The Booth Letter 003

Spring is springing and we are busy. It’s headshot photography at conferences and businesses looking to catch up on their new hires for us.

In the last Booth Letter we started introducing some of our service features that you will LOVE. More specifically, we introduced you to the scheduling tool. This makes it so easy - everyone books their own headshots, you aren’t tasked with creating an impossible schedule and on shoot days, long lines evaporate.

Here’s another tool that you and your team will wonder how you ever lived without.

Popular Tool # 2 - On-site Image Selection Tool

Our on-site image selection station is BY FAR our clients favorite feature. It's not just fun to see your new professional heashots right away. It's a huge time saver. Subjects get their photos immediately. You, the client, no longer have to spend days emailing individual galleries out to the subjects. With our iPad sharing station, subjects send themselves their new corporate headshot before they leave the studio area!

Here's how the it works:

Subject pose for their corporate headshots.

Photos transfer immediately to the nearby iPad.

Subject selects all images and enters his/her/their email address.

Subject presses send :)

That's it. Really!

*Added bonus, the email content can be branded and customized! You tell us what text, information, links, etc you want included. For businesses, maybe you will tell staff how to upload their headshot to the portal. For conferences, include logos and contacts to extend the reach of, say, a sponsorship opportunity.

Review Time - Corporate Headshots for Conferences!

We have great clients. Here’s what one of our favorite conference headshot booth had to say about her experience with us:

I was first introduced to Laura Londin and The Booth for Business Corporate Headshots while attending a marketing conference several years ago. I loved the efficient process (and the pictures) and wondered if they could do the same for our customer events. Since then they have attended our last two national conferences (2020 and 2023) and have received rave reviews on their service. They are an absolute pleasure to work with and really have a knack for interacting with a variety of personalities to get the best photos possible in a short amount of time. Our CTO called me after our latest event and said he was very pleased with them, and that they were a must-have at future events.

Christine Ray, CMO,

Safe Systems

The Booth Letter 002: Most Popular Headshots Services

Values and The Headshot Tools You Will Love

We built our company from two key values:

1. Take excellent corporate headshot photos.

2. Make it really easy.

Let’s break this down.

Take Excellent Hedashots. The photos have to be good. Obviously. What goes into making a good business portrait? You need an experienced corporate headshot photographer. That photographer needs to make his business headshot subject look comfortable and highlight their best selves. You need good equipment that the photographer can use expertly to sculpt the light and capture high production value images.

Make It Easy. That’s the hard part.

How do we develop services that support our clients and meet their pain points around booking, producing and using executive headshots?

Taking good corporate headshots is at the core of our business. Around that, we have built a business that you will want to work with. How? We identify pain points for our clients and come up with solutions that will save them time and effort.

Here’s how we get there:

We think about who is hiring us inside an organization. We think about the fact that this person probably has a million things to other than planning a photography shoot. We ask the client about their staff and their work environment. Then we draw from the tools we have and sometimes find new solutions to make this as easy as ordering your morning latte.

Popular Tool #1 For Headshot Photography

Our scheduling tool is seriously one of the tools our clients get most excited about. I cannot tell you how many hours it saves our clients. It is pure relief when they find out we will handle scheduling their team’s sessions.

Here is what it looks like.

We set up a calendar with details of the day (hours of operation, session times, etc.) and then send the client a link to that calendar. The client then sends that link to eligible subjects so they can schedule their own session. Everyone picks the time that works for them without our contact having to be involved.

This saves so much time for EVERYONE! Here’s how:

1. Our client avoids the misery of juggling 20 (30? 40?) schedules to fit everyone into a headshot day.

2. The subjects can pick a time that works in their day.

3. It eliminate a ‘rush’ time. No one sits around waiting in the photo line while they have important work to do at their desk.

4. Your coverage is more thorough. If there’s a long line people may skip getting their headshot.

And you know what else is great? We can send our clients a list of who has signed up and when. They can make sure everyone who is supposed to have a headshot has registered.

There’s more! An automated reminder will go out, the appointment can be added to the subjects calendar and they can cancel/reschedule on their own.

So, yeah, maybe not the flashy stuff, but this scheduling tool for your office headshots will be a real hero for your project.

Highlight - Shooting Corporate Headshots In A Boardroom

When we do headshots in a corporate office we are often sent to the boardroom. Sometimes it’s a lobby area, sometimes is one of the larger or empty offices. This is New York headshot photography. Space is a PREMIUM.

So, while we ask for 12x12 feet of space, we know that it’s unlikely that we will have that, free and clear. More often, we will have an office space that has a desk or boardroom table or something in it.

Here’s a situation where we came in to do attorney headshots. There was a lovely, bright, corner boardroom. We were able to move a few chairs around and shoot down the long side of the table to get enough distance from the subject.

Of course we did some planning ahead of time, asking for cell phone photos of the space. This helped us understand what gear to bring and stay on the same page as the client as far as knowing what deliverables were reasonable for the space.

We did two looks for this client and they were very happy. Black and white and color with a grey background.

The Booth Letter 002: Most Popular Headshots Services

Values and The Headshot Tools You Will Love

We built our company from two key values:

1. Take excellent corporate headshot photos.

2. Make it really easy.

Let’s break this down.

Take Excellent Hedashots. The photos have to be good. Obviously. What goes into making a good business portrait? You need an experienced corporate headshot photographer. That photographer needs to make his business headshot subject look comfortable and highlight their best selves. You need good equipment that the photographer can use expertly to sculpt the light and capture high production value images.

Make It Easy. That’s the hard part.

How do we develop services that support our clients and meet their pain points around booking, producing and using executive headshots?

Taking good corporate headshots is at the core of our business. Around that, we have built a business that you will want to work with. How? We identify pain points for our clients and come up with solutions that will save them time and effort.

Here’s how we get there:

We think about who is hiring us inside an organization. We think about the fact that this person probably has a million things to other than planning a photography shoot. We ask the client about their staff and their work environment. Then we draw from the tools we have and sometimes find new solutions to make this as easy as ordering your morning latte.

Popular Tool #1 For Headshot Photography

Our scheduling tool is seriously one of the tools our clients get most excited about. I cannot tell you how many hours it saves our clients. It is pure relief when they find out we will handle scheduling their team’s sessions.

Here is what it looks like.

We set up a calendar with details of the day (hours of operation, session times, etc.) and then send the client a link to that calendar. The client then sends that link to eligible subjects so they can schedule their own session. Everyone picks the time that works for them without our contact having to be involved.

This saves so much time for EVERYONE! Here’s how:

1. Our client avoids the misery of juggling 20 (30? 40?) schedules to fit everyone into a headshot day.

2. The subjects can pick a time that works in their day.

3. It eliminate a ‘rush’ time. No one sits around waiting in the photo line while they have important work to do at their desk.

4. Your coverage is more thorough. If there’s a long line people may skip getting their headshot.

And you know what else is great? We can send our clients a list of who has signed up and when. They can make sure everyone who is supposed to have a headshot has registered.

There’s more! An automated reminder will go out, the appointment can be added to the subjects calendar and they can cancel/reschedule on their own.

So, yeah, maybe not the flashy stuff, but this scheduling tool for your office headshots will be a real hero for your project.

Highlight - Shooting Corporate Headshots In A Boardroom

When we do headshots in a corporate office we are often sent to the boardroom. Sometimes it’s a lobby area, sometimes is one of the larger or empty offices. This is New York headshot photography. Space is a PREMIUM.

So, while we ask for 12x12 feet of space, we know that it’s unlikely that we will have that, free and clear. More often, we will have an office space that has a desk or boardroom table or something in it.

Here’s a situation where we came in to do attorney headshots. There was a lovely, bright, corner boardroom. We were able to move a few chairs around and shoot down the long side of the table to get enough distance from the subject.

Of course we did some planning ahead of time, asking for cell phone photos of the space. This helped us understand what gear to bring and stay on the same page as the client as far as knowing what deliverables were reasonable for the space.

We did two looks for this client and they were very happy. Black and white and color with a grey background.

The Booth-letter 001 - Get it???

Introducing: The Boothletter (get it?)

For the last several years, we have been doing traditional blog posts about our corporate headshot services. It's been great to highlight different features and experiences and are glad to have that 'library' of content about headshot photography and how people can access their professional photos.

