Shot in-studio this headshot represents the executive as approachable–as a manager of a thousand people it’s an important reflection. This was shot with continuous light using a style developed for film stars decades ago called “Paramount Lighting”. It’s also called “Butterfly Lighting” because of the shape of the shadow under the nose. It’s a flattering lighting style.
Musician photo sessions are full of creative ideas. Musicians are all about the music and their instrument, so we gave center stage to the trumpet in this headshot. The beauty and contrast of the metal and skin is the life a musician breathes into his instrument. This was shot in-studio using Paul Buff’s PLM umbrellas and Einstein Studio Flash for precise control of the strength of light.
Headshots are a marketing tool for professional from all industries.
What separates a headshot is the intimacy of the subject with the camera/photographer. While a portrait may be full length, 3/4 length or chest high, a headshot is about the face. Lighting is the key. The above was shot with Paul C Buff Einstein and Beauty Dish. The light wraps around the face creating subtle shadows. For the subject of a headshot – the facial expression is critical. Talk with your photographer before the session to capture the expression you are looking to convey to your viewers.
This dental practice wanted their website to reflect the fun spirit of the dentists and the staff. We put a different spin on the lifestyle portraits of the team groups. This turned out beautifully with composition and balance and the doctor’s smile lights up the photo.
Lighting:
Paul C Buff 64″ PLM Umbrellas
Two Einsteins
Website photos can go beyond the somber to this fun shoot. It captures the fun spirit of this staff portrait. (We took serious shots, too – but these won out!)
Using 64″ Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas, two Einsteins to get that beautiful deep separation of tones.
A large staff group shot needs a bit of pre-planning. This session greatly benefited from color coordinated clothing. Body language is a subtle way to bring the comfortable warmth of a large group and takes patience to arrange.
Lighting for a large group gives depth. We used 64″ Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas – one on each side.
Nothing like being alone on a rooftop shoot, especially when the client is asking for a few creative shots.
The client hoped to have the Los Angeles skyline as a background to the rooftop system they had installed on this industrial building. In these two shots the skyline seems close, despite how far away it was. The 70-200 mm Canon lens is a long lens which compresses the background-bringing it closer in the images.
Shot with the Canon 35 mm lens you can see how far away the skyline actually was located.
Using the Canon 35 mm 1.4 lens let us grab this creative shot.
Talk about cold!
This industrial photo shoot had special needs. Part of which was the temperature of -4 degrees. It took a team of 3 to make this shot work and time was the driving factor, as Southern Californians, we aren’t acclimated for cold. The outside temperature was over 80 degrees.
After an all day shoot this was the last shot due to the temperature, noting the extreme temperature change would be asking a lot of the camera. The lift operator suspended the photographer upwards with the client sprinting through the aisles to trigger the motion sensor-ed facility lights. This gave a window of 30 seconds to grab the shot before the lights shut off. The temperature was taxing to our breathing and stress on the camera equipment. It took 8 hours for the camera body and lens temperature to return to room temperature, no damage to the camera or lens. We were in and out in about 5 minutes, taking 3 shots.
Using a Canon 6d with a 14 mm 2.8 Canon lens.
This freezer operates between 35-50 degrees for refrigerated foods. We shot in here before the subzero freezer and it was breeze.
Time to update your website? Make it personal by adding photos of the people your clients interact with over the phone or when visiting your business. Stepping away from the classic group staff photo and adding a little creativity with a blend of Southern California casual can give your website personality and an air of friendliness. Let your website speak for your business with staff photography.
What to do with your service truck photo? You spent a great deal of thought and cost in creating your moving billboard – the photo turned out great, next? A slick, clean extraction of your service vehicle is a great advertising tool. You can create beautiful ads by lay text over the image, or drop it into any kind of background. It all begins with getting a properly lit photo. The “magic” lies in the planning. The extraction yields an image easily manipulated in many creative ways. Read more about website photography.