etc. and it's better to clean
those shots up before you deliver them to the client.
I don't often remove permanent features such as moles or scars
unless the subject specifically asks for it.
Simply correct things such as stray hairs, wrinkled clothing,
or non-permanent skin blemishes is all that's needed.
They don't need to be a full beauty style retouch.
Creases or misshapen clothes is actually often the biggest problem so
take the time to get people to straighten their clothing
or stand or sit appropriately and tug the clothing into place if necessary.
If that fails I have a great course on how to remove
creases and fix clothing so that it looks
natural on Karl Taylor Education. Delivery of the images. Clients don't
often need huge files so I usually deliver 4000 pixel TIFF
images and 2500 pixel JPEGs for every
shoot. That way they have them suitable for most print
and web use I keep the higher resolution images
backed up in case they need them in the future. If you're worried about them
paying on time, you can deliver watermark JPEGs and insist on payment before you
transfer the final files. And I don't often give clients a choice,
they can choose their favorite during the shoot
if necessary but due to the retouching requirements I
would only deliver one image per subject based on that
choice, otherwise you'll spend too much time on
the post-production and the job wouldn't be profitable.
Well, I hope you found this useful. If you'd like to learn some important
aspects on business portrait lighting and business portrait theory then head
over to Karl Taylor Education. Thanks for watching get my completely
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