Photography Information Corporate Photography
Corporate Photo Shoot Information
Makeup: Doing your own / professional >>
Timeline for image Delivery >>
Revealing the best You (photoshoot personal preparation) >>
Clothing
Choosing the proper attire for a corporate photo shoot should be fairly straight forward. The most important factor is the fit of the clothing. Ill formed garments can distract and diminish the crispness of the final image. Make sure any suit jackets are well fitted and ironed / steamed. Blouses should form nicely and not feel boxy or too tight in areas. Likewise the midriff should not be overly baggy as to appear larger in the mid section than reality. If in doubt bring an option, this goes for tie selections as well.
The next factor to consider is the degree of formality presented. This choice is the decision of the firm or individual as to how they would like to be perceived by their clients: Straight Business, business casual or classy casual. Consider the final audience and who will be viewing the images.
Lately I have observed a trend to less formal attire for executives and magnates of industry radiating a relaxed and approachable feel. This can work well if the setting and general feel of the image portrays friendly confidence. For a more formal appearance dark jackets always seems to appear crisp and gives a feeling of authority.
There are no solid set rules for clothing but here are a couple loose points to consider:
* for shirts (male / female) solid colours and pastels are best
* avoid contrasty or loud patterns or logos
* Men avoid herringbone suit jackets at all costs, they really do not turn out well especially if your website has dynamic image sizing.
* Avoid time sensitive fashion statements, the look should inspire timeless class and confidence.
* avoid dressing or accessorizing outside of your comfort zone as It may come off as false.
* avoid pure turtleneck with no jacket
* general colours to avoid for shirt or blouse unless you are sure: Bright green, bright yellow. This is only if the colour is taking up the whole shirt or jacket. a bright accent can be nice.
Location Office
Tom Hawkins Photography is fully capable of setting up studio quality photographs inside your office location.
Preparing Your Office / Location for shooting
Usually the board room is the best option if available. Many times corporate shoots occur at annual meetings or when board of directors meetings are happening so the main board room is unavailable during the shoot date. In this case a larger sized office or space can work, in most cases 12ft by 12ft can be workable.
Shooting in halls, open common spaces or the lunch room is possible although less desirable as passing colleges can add an extra layer of unneeded social anxiety. Many people claim they don't mind if someone else is watching the photo shoot happen but really I believe most people perform best in a private setting especially if they are slightly apprehensive about photos to begin with. Tom Hawkins does talk a fair bit while shooting so a private setting is best as not to disrupt the workflow if other people in office. If in doubt Tom Hawkins is happy to arrive 10 min earlier to scout out possible options around you office space for a suitable location.
* note: The amount of natural light entering the room does not matter because studio strobes are usually used as the main light source and overpower window light or overhead office lights.
Location StudiO
Should we come to your studio or have you come to our office?
Generally speaking if the number of executives to be photographed in a day exceeds about 3-5 persons in most cases it is more time effective for your staff if I bring the studio to your location. Keeping in mind time lost for each executive in the travel to and from the studio (about 12 min drive from downtown) plus general disruption of workflow.
Make up
Doing your own makeup for corporate headshots
Females
The main focus should be on distributing a nice and even foundation base. Adding a slight bit more powder than normal to avoid any shiny spots can go a long way. A small pop to the lips and subtle eyeliner. Try not to go overboard with the overall look and take care to make blend points as natural as possible. If in doubt just apply as normal with extra care to the foundation base. If possible bring powder to the photoshoot for a last minute light dusting to bring down the shiny spots in the T section.
Hiring Professional Make up artists
Professional make up services are offered by Tom Hawkins Photography. The make up artists provided are always seasoned professionals that are experienced in corporate style make up. The main benefit to professional make up is even out the skin tones and provide a more polished final image with less retouching. The less retouching needed on the skin the more natural and vibrant the final product appears.
Females
Female corporate photography is usually subtly glamorous while not drawing attention to the actual make up. Proper make up style should work as compliment to the sitters style and business acumen. A delicate and even foundation base is the key factor in revealing an even and soft skin tone. Group rates are offered.
Males
It's a hard sell to convince male corporate executives to apply make up but it does indeed help to achieve a polished final image if possible. I believe the main point of resistance from the executive is that they feel bashful about other colleges being made aware that they have applied makeup. The application of make up on a male is never evident in the final photo. Any images of men in magazines or movies are all wearing make up as it is the industry norm. The main point is to even out the skin tone and allow more dramatic lighting to be used with less skin retouching in post production. In short it always helps and never hurts the final image.