It is a very useful tool for our clients and for us!

Now it’s time to try something different.... A newsletter!

This format is an opportunity to share current info about our services, what we have been up to, who some of our corporate headshots clients are and generally help you see the range of professional business photography work that we do.

We hope it will be fun to read and informative for those that are looking for new professional headshot photography.

Project Spotlight: Entrepreneurship at Cornell Tech

One of the coolest jobs we do all year is with Entrepreneurship at Cornell Tech. This year it was double cool because it was at the Bloomberg Center at Cornell Tech out on Roosevelt Island. The space is magnificent.

It’s a day full of young, smart people with unique and interesting ideas, looking to learn and tell the world about what they are doing. We get to take headshot photos of them between sessions. They get a new photo and a spruced up headshot for the professional LinkedIn profile.

Here’s Sade working on camera getting people the best professional portraits.

Corporate Headshots at Conferences

In today's competitive business landscape, creating a strong brand identity is more important than ever. We love that you want to help your clients and community do that by offering corporate headshots at conferences. These professional headshots not only showcase people at their best but also provide an opportunity to elevate their brand and create a memorable connection with your audience.

A memorable connection with your audience is crucial for building trust and fostering long-term relationships. Corporate headshots make it easier for potential clients or partners to relate to your brand on a personal level. These photographs humanize your brand and create a sense of familiarity, helping to forge a strong bond with your target audience.

Tradeshow Headshots as a Client Facing Opportunity

Investing in business portraits for conference attendees is an effective way to showcase your brand, connect with your audience, and leave a lasting impression. Attendees will line up at your tradeshow headshot booth, appreciate the service and spend some time in your area getting to know you. They will use their photo for years and every time someone compliments them on their professional photo, they will remember that it was you that provided it!

Remote Work and Conferences

In the era of remote work, many businesses operate with employees spread out across different locations. While this setup offers flexibility and cost-saving benefits, it can pose challenges connecting with clients and brand representation. Corporate headshots taken at conferences provide a solution to this problem.

Even if most of your team is in the same place, work schedules might vary. Not all team members come into the office on the same day, making it challenging to coordinate individual headshot sessions. At conferences and meetings you are all together at the same time.

While attendees may be focused on the sessions and learning, it can be just as valuable to schedule in time for the team's headshots. By taking advantage of the conference setting to capture corporate headshots, you are making the most of your time together.

For teams that are across the country and in-office on various days, conferences and meeting headshots are an efficient option. It also eliminates the need for multiple individual headshot sessions, saving time and resources for both the employees and the company.

You can schedule in intentional headshot time that coincides with breakfast or other networking moments. Team members can also fit in a quick headshot session between meetings or during breaks, minimizing disruption to their schedules. This efficiency not only saves time but also ensures that everyone has the opportunity to have their photos taken, maximizing the impact of your branding efforts.

Value

Corporate headshot photography at conferences can be a big investment. Let's look at the actual costs in comparison to 1) Other conference giveaways or 2) hiring photographers in multiple locations to cover smaller groups.

Headshots can draw people to your booth/brand. While waiting for their headshot, they will be open to chatting with your team. A key element of tradeshow sponsorships. Client acquisition costs can be anywhere from $300-1200 or more each. We aren't promising that everyone who stops by will become a client, but you are definitely starting a stronger relationship with someone when you offer a headshot vs. a pen.

For businesses that need to cover a full team, there is no question that cost and efficiency is more favorable in a conference setting. A flat fee package means you can get as many people through as time allows. You could be talking $25-45/person vs. $150-1200/person.

Examples of Successful Corporate Headshots at Conferences

To truly understand the impact of corporate headshots at conferences, let's look at some examples of businesses that have successfully utilized this branding strategy.

Example 1: The INSITE Conference is an event sponsored by BNY Mellon. Every year they bring together financial advisors to help share new information, best practice and current affairs in their industry. These attendees need a client-facing profile and use LinkedIn profile headshots, website headshots and headshots for speaking engagements. The Booth for Business sets up a headshot lounge studio area on the tradeshow floor. Attendees come to us between sessions, during lunch and at various other points throughout the day to get a new headshot. This not only enhances their personal brand but also contributes to the overall professional atmosphere of the conference.

Example 2: Benjamin Moore, as we all know, is an international paint company. They have a robust sales team that relies on relationships to get their products to retailers, wholesalers and, ultimately, users. Each year this crew gets together for a sales conference to discuss different aspects of the industry, establish goals and zero in on business initiatives. This team works in all corners of the USA, but they are together in one place for those few days. What better time to get consistent headshot photos that meet the Benjamin Moore branding guidelines. At this event it was important that we covered everyone so we created a sign-up tool and made an intentional schedule using multiple shooters to get the job done.

Conclusion: The Power of Corporate Headshots at Conferences

In today's competitive business landscape, it is crucial to have a professional corporate headshot or LinkedIn profile photo. Corporate headshots at conferences offer a unique opportunity to achieve both of these goals. By investing in high-quality photographs for conference attendees you help them convey professionalism, credibility, and authenticity. No customized pen or stressball in the world can do this.

Conferences serve as a gathering place for businesses within a specific industry or niche, making them the perfect setting to capture corporate headshots. By incorporating headshot sessions into these events, you maximize efficiency and ensure that all team members have the opportunity to have their photos taken. This promotes a consistent and unified brand representation, even if your team is dispersed across different locations.

Investing in corporate headshots at conferences is an effective way to showcase your brand, connect with your audience, and leave a lasting impression. Don't underestimate the power of professional photography in elevating your brand identity. Take advantage of the opportunities provided by conferences and watch as your brand shines through the individual personalities of your team members and those in your industry. You can help create a memorable connection that sets you apart from the competition.

Back For Your New Business Headshots!

In the past year we have seen clients come back looking for a corporate headshots and business photography. We are happy to say we are quite busy bringing everyone's headshots back in line and making sure everyone feels great about their new work photos.

There are a few key reasons that people are coming back to us for headshots at this time. In this blog entry, I will share a few!

Keep It Current with New Business Headshots.

The key motivating factor to bring a corporate headshot photographer in for a day of headshot photography is the change in staff, in style, and in communications have changed. Our client's websites and communications, the LinkedIn profiles and the speakers portraits, they all have to reflect the current state of their businesses. So much has changed over the last few years and having current headshots for your professional team is an important part of communicating with your clients and business partners.

It's been a long time since you did corporate headshots for your team.

By the time people come to us to book professional headshot photography, they are usually a few years behind on the service. Maybe there is no clear person in charge of it in your company, maybe things have been going so well that there's been no time – one of those rainy day projects that never happens. Maybe you they run a startup that just now has a little money to spend. It's time to get a professional LinkedIn profile photo. And maybe it's just hard to get the team rallied for it.

Now add the 6 months it takes to figure out budget, find the right business photographer and get a date on the calendar that works for everyone on your team.

And, oh yeah, the pandemic...

So here you are, in February, 2020. The last time you did business headshots for your team was in 2015. We are already ripe for a new headshot. FYI, we recommend 3-5 years top to renew your headshots.) So here you are, it's been 5 years and you are ready to update the team's corporate headshot photography, and then the pandemic hits. Now you are more like 7-8 years overdue.

But I Look So Much Older!

People use the images they see online of you to familiarize themselves. It kicks off that first meeting either in person or over a video call app, with a trust or familiarity. If your photo doesn't reflect who you are now, it can get in the way of that trust you are trying to build. A client might wonder why you don't look like you do in your photo. It is jarring not to be able to trust it.

And let's just put this out there. Embrace the wrinkles. You earned them!!! And know you are your worst critic. No one sees the age lines or the haircut changes or any of those things the same way you do. If you are keeping your photo because you don't like your look now, well this can create a trust problem. i.e. why is that person keeping her LinkedIn profile from 2005??? She looks great in it but it's not her anymore. Let us get the best version of you and you share that with your team, you are being honest and showing a client who you are.

New Hires!

There are other reasons that people are coming to us for headshots right now. NEW HIRES! There has been a record number of hiring/firing since 2020. No matter where you are or what you do, if you have a team of 10 or more people, the personnel in your team has likely changed. It's time to let your clients and business peers know who is on your team! Take new corporate headshots so that everyone is represented. This not only helps people know who is at your firm, it helps them understand the status of things in your world. What does the new team look like? Who is leading the marketing team? Who are the current account executives?

Working From Home

While there is a return to office push going on in the world, the reality is, there is no more 5 day work week. It turns out that working from home, at least part time, well, works. This means that you might not actually see your colleagues if your days skew differently from your colleagues. And if you are in a situation where the team is another office in another city, you are getting to know these colleagues through their professional headshots or LinkedIn profile photos. For the same reason that having a current, business headshot accessible builds confidence with your clients, it builds confidence with your team. If no one knows you yet and you are unlikely to meet up in the office anytime soon, that headshot could be a first step in getting to know one another.

We love that we are seeing our clients again. Whether it is in our office shooting profile photos for real estate companies, local business for CEO headshots, or creative design firm headshots. Whether we are in your office covering your new hires, or all 50 of you, we are happy to be back with you. Whatever your reason, we are here to support you and get you and your company up to date with the best corporate headshot photography.

Before the Click - Preparing for Your Corporate Headshots

Our clients are the best. They value our business photography service and see that doing corporate headshots is so much more than what happens on professional headshot day. Sure, our first in-person contact might be when they walk in the door for their professional portrait, but there is so much that happens ahead of that moment. We are happy to share the steps we take before we click that first corporate headshot at your office or conference.

That First Call

The preparation for corporate headshots starts on the first communication with a client. At this initial conversation we are starting to make a plan. First we want to know the scope of the job. What type of services do you need? Are you looking for website headshots or general corporate headshots for your staff of 30? Do you want us to provide LinkedIn headshots for an upcoming date where your entire industry is coming together? We are thinking about how much time you need and what kind of venue it will be.

Headshot Photo Style

We want to know what the photos should look like. Are you looking for all of your professional headshots to be against a uniform background? If yes, we start to think about your space in terms of whether it can accommodate our standard 9' background. What color background do you want our executive headshot photographers to shoot against? Do we have that color in stock or will we source that from one of our vendors? Do you want it to be an environmental shot that includes more of the office? If yes, we start to ask you questions about, for example, your boardroom layout. It is it open or does it have a large table that cannot be moved. Or is there a large open hallway area where we can setup without people wandering through a background?

Headshot Photo Shoot Logistics

Other planning includes how many website headshots, for example, you need our corporate headshot photographers to take. This tells us how many hours or days we will be in your office. Finally, we want to know how you will be using the images. This helps us plan for how the images will be taken, what file size you need, and what kind of work will go into post-production for us.

All of these things help us put together a proposal. This is the start of a plan that sets the framework on how we will build the logistics for this job.

So you love what we present and say, yes! Let's do it! What's next?

We show up at your door and take a photos and call it a day.

Yeah right.

Preparation – Planning for the Corporate Headshot You Need

The first thing we do is get you on the calendar and make spend time thinking through who the right staff is for your job. We are lucky to have a group of talented corporate headshot photographers that are trained in our business photography technique. They know how to take a professional portraits and how to make a client feel comfortable in front of the camera.

Next we head to our studio. If you are going with, say our not-so-corporate profile photograph with a grey background, we know just the equipment to pull for your job. We look at lights, cameras and backgrounds that we have in-house. We pack up all the grip (hardware like background supports, clamps, etc. that support the other equipment) and make sure our computers and wifi are up-to-date and can be operated in your space. This kind of prep takes a few hours. The more specialized the professional portrait, the more time we spend planning and getting the right equipment together.

Client Call – Logistics For Headshot Location And More

While clients find that they can be pretty hands-off with us, we do have to have another conversation to discuss logistics. We confirm the building address. We ask if there is a loading dock. Are there insurance requirements for the building? What floor are you on? What room will we set up in? Who will be our day-of contact we can call, should we hit a snag at any point between the street and the room where we are shooting? Exchanging cell phone numbers with our client is a MUST.

Preparation – Executive Portrait Shoot Day

Here is something that not everyone knows. We get to every job at least 2hrs in advance of our first shot. So if your first employee wants their headshot at 9am, we need to be there at 7am to start our setup. That means someone on your team needs to be at the office at 7am to let us in.

Our clients ask us, “Do you need 2 full hours to setup for a corporate headshot?”

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but we always plan for it.

Loading Docks

At a busy loading dock in an NYC skyscraper, for example, there are many steps to getting to our final destination in the building. We are checking in at the loading dock. The same person who cleared our entrance the day before might not be on the morning crew so it can take a minute (or 30) before the loading dock team locates our clearance. There might be a line for the freight elevators with all the other vendors trying to get to their clients. There might be a long walk with our gear from the loading dock entrance to the elevators and then another long walk when we get up to your floor.

Inside - Shooting Location

Often we are working in a space where we have never seen with our own eyes. Sometimes everything is exactly as expected. Sometimes the power outlet is a little too far away. Sometimes there is a table that won't move and we cannot put our lights where we expected. Simply getting into the right room can take time but then you have so many other things to navigate.

These are all expected parts of our day so you won't hear any grumbling from us. These are busy buildings with many many moving parts. It's our job to plan for the environment we are working in and get through all of the hurdles before without breaking a sweat.

Expecting the Unexpected

As much as we plan together with the clients, there are almost always unexpected elements in the course of our setup for website headshots. Maybe our contact hits traffic and we get into the room a little late. Perhaps the furniture in the room we are using hasn't been moved to accommodate our setup. Perhaps we have an issue with a piece of our own equipment.

No problem is insurmountable but we do not always know what they will be. In the 10+ years we have been doing this, we have learned that planning ahead and building in plenty of time is are the best ways to make things go smoothly. If this means we have time for a coffee before our start time, we are happy. Our aim is to be cool and calm with camera in hand when that first subject walks through the door for their corporate headshot.

Ready To Shoot

As you can see, our work starts the second you call us up for our business headshots. We start the wheels turning and with every step we adjust and accommodate. We have been very careful to keep our services clear and consistent and our workflows regular. This helps you, the client, understand how it will be to work with us on executive portraits. But it is also for us. It helps us make doing headshots the easiest part of your week!

Corporate Headshot Photographers - Behind The Scenes

Our clients are the best. They value every part of our business photography service and see that putting a job on is so much more than what happens on professional headshot day. Sure, our first in-person contact might be when they walk in the door for their professional portrait, but there is so much that happens ahead of that moment. We are happy to share some of what happens up until the moment we click that first corporate headshot.

The preparation starts on the first communication with a client. At this initial conversation we are starting to make a plan. First we want to know the scope of the job. What type of services do you need? Are you looking for website headshots or general corporate headshots for your staff of 30? Do you want us to provide LinkedIn headshots for an upcoming date where your entire industry is coming together? We are thinking about how much time you need and what kind of venue it will be.

We want to know what you want the photos to look like. Are you looking for all of your professional headshots to be against a uniform background? If yes, we start to think about your space in terms of whether it can accommodate a 9' background. What color background do you want for those corporate portraits? Do we have that color in stock or will we source that from one of our vendors? Do you want it to be an environmental shot that includes more of the office? If yes, we start to ask you questions about, for example, what your boardroom looks like or is there a space where we could do it without people wandering through a background.

Other planning includes how many portraits you need our corporate headshot photographer to take. This tells us how many hours or days we will be in your office. Finally, we want to know how you will be using the images. This helps us plan for how the images will be taken, what file size you need, and what kind of work will go into post-production for us.

All of these things help us put together a proposal. This is the start of a plan that sets the framework on how we will build the logistics for this job.

So you love what we present and say, yes! Let's do it! What's next?

We show up at your door and take a few pictures and call it a day.

Yeah right.

The first thing we do is get you on the calendar and make spend time thinking through who the right staff is for your job. We are lucky to have a group of talented corporate headshot photographers that are trained in our business photography technique. They know how to take a professional portraits and how to make a client feel comfortable in front of the camera.

The dog offers moral support as we pack up our professional headshot gear at the studio.

Next we head to our studio. If you are going with, say our not-so-corporate profile photograph with a grey background, we know just the equipment to pull for your job. We look at lights, cameras and backgrounds that we have in-house. We pack up all the grip (hardware like background supports, clamps, etc. that support the other equipment) and make sure our computers and wifi are up-to-date and can be operated in your space. This kind of prep takes a few hours. The more specialized the professional portrait, the more time we spend planning and getting the right equipment together.

Ian preparing for our business photography shoot in the studio.

While clients find that they can be pretty hands-off with us, we do have to have another conversation to discuss logistics. We confirm the building address. We ask if there is a loading dock. Are there insurance requirements for the building? What floor are you on? What room will we set up in? Who will be our day-of contact we can call, should we hit a snag at any point between the street and the room where we are shooting? Exchanging cell phone numbers with our client is a MUST.

Here is something that not everyone knows. We get to every job at least 2hrs in advance of our first shot. So if your first employee wants their headshot at 9am, we need to be there at 7am to start our setup. That means someone on your team needs to be at the office at 7am to let us in.

Our clients ask us, “Do you need 2 full hours to setup for a corporate headshot?”

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but we always plan for it. On so many of our jobs we are navigating through a space where we have never been. Simply getting into the right room can take time.

At a busy loading dock in an NYC skyscraper, for example, there are many steps to getting to our final destination in the building. We are checking in at the loading dock. The same person who cleared our entrance the day before might not be on the morning crew so it can take a minute (or 30) before the loading dock team locates our clearance. There might be a line for the freight elevators with all the other vendors trying to get to their clients. There might be a long walk with our gear from the loading dock entrance to the elevators and then another long walk when we get up to your floor.

These are all expected parts of our day so you won't hear any grumbling from us. These are busy buildings with many many moving parts. It's our job to plan for the environment we are working in and get through all of the hurdles before without breaking a sweat.

As much as we plan together with the clients, there are almost always unexpected elements in the course of our setup for executive headshots. Maybe our contact hits traffic and we get into the room a little late. Perhaps the furniture in the room we are using hasn't been moved to accommodate our setup. Perhaps we have an issue with a piece of our own equipment.

Our corporate headshot team is ready to go!

The problems are never insurmountable and we do not always know what they will be. In the 10+ years we have been doing this, we have learned that planning ahead and building in plenty of time is are the best ways to make things go smoothly. If this means we have time for a coffee before our start time, we are happy. Our aim is to be cool and calm with camera in hand when that first subject walks through the door for their corporate headshot.

The Background Challenge - Corporate Headshots

When we work with clients, we want a clear understanding on what they want out of their final professional headshots. Our strategy is to break down down the elements of the shot. This can include background, crop, style, environment, etc. This helps us zero in on how we can construct an image that the client really wants.

Looking at background, we find that clients are pretty clear on the general category or style they want from their photo. The professional headshot subject will either be on a setup background or situated in a specific environment. It is our job to tune in on exactly what that means for you, stylistically. But we would be remiss if we did not also help you understand how that type of background will work with your company.

We have discussed background consideration in previous posts. The two main choices are environmental backgrounds and solid backgrounds. An environmental corporate portrait means we are taking a photo that features the subject using the space (or environment) as the background. The idea is that the room or location will be part of the image and will feature surrounding elements that add context to the image.

Think of an attorney photographed in a boardroom or library, a business person in a conference room, an actress photographed in a theater. Each of the locations and backgrounds give the image depth, adds professional context, or signals something about what the subject does professionally. There is consistency in feel but because no two people are the same, they will fill up the space differently.

Here is an example of a subject that was photographed in an available space. In the end they wanted that corporate headshot against a shifted background.

If you are using a solid background, you are shooting against a backdrop or wall. There might be some texture or variation in hue, but in this case, you are looking for a clean and consistent look. No matter how tall, small, large-haired or bald this person is, the background is a unifying factor.

This is great for a company that wants every shot to feel similar. It is an easy solution for large companies and companies with multiple locations where it is hard to get all staff together in one place. It can easily be duplicated in different locations.

Creating consistency with backgrounds.

So you want to use your office environment for New York business headshots but you have staff working in Atlanta and Chicago. What do you do to for corporate headshots in those other locations? There is a workaround that takes a bit more planning and post-shoot time, but is easy to pull off.

Here's the trick. When we photograph a team in front of an environmental background, we also capture an image of the background without anyone in the frame. It is a photo of just the background. When someone from a different office needs those same professional headshots, that person can be photographed against a solid background. We then clip the image, (imagine using a pair of scissors to cut around the outline of that person) and then paste them onto the company background. Yes, it is more complex and might require a bit more budget for post-production work, but it works and is certainly less costly and more convenient than getting that person in for a photo.

Another option for environmental corporate headshots is to choose 2-3 different options for backgrounds. There can be a background choice for each company location. Keeping in mind your company's overall design choices and branding guidelines, pick a spot in each location where your employees can be photographed.

Multiple environmental backgrounds, thoughtfully chosen, can work beautifully together on a company website. There will be no images that feel jarringly different, should you hire someone new. Already the staff roster page will be filled with professional headshots using different backgrounds.

Solid backgrounds can sometimes also require additional background work. Tonal shifts can happen even when subjects are all shot on the same exact background. Variation is less likely when everyone is shot the same and lighting plans are created for the most consistent outcome when a second day of different cities need covering. Still there are factors, such as slight shifts in light placement, different cameras, different computers processing, etc.

We get around this and aim for consistency using the same strategy as with the environmental background. When we are doing the original professional headshots in your office, we shoot the original background without a subject in front of it. In post-production, we compare the backgrounds of those professional portraits. If necessary, we can clip the subject off of the background they were shot in front of and place it onto the company background.

Here is a different kind of example of how a we had to shift professional headshots from one solid background to another. The company business headshots to blend into the overall basic white webpage background.

Now, anyone who has ever walked into a paint store to find a can of white for their walls, knows that there are more than a few shades of white. When you start to put those white paint chips together, you see that while some might be similar, you can still detect differences.

The same is true for photography. Our white background might be a warmer (think yellow tones) or colder (think blue tones). The light we are using might have it's own cast to it and the file processing might add it's own shift. There could be a some light fall off making the edges a little darker. To the eye, the background might appear to be a clean white on the screen but when we get it onto that white web page we will see a clear line differentiating between the two. There is a clear difference.

So we take the same approach. We clip the image from it's original photo and place it onto the white that matches the website from edge-to-edge. Voila, it blends in perfectly!

There is a lot to think about when you plan for your business headshots. Hopefully these ideas around background solutions help you feel more confident that your headshot page will pull together beautifully.

It's Headshot Day - Covid Style!

The ball started rolling for us in the business headshot and professional portrait market in August and it has been a steady and solid Fall, work-wise, ever since. That is very good news for us, given that we are in an industry where every sector hit a massive 12 foot thick wall a few Marches ago.

We will not go as far as to say that the pandemic is under control, but we will admit that we are cautiously optimistic. Why? So many of our clients have figured out how to function safely. They have guidelines and rules in place that allow people to operate with protections in their places of business. They are being supported by vaccine requirements. People are wearing masks. Offices are at reduced capacity.

Here are some of the trends that our executive headshot photographers are seeing.

Thank Goodness for Vaccines

People are feeling confident in the power of the vaccines. Those who are vaccinated are not getting sick or nearly as sick.

There is no way for a corporate photographer to take a headshot when the subject is wearing a mask. When we ask them to get in front of the camera and remove their mask, they can feel far more confident that they are protected by their own vaccination status.

Clients are being so careful. They are following mandates as a baseline. Extra steps include, for example, closed campuses. This means that only those with ID's or that have pre-approved business in the building are allowed to enter.

These vaccination requirements are being taken quite seriously in New York, our home base and the surround areas. We are grateful that this key element of vaccinations is something that will help us get back to business as usual.

Masks, Masks, Masks

Call it overkill, given the vaccination rates among our clients, but with the delta variant still causing so much havoc, we are grateful that our clients are still feeling the value of this extra layer of protection.

Everyone is wearing and cooperating, as far as we can see. Obviously, for their online or LinkedIn headshot, the mask has to come off. But we are glad about the extra protection that masks bring to our shooting area while subjects wait. And we said it here first – masked professional headshots anyone? A real sign of the times, no?

Smaller Groups

We used to come to an office to cover employees for their business headshot. Or maybe a university to cover graduate or graduating students for their LinkedIn headshot. There would be crowds of people lining up. Sometimes it would be 20-30 people deep every second of the 6hrs we are shooting. People wanted their professional headshot.

This piece has changed dramatically. The events are smaller and we are taking phased and scheduled approaches to getting people their professional headshot photos.

We are doing our part to keep a more organized flow. With our clients, we are strongly advocating for scheduling individual sessions. Our scheduling tool is the simplest way to do this. We send the client a link to the schedule. They then distribute it to their staff or subjects. Each individual schedules their own time to have their corporate headshot session. This means that there is a steady and predictable flow of headshot clients coming into the room. No one is waiting in line for an hour to get their photo taken. They are scheduling their time, showing up a minute or two early, getting their photo and then exiting the area.

Easy breezy.

Not only are people in and out faster, the room where we shoot is never crowded. There are never more than 1 or 2 people waiting around, if that. It is only the photographer, an assistant, the current subject and sometimes the corporate headshot subject who is up next.

Spaced Out

The other factor that helps with less crowded spaces? A room that has a bit more... room. We are pushing for more open and roomy areas to shoot in and clients, whenever possible, are accommodating. Our ideal space has enough room for a photographer, an assistant and a subject to occupy the room with the magic 6' distance between everyone. If that can't happen we modify with safety being the first priority.

A few other things we are seeing...

Rooms are clean. We see professional crews coming through all the time wiping down tables, doorknobs, chairs, and anything else that people might be touching. There is hand sanitizer everywhere and surfaces wipes galore.

Now, we at The Booth are very familiar with the phrase, Hygiene Theater. But we operate in spaces that are shared by sometimes hundreds of others, where doors are touched by at least 20-30 people an hour, where the bathrooms might have 10 stalls. We believe the safest cleaning measure is to wash those hands (for a full 2 rounds of happy birthday, please). But when we are in NYC in high traffic and public areas, we are happy for the effort that the cleaning staff and our hosts make.

And for the best and most important part.... People are on board. Everyone wants their headshots done safely and in an organized way. Sure, the occasional mask might slip below the nose, but they are quick to adjust back to code. We have not seen anyone out of compliance as everyone we work with is comfortable with the safety guidelines, or at least willing to comply while we are working together..

We are so glad to be back shooting corporate headshots and business photography on the regular. We love seeing our people, meeting new folks and making great photography.

Small Businesses During Covid - Corporate Portrait Project

During the pandemic, we were thinking a lot about our colleagues and how they were conducting their business through this difficult time. Attending large zoom meetings, connecting one-on-one, reading LinkedIn, posts, comments, industry journals, helped us, and we know so many others, get a clearer understanding of what was happening in various business communities. It was interesting to see how our corporate headshot business compared. Since we are almost 100% a B2B headshot photography company our next moves very much hinge on what is happening out int he business community.

Our meetings were mostly focused on local business associations, conference planners, etc. Getting a read on where everyone was with their businesses helped us understand what we could expect coming down the pipeline to our corporate headshot business.

From the corporate event people, we started to understand when conferences were coming back. This is a big sector for us as many of our clients are associations who want to get website headshots and LinkedIn headshots for their members. Internal event planners at large corporations bring us in to cover corporate portraits for different departments or staff groups. They might bring us in to do business headshots for a department of 10, or a salesforce of 800.

Talking to businesses in our area gave us a read on hiring. Of course, businesses that are hiring need new headshots for their new employees! But it was also, simply put, kind of interesting to see how small businesses were doing, to understand their unique challenges and to get surprised when we hear how certain businesses not just thrived, but blew through growth expectations.

One of the things we love about doing business photography is that we are always interfacing with people in various professional positions among varied business sectors. The last few months was a very interesting time to hear from this myriad group of people.

Of course as we were staying connected and listening to stories, we started getting interested in the idea of sharing Covid business stories. Lucky to have a wonderful circle of professionals that we respect and learn from, we were able to get a few to sit in front of our camera.

Without further ado, here are some portraits and small business stories that we have captured so far:

Sandra Cohen, Cohen and Buckmann

Employment and Employee Benefits Law Firm

How long have you been in business? Exactly five years in April 2021 - we are trying to celebrate our fifth anniversary all year long!

How did your business thrive or struggle during the pandemic? As an employment and employee benefits law firm, our business evolved in a steady way with the economic cycles: during the pandemic, we were busy advising clients on layoffs, furloughs and navigating all kinds of new laws affecting things like sick leaves and benefit law changes. Now that business is opening up, we are helping clients with new hiring and new incentive contracts, as well as employee benefits in transactions/M&A deals.

Did you have to make changes in your business to accommodate personal or family circumstances? I was fortunate to already be working from a home office by choice, well before the pandemic. But it was new territory to have my husband working home every day, and we had to set up make-shift office space for him as well as set up our two teenage sons in different parts of the house so they could do Zoom school. I feel very lucky that our kids are old enough to manage a lot of that by themselves, and we all managed to get along pretty well too! I have so much respect for working parents of little children, trying to juggle homeschool, keeping their jobs and managing the overall stress we all felt about daily life in these times.

Has your business community reached out to support each other in any way? The legal community found new ways to network over video. While I was originally skeptical that I could develop meaningful relationships without meeting in person, I now have new business colleagues that I can now call friends, that I have only met over Zoom.

John Rafferty, Watchguard 24/7

Security guards for residential and commercial locations + related services.

How long have you been in business? 12 years.

How did your business thrive or struggle during the pandemic? Just like every business, there were hurtles that we had to deal with during the pandemic, but we were able to meet our clients' expectations, find new opportunities, and strengthen our relationships even more with our clients where they realized the value of having a true partner providing their security, concierge and fire safety director services. 

What are unexpected consequences of the pandemic on your business? Unfortunately, people are still being offered unemployment and other incentives where some people are not looking to come back to work, and it is minimizing the available work force. 

Did you have to make changes in your business to accommodate personal or family circumstances? We are still currently making accommodations for our team and these changes are still currently in place. 

What will you change about your business moving forward? Moving forward, I understand that working remote is still effective when needed. 

Do you think the government did a good job supporting small business owners? I think during an unprecedented time the government did a decent job, however, I would like to see some changes currently to help business owners and to get everyone back to work. 

Has your business community reach out to support you in any way? I'm very involved in the business community and have many business partners I collaborate with. We work with each other all the time to refer each other business.

Azra Kazim Kermali, Plaques by Azra

Signs and Lucite Products

How long have you been in business? Founded by my parents 46 years ago, I have been actively involved for 25 years.

How did your business thrive or struggle during the pandemic? We struggled a lot as events were cancelled. [Sales for] My entire graduation season was impossible as people were in lockdown and there was too much uncertainty.

What are unexpected consequences of the pandemic on your business? As soon as we were in the third week of lockdown, I knew that all businesses would take a hit.  I was blown away at how my networks were focused on survival.  I even sat on a panel advising the community to tap into resources as I saw them being available.  Unfortunately, I didn't get much at all in the beginning, and I could see my savings starting to dry up.  I had some past due bills, but vendors were willing to defer payments and AMEX also gave us a no finance fee period which really helped me out a lot.  Other credit cards followed as well, but the wait time to reach them was absolutely insane.  As soon as I got my first loan, I made sure I paid my vendors and balances due.

What will you change about your business moving forward? Despite it all, I am so proud to share that we have decided to expand to offer our clients Employee Engagement services. During the pandemic, I struggled with uncertainty as to when our business would bounce back. All our clients were facing budget issues, and understandably cut out events and awards in the new virtual world. I came up with an idea [to accommodate for this] and so far, it is moving well.

Do you think the government did a good job supporting small business owners? Yes, I think they did their best. It was tough getting the answers and eligibility at the beginning, but I am grateful.

Has your business community reach out to support you in any way? Yes, all my networks were amazing with information on funding, resources and support around pivoting. Grant opportunities were also available. There are so many, I don't know where to begin but here are a few: Goldman Sachs, Tory Burch Foundation, NYCSBS, Small Business Administration, NMSDC, IFundWomen, HerSuiteSpot and of course, my community.

Thank you to our subjects and we look forward to featuring more professional headshots and corporate portraits featuring businesses owners as they move through these next few months.

Corporate Headshots - It Is In The Eyes

Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. Sophia Loren

Almost nothing need be said when you have eyes. Tarjei Vesaas

When photographing people for their corporate headshots, it all starts with the eyes. They are the window to the soul, says Shakespeare, Da Vinci, the philosopher Cicero and, it seems a few others over time. Whoever and whatever the origin, we believe that it to be the absolute truth. And while we, as photographers, are not trying to get down deep like a therapist, we completely agree. What is communicated through the eyes can create the tone for how people see you and what you want your clients to understand about you from your business headshots.

True, communicating your essence through a corporate headshot is a cumulative effort. Face, clothes, posture, etc. all have to look right for your website headshots. We look at the whole 'you' . But the thing we are connecting with, the most important element, the thing that we must get right, is how the eyes look. Chances are, when you come into our studio, we will tell you where to stand, how to hold your body, where to put your hands. The last thing we will tell you is where to look. We are seeing your eyes and figuring out how to capture your spark.

Remember, the goal is to engage clients with your professional headshot. You do this most effectively through eye contact. It is amazing how different people can look from frame to frame depending on their eyes. The number one thing we will want is for people to look into the camera. Some people want something more casual where they are looking off to the side. This can work, but it must have a serendipitous feel. It can also be hard for us mere non-model mortals who might not feel at ease in front of the camera to pull this off. We are always game for trying, but you can expect us to give you several safe options for your website corporate headshot.

So we say, make eye contact with the camera. By doing so, you are engaging with the viewer/the client/your audience.

How To Use Your Eyes In A Corporate Headshot

Communication comes from the eyes. Other facial features compliment this, but what is going on in the eyes is very important. Where are you looking? Are you making eye contact? Are you emoting the kindness of a healthcare provider in your website headshot? Are you telling the world you are a hard core litigator through the steely glare of your corporate headshot? Are you using an introspective gaze of a therapist with your website headshot?

How do you want people to read you? Direct and bold? Then a very direct look into the camera matched with a feeling of ease, but no real smile, is the way to go. Do you want people to know that you will care for them? Perhaps you need something softer and inviting - maybe not a full-on joyful smile, but a friendly grin with a 'Smize' in the eyes is the way to go. See Tyra Banks, America's Next Top Model if you want to know what that looks like.

Imperfections

Let's get this next question out of the way right now. Unless you are Kate Moss, who is said to have perfect facial left/right symmetry, you have some kind of uneveness in your facial features. This is normal, typical and varies in range from one person to the next. The goal is never perfection or absolute symmetry. We love everyone's unique faces and are never trying to make anyone look anything but their best selves in their professional headshots.

Getting Technical How We Create That Corporate Headshot Spark

From a technical point of view, we always want to see a little spark of light in the eye. A tiny dot, or catchlight, reflecting our flash can make an professional headshot look alive. This is something that happens when we fire the camera and the flash goes off. It's different than glare, which is a reflection, usually off of glasses, that can obscure the eyes. It's a small thing but it is one of those details that can make a difference.

Once we have that spark in the eye, we can start to adjust other details. We can look at your smile. Are your eyes saying one thing, but your smile (or non-smile) is saying another? How is your head positioned? We often ask our clients to tilt their head a bit to the left or the right. Often this is a correction for an over-tilt. So many people take their posing cues from Instagram where the flirty head tilt reigns supreme. That is fine for social use. For business portraits, we recommend something more direct and professional.

In Conclusion - The Eyes Make The Corporate Headshot

So much of how you come off in your corporate headshot photos depends on the connection we can make with you. This is why we start with the eyes. We know it is awkward and can feel almost confrontational to look directly down the barrel of a lens, but we are here to make that feel easier. We love to get to a point where we can put our subjects at ease, look into their eyes, and know that we have gotten the most authentic corporate headshot spark.

Professional Headshots for Pride Month

We love to celebrate and we love to highlight excellent portraits. So while we are not so timely on the Pride Month theme, we feel there is always a reason to celebrate Pride! We will launch July with our celebration of some wonderful headshots and business portraits highlighting this community.

For us, inspiration for our corporate and business headshots comes from looking at all kinds of portrait photography. It is wonderful to be able to start with a research subject that might lead us to new headshot work, or to revisit old portraits that we have not come across in some time.

It would be easy to fill pages and pages of blog posts highlighting the LGBTQ community. There are the LGBTQ portrait photographers in our industry who have contributed their creativity and unique perspective. And, of course there are the subjects that our photographers cover and by taking their true, beautiful, fun and fantastic portraits, share their significance with the world.

In this post, we decided to focus on excellent headshots and portraits of the smart, driven, heros and icons that have led change for the LGBTQ community.

Starting way back in the 1960's we can look to Marsha P Johnson. She was a trans woman who identified as gay and emerged as a leader following the Stonewall uprising. Uniquely and 100% her own woman, Marsha led with personality, style and spirit. Together with another LGBTQ rights trailblazer, Sylvia Rivera, she founded STAR, or the Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.

Unsurprisingly, as a contemporary of Andy Warhol, Ms. Johnson sat for many portraits with him. While our corporate headshot subjects rarely come to us with her wild creative style, we see similarities in how he approached the portrait. As his goal was to create a true portrait of who this person was, our goal is to create a corporate headshot that feels both honest, beautiful and flattering.

When considering our next subject, Harvey Milk was an obvious choice. For those who don't know, he was an outspoken politic figure in San Francisco, who rallied the gay community to identify issues and speak up for their rights. It took him many campaigns to be elected to public office, but eventually he won. As an active official on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he moved definitively on legislation that would fight against discrimination. He was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, earning the local title of the Mayor of Castro, a street and neighborhood in San Francisco.

Here is a business portrait of Harvey Milk from the Bettman Archive. It is office photography of a sort - a wonderful look at him in his habitat, district map in the background with stacks of paper, business cards and photographs strewn about. This documentary style business portrait gives us a window into his professional life like only the best environmental portraits can do.

Edith Windsor might not be an household name, but she brought a case all the way to the Supreme Court that was instrumental to future progress. Her case laid the groundwork for one of the biggest human rights gains in the LGBTQ community: Same Sex Marriage.

In 1996, Windsor inherited the estate of her female partner of 40 years. They were married in Canada as same sex marriage was not yet legal in the US, but lived in NY. Because they were not recognized as legally married in New York, Windsor was subject to over $350,000 in taxes. Had their marriage been recognized the taxes would have been 0.

In 2010 Windsor filed a suit against the federal government, fighting this injustice. She argue that there was discrimination inherent in the Defense of Marriage Act that led to her unfair and exorbitant tax bill. She won this landmark decision, paving the way to the case for same sex marriage.

This professional portrait of Edith Windsor by Robert Maxwell is a heroic portrait of a powerful, self-assured woman who, with her fight against the Defense of Marriage act, paved the way to same sex marriage. While it is no corporate headshot, it is most certainly a professional portrait highlighting a hard working activist. She looks unstoppable.

Michael Sam was a formidable competitor in the NFL and man, was that guy brave?! In one of the most difficult communities where, at best, homosexuality was a fraught conversation, he announced what he was: a gay man.

This headshots by Richard Phibbs is, in many ways, no different than a typical sports headshot. Sam is shirtless. His physicality is impressive. He addresses the family unflinchingly. He is a fit and strong professional player. Of course, his recently announced his sexuality, that he was gay in a profession that has little precedent for identifying as gay, hangs between the viewer and the subject. It helps us understand two things about him at one time. It is a complex headshot photography, a dramatic business portrait of sorts.

These portrait photographers have beautifully highlighted important figures in the LGBTQ community. We gain inspiration from both the imagery and what they represent for continued progress.

Posing for Corporate Headshots

Posing for business photography and website photography is not as difficult as it seems. You do not have to be a model to pull off a flattering corporate headshot. Everyone knows this and yet most people feel incredibly stressed about what they are supposed so they look good in front of the camera.

“Where do I look?”

“How should I stand?”

“What should I do with my hands?”

“Should I smile?”

These are all totally great questions that people get pretty darn stressed about when thinking about how their headshot shoot will go. A good photographer will take charge and put you at ease from the moment you begin. Hopefully this article will help you feel comfortable as well.

The Role Of A Good Corporate Headshot Photographer

A good photographer does more than just take a good photo. They are skilled at putting people at ease and helping them understand how the shoot will go. Our photographers are all trained to greet each subject and then let them know what is happening and how the session will go. As photographers who have taken thousands upon thousands of corporate and business headshots, we can tell you this. There is no one who walks into our pop-up photo studio that knows what to do. Everyone needs a little direction.

After initial niceties, we will tell you where to stand and brief you on what the plan is for the shoot. Right away the photographer should help you relax. A relaxed subject makes for good photos!

Expectations and Posing

We never expect that a subject comes to us knowing how to pose. Here are some ideas that might help demystify the corporate headshot process and get you feeling more comfortable.

The first thing we think about is, 'how will the subject be using this corporate headshot photo?' You should think about this also. What industry are you in? What are some industry standards for headshots? Does your business have a more creative or professional services/corporate vibe? Does your company have any technical requirements for size or cropping?

Think about frame, or what will be included in the photo. How much of you should be in the photo. Is the photo of you from the shoulders up? Or do we zoom out and get everything from the knees and up?to match your overall corporate branding. The vast majority use shoulders up, but sometimes a website headshots or a company's branding guidelines require something different.

Left: 3/4 frame. Right: Shoulders up.

All About The Angles

Portrait and headshot photography is all about working your angles. When we take our first look at you, we think about how we can position you to work those angles. A straight on, squarely facing the camera is not such an interesting look but turn the subject a bit and now you have something that feels a little more dynamic. Hands down by your side can feel boring or too much straight up and down. Put a hand on a hip and now we have some flattering angles.

A very typical pose to start with is with the subject\angled ¾ towards the camera. This means that your feet will be pointing 45 degrees away from the camera. From there, we will might have you rotate your shoulders towards the camera a bit, and then rotate your head even further.

Are you started to see the angles? Expect additional small position changes with direction like, 'turn your shoulders more towards the camera' or 'tilt your head a tiny bit'. Making these subtle movements can create a big change and make a 'just fine' website headshot into a 'wow' of one.

How about my arms? And hands?

Again, it's about the angles and how to position your body so it looks best. We always have some kind of platform or table in front of you where you can rest your hands. Sometimes we will ask you to put your right hand up and drop your left by your side. Then we could say, bring your left hand on top of your right. We might tell you to cross your arms. Again, we are working the angles and figuring out how you look best by making these changes. Not all of them will work, but at some point we will run into one that does and then you will sparkle!

Posing for the light.

Another factor we add into the mix is to look for the light and how it is hitting your face. How does light affect how you pose? The light is always coming from some direction (above, from the right or left, etc.). We will move you around in the light to see how it hits you best. We will likely position you facing the light and facing away from the light with adjustments of your arms, face, shoulders and such along the way. Everyone is different, so we are looking for those lighting tweaks that will make our subjects look awesome.

In the example below, the light is coming from the subjects right. While we like both of these options but it is easy to see some differences. The shot on the left has a more dramatic shadow on the subjects face, as he is subtly looking away from the light. On the right the subject is facing the light so it is spreading across his face more evenly.

In Conclusion…

So there you have it. You don't have to be Gisele to pose and look great in photos. Simply knowing how a shoot will go and that a good photographer will be your best guide will be a great start in getting yourself some fabulous new business heaadshots!

Post-Pandemic Work and the Corporate Headshot

As the head of a business headshot photography company that has been mostly sidelined during much of the pandemic, I am so very eager to get back to business. I am also on the (very) cautious side. I celebrate the positive and think about ways we can work safely. I am one of those that is excited to hear that masks are coming off, but also quite nervous about it. Is it time to take that step? Too soon? Too late?

At least a portion of my team is definitely vaccinated which is great in terms of the safety we can offer those that will be doing business headshots with us. But I am also very practical and am reading up on how to be pragmatic about risk. I understand that while there is no such thing as zero risk, there is plenty that we can do to keep our team and our clients from being vulnerable.

But I digress. This post is not how we, at The Booth for Business, feel safe about going out into the world. It is about how we can serve our longtime loyal and very new clients safely given the new ways of post-pandemic working.

What We Are Hearing from our Professional Headshot Photography Clients

We conducted a super-non-scientific survey of our clients about when they expect to start getting back together in the office and at conferences. We got some great feedback.

The news from those that are going back to work in the office seems kind of consistent. They will be expected back around Labor Day of 2021. That is not so far away and we are excited that we can get back to doing professional headshots and website headshots for these clients in a way that, with precautions, will not be so different from how we did this in the pre-pandemic times.

The same kind of timing is true for conferences. We are starting to see interest in our conference headshots as early as August 2021. But there will be some changes in this arena. Many conferences will operate on a hybrid format and there will be fewer people in attendance. It is exciting to see things move towards an in-person agenda. This is great news for those who are vaccinated and/or feel safe getting out and being with people. And it is great news for those who rely on getting their corporate headshots at an event like this.

How The Booth Will Change Doing Corporate Headshots

For our clients in the above categories, we will likely be implementing new Covid safety strategies. These are all things we have been doing at our in-studio professional headshot sessions and for business headshot off-site, at people's offices.

This is the kind of photography precautions we have been doing throughout the pandemic. We will wear masks and have our subjects keep their masks on until we are ready to shoot. We will clean communally touched surfaces between subjects. Guidance set by planners, the CDC and other guiding organizations will be followed. Like at all other times during this pandemic, we expect things to change and we are ready to be flexible and nimble in order to accommodate those changes.

In Many Ways, Corporate Headshots by The Booth Will Be The Same

From our end, the experience will be very similar. The quality will be there. The subjects will be made to feel comfortable and we will be the same friendly and personable headshot photographers who will get the best, most flattering and professional corporate headshots! What you loved about having your professional headshots with us pre-pandemic will be there for you moving forward.

What About Those Companies Not Going Back To The Office Full Time?

We have had a lot of conversations with companies about how 'going back to the office' will look. Many are considering a hybrid schedule while some companies don't intend to ever bring their staff back to the office with any regularity. Productivity has remained good with their staff working from home. Why not save commuting time and rent and keep things status quo?

What are also hearing, though is that a more permanent work from home situation does not mean never coming into the office. Most of our companies we speak to see the value of bringing people together in real life. Corporate culture is a real thing and there has to be some kind of 'coming together' experience for companies to create a sense of community.

Companies also see that a certain synergy happens among their teams when they share the same physical space. Productivity can be a goal, but productivity cannot be the only goal. Running into someone in the hall or passing their office and stopping to say hello creates a different kind of workplace commodity. It allows for collaborative thought and that other serendipitous opportunities that is important, but harder to measure.

We are seeing many companies considering a range of options that don't require staff in full-time: from 3 days in-office/week, to completely flexible work week options, to only coming in for quarterly meetings. It might even look like events, meetings and conferences particularly, will be an opportunity to bring people back into the office.

And This Is Where the Headshot Magic Can Happen!

This can be your solution for getting professional headshots for your team. Employers can do everything they need with their staff during these 'together' times and that can include corporate headshots and website headshots.

This solution is perfect, even for teams in different cities or states. If they are getting together infrequently, it is not so crazy to bring those super-remote people in for a few days.

The one thing we are hearing consistently from clients is how much they value and see a need for headshots of their teams. Website headshots, especially, in certain professional services fields, are more important than ever in establishing a relationship with a remote client. It closes that gap of feeling disconnect from your vendors or those working for you.

Now that there are fewer in-office interactions, website headshots serve an important intra-office purpose. It helps create a sense of familiarity among staff. With these new ways of working, many of us will not be in person with most of our peers.

From our perspective, this new way of getting together will make it optimal timing to cover a team, update their headshots and cover all those new employees that you have hired since the pandemic began. We feel confident that there will be further innovation in the workplace. It will be exciting to see things evolve and we look forward to evolving along with it.

Business Photography vs. Headshot Photography

We talk about business photography and headshot photography in a lot of our writing. But what is the difference? In this post, will define these terms. We will break down how it all works together to create a complete picture of your business.

Business Headshot Photography

Everyone knows about corporate and business headshot photography. It is exclusively about covering individuals in a consistent way company-wide. It is a cropped-in, shot, typically horizontal and it focuses on one person. The background is often solid, but it is sometimes environmental, to suggest something about the business. We are New York corporate headshot photographers that do thousands of these a year.

It is now expected that a company website or a LinkedIn profile features photos of staff and individuals. Website visitors will see the photos and feel more familiar with your team. Someone who wants to know more about your individual professional experience will form their first impression by looking at your LinkedIn profile photo. Speakers submit them to a conference where they are speaking at so attendees can know who is presenting. Thought leaders will share this image with a magazine who is publishing their writing.

When we at The Booth talk about headshot photography, we are mostly focusing on business headshots but headshots are used heavily in creative industries. We are talking about headshot photography for actors, musicians and other creative talent. The goal for people in these fields is to showcase their talent or their type. They are all about YOU. The creative choices you make can be highly individualized. With a corporate headshot the image will say something about you and the organization for which you work. In this case the image highlights the individual but maintains overall company-wide consistency.

The lion's share of our jobs are exclusively to cover headshots for our clients. If they are a small/mid-size business we might go and cover the entire staff. If they are large corporate clients, we are more likely to be brought in to target specific departments. Having a sales conference? Everyone on your sales team is in one place, so bring us in to do new, updated and consistent headshots.

Business Photography

New York Business Photography

We also do business photography. Business photography is where we cover all aspects of a business. Headshot photography is a sub-category of business photography. Here are other things we would include as business photography:

-office photography

-product shots

-candids

-event candids

An Aside: Products Shots and Advertising Photography

Product shots and other imagery that you would use for advertising or, say e-commerce, are in their own category and require a specific type of photographer, studio, light, etc. We have limited capability for this kind of work. More typically, companies who come to us need to highlight their people and their place of business

Back To Office Photography

The goal of office photography is to showcase all or certain elements of your place of business. This can include interiors (offices and other workspaces, common spaces, exteriors of the building, etc). A client might ask for office candids that show their staff working collaboratively in a boardroom, at their desks, walking the halls, and otherwise going about their daily business.

There are a few reasons that a business come to us for this kind of work. If they are a new business and their office is an important part of the client experience, they will want to use these images on their website. For example, a medical practice might want to show new patients more about what to expect when they arrive at their appointment. Seeing comfortable waiting rooms, up-to-date exam rooms and a neatly and professionally dressed staff will help them feel confident about the care they will receive.

The most common times that clients come to us looking for a New York business photographer is: 1) when they are starting a new business and want to launch with all new content, or 2) when a client moved location and past images might be, in some way misleading for a client or 3) when a client is rebranding and they want to update all of their imagery to be consistent with their design and mission.

Let's talk about stock photography. There is plenty of stock photography out there that can help shortcut a company into a new look. But if you go this route, make sure the work is carefully curated for consistency of style and message or it can feel inconsistent or disingenuous.

Photos of your people in your office is preferable as it is simply more authentic. Imagery produced by a talented and well-prepared photographer will display your company as it's best self. It will feel natural, yet polished. It will help clients who are considering your services feel a confidence and connection that you know how to present yourself professionally and in a genuine way.

Business Photography for Meetings and Events

Conference Photography

Photography done at meetings and events is also business photography. Conference photography usually includes photos of speakers, awards ceremonies and other presentations. Since conferences are about bringing people together in some way, you can also showcase different ways that this is happening – in workshops, during coffee breaks, at social moments, etc. And, of course, covering details of signage, décor, and other elements help illustrate the creative vibe of the gathering.

Collaborating at a corporate conference.

It can also be important to cover smaller scale meetings. Perhaps there is a half day meeting where a senior executive is coming to welcome a special group of new hires. It could be a meaningful moment to cover and use in your marketing, online or in print.

Why cover meetings and conferences? The most obvious answer is that you are a conference planner and these images showcase your services. But there are other reasons for non-planners to cover a conference they are hosting or maybe even sponsoring. It is content that can be used for attracting attendees for future meetings. You can use the content for advertising and recruiting staff. It is content you can release over social media to build brand awareness. Finally, having images of the meeting or conference can be a tool or record. You are covering a moment in time that you can look back on and reference for future projects.

In Summary

In summary, headshot photography is only one part of business photography. These are all things we do. There is still a lot to know and understand. Please let us be a resource. We are happy to be helpful!

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New York Corporate Headshot Photographers

Black Futures Matters - Black Photographers and Their Influence On Corporate Portrait Photography

I am a runner. I love to explore new towns through my morning jogs.

During an epic road trip last summer, we made a stop in Pittsburgh and my morning run took me across the very quiet Covid-era campus of Carnegie Mellon. I encountered a huge Black Lives Matter sign. Running past I looked back at it and saw, written on the reverse, 'Black Futures Matter'. This resonated. A hopeful way to amplify the BLM movement.

I am embracing that spirit by sharing something about the present and future of Black photography. We have been doing it in short form social media posts throughout the month, but wanted to go into more detail here for those that are interested in knowing more about these and one other photographers that have influenced us as corporate and executive portrait photographers.

It is inspiring to us to look at unique work from a perspective different from our own. It broadens our perspectives in what’s possible for business photography. While there might be less room for wild creativity in corporate headshot photography, looking at this work helps us think about our own work in a new way. Further, our corporate headshot subjects are diverse. Looking at work from different points of view can help us make better choices when shooting our executive portraits.

There is so much diverse and interesting work coming from Black photographers and we are excited to share what we see as contemporary voices that will be creating photography for a long time into the future. So, without further ado, here are 3 photographers we are looking at and taking inspiration from right now.

Dana Scruggs

Dana Scruggs (https://www.danascruggs.com/) is so many things but we found her through her photography. She uses clean lines, graphic elements and dynamic compositions. Her photos of the human form are her shining hallmark and she was tapped as the first Black female photographer to shoot an athlete for ESPN Magazines Body Issue.

Ms. Scruggs has drive. While her client list now includes Vanity Fair, Glossier and GQ, it was not always so. She spent time cultivating a portfolio and, early in her career published her own SCRUGGS Magazine where both the creative and written content was all her own.

Tyler Mitchell

Tyler Mitchel (https://www.tylermitchell.co/photography/) is a chic, stylish, inventive and clever photographer. His most recent Vogue cover photo of VP Kamala Harris stirred up some controversy. If we are being honest it is not our favorite work by him. But we know that with a high profile subject and magazine, the photographer is not always in complete control of the results.

There is so so much to see and be inspired by in Tyler Mitchel's portfolio. His work is gorgeous. He shoots in a narrative way and is excellent at capturing an identity. In his portfolio of Michaela Coel, creator of the HBO program, I May Destroy You, he captures the nature of this smart, uniquely beautiful, statuesque, unapologetically honest personality. And he does it in so many different ways. In the JW Anderson he shows his chops as a master of composition, using straight lines, and circles and streaks of light. There are muted blues against earthy browns. They are still and moving at the same time.

If you want to treat yourself further, look at Mitchell's videos. https://www.tylermitchell.co/films/ where he continues to flex his creative muscles.

Denisse Ariana Perez

Denisse Ariana Perez (https://denissearianaphotography.com/) is both a photographer and writer. It is not hard to imagine that she would excel at both media. She enjoys how the use of multiple modes of expression to play off of each other to create something more than that one thing. You can see the poetry in Perez's images. They are enigmatic and almost challenge the viewer to fill in the story.

Perez's photographs are soft and soulful in feel. She mixes color palettes of pastels with natural earthy tones, man-made textures with those that are very much from nature. In Flowers and Water, we see a cropped image of only the subject dressed in floaty fabric holding a handful of floral stems. All disappears into green mossy water.

Inside the Afro-Punk portfolio is a series of portraits of people in meager settings. There is a portrait of a young woman sitting in simple but tall arched back chairs. They are in a sparse room with a pealing wall as background. The tone is a moody Dutch Master painting with contemporary subjects.

These photographers are all doing beautiful work that we admire. They have many working years in front of them. We are excited to see the future and where their unique perspectives take us and will continue to look to them for inspiration in the work we do as New York Corporporate and Executive headshot photographers.

Medical Practices and Corporate Photographers

In a year that is very (extremely!!!) focused on healthcare and staying well, we thought we would look at the corporate headshot photography that supports this industry.

There are a few different kinds of photography that support this industry and while there is some crossover in use, various areas of the industry require different kinds of coverage.

Medical photography is an example of one end of medical photography. This can start at the molecular