Companies of all sizes use corporate photography to promote their business and position their visual identity. One of the most common image styles is corporate headshots – portraits of staff – which help make a business less ‘faceless’ and more human. Add to that corporate photography of products or services, even the business premises, and customers start to get a feel for the company and its values.
Corporate, or commercial, photography is used across marketing materials from websites to brochures, annual reports, and of course social media. Professional photography is an essential part of the marketing toolkit nowadays.
Business headshots are a personal choice, used to promote oneself, for example on networking platforms such as LinkedIn, on your own website, or to accompany documents like press releases. As the name suggests, these are images of your head and shoulders, in business dress, taken in a professional environment or against a simple background. Save the photos of you on a beach, at a party, or with your partner or family for your personal profiles. The idea is that you want to portray that you are professional but approachable, confident but not overly so.
Business headshots do not take nearly as long as a typical commercial shoot, largely because there is just one subject, and more of an unwritten ‘rulebook’ for what the pictures will look like; it’s a close crop, the focus is on the eyes, and the subject is looking directly or just off camera. A commercial shoot can be much more creative. There is a hybrid – corporate portraits – which will capture the personality of the subject as in a business headshot, but with an extended objective of telling a business story too. The emphasis shifts to include the environment more, which opens up scope for more creative lighting and composition. That has similar techniques to editorial photography.
As a Bristol photographer specializing in both commercial and editorial photography, corporate headshots, Lindsay Fowke Photography can help you and your business make the right impression with perfect imagery every time. Lindsay’s knack for helping people feel comfortable in front of the camera will make you forget any self-consciousness and help you to relax, even enjoy the experience! Get in touch today to see how Lindsay can help bring your ideas to life.