Time allocation for staff / executive photos
In most cases 15 min should be about right per person if they are stand type headshots for website or general promotion. It can be as little as 10min or even less if the schedule is extremely pressed, usually no more than 20min per.
Depending on the flexibility of your firms' schedule a very time efficient method is for the executives to wrangle up the next person on the list after they have completed their session. This is for maximum time efficiency but not always feasible if the executives are on set scheduled on that particular day. In that case a time slot schedule is preferable.
If shooting at your office Tom Hawkins prefers to be at the location 45min prior to the first scheduled portrait in order to set up the lights and backdrop and be absolutely ready for the first person.
Pricing
Below is the is the pricing structure for corporate shots:
The pricing is based on a sliding scale on the amount of people photographed on a given day.
1 person (@ 165 per) : $165
2 people (@ 150 per) : $300
3 people (@ 145 per) : $435
4 people (@ 140 per) : $560
5 people (@ 130 per) : $650
6 people (@ 125 per) : $750
7 people (@ 115 per) : $805
8 people (@ 110 per) : $880
9 people (@ 105 per) : $945
10 and up = $100 per
For corporate Headshots I usually take a number of shots for each person trying to achieve the best expression and feeling. I then provide a preview website to review the images online. From the previews the client chooses the one very best shot and then I proceed to retouch and prepare the chosen images. Once completed I provide the final images in high resolution (and also web optimized versions) .
If you would like me to come to your location there is an additional $150 to bring out the studio strobes and backdrop. (this cost is not needed if shooting outdoor with natural light). Plus parking if not validated.
The only other cost would be if you choose to select more than one image per person for retouching (additional are $25 per additional).
Pricing examples
2 Persons in studio
$150 x (2) = $300
Total: $300.00
6 Persons at office location
6 people (@ 125 per) : $750
Location Lighting setup: $150
Downtown parking: $15
Total: $915.00
18 Persons at office location
18 people (@ $95 per) : $1710
Location Lighting setup: $150
Downtown parking: $22
Total: $1882.00
Timeline for image Delivery
Usually the previews from photoshoot will be available for viewing 2 working weekdays after the shoot date. From there the client will review photos and make final selections for retouching. Once this is completed and images numbers are passed along to Tom Hawkins photography, it is at this time that the retouching will commence. It usually takes 4-5 working weekdays days to complete and finalize the retouching on the selected images. so the faster that the images are selected by the client the faster they will be completed.
* shoot day
* 2 working days and client receives previews
* client chooses finals 2-3 days?
* 4-5 working days for retouching and completion
For booking a photoshoot date it really depends on how the schedule is shaping up but usually 2 -3 weeks advance booking will allow more flexible shoot scheduling but it really depends on the month and week. Sometimes the schedule opens up and fast booking miracles can happen.
Billing and Payment
Tom Hawkins will usually issue an invoice after the final images have been received by the client. This is assuming the company is 10 persons or larger in staff size and has been in business for 4 or more years. Payments can be made by Cheque, e-transfer or bank transfer.
Why Choose Tom Hawkins Photography for our Corporate Headshots and portraits?
Tom Hawkins has been photographing corporate and business related photographs full time professionally for the last 13 years and has completed many hundreds of corporate photo portraits. His technical methods have been refined and streamlined over the years to the point of extreme efficiency regarding time and cost.
Revealing the best You
(photoshoot personal preparation)
Some points that may seem obvious but sometimes people overlook in regarding your photo session
In preparation:
* get a good nights rest with good hydration
* have a decent breakfast or lunch (this really helps for energy)
* do a pre-check of your clothes for fit, lint and creases
* there is no shame in doing a couple practice poses and smiles in the mirror the night before
* have fun with it, it's only photos and no one will ever see the outtakes unless you choose to share them. We just pick the very best one or two from the set for retouching.
Some people suffer from an extreme aversion to having their photos taken. This can arise from having previous bad experiences, believing they always look bad in photos or just despising having the spotlight on themselves. These are valid reasons to dislike photos but if you are reading this text then most likely your profession requires you have a photo for your business. The best thing to do is not dwell on it the day or morning before. Have short burst of good energy before the shoot and just go for it. Remember a fair many shots will be taken and we only need one so just have fun with it and it will turn out :)
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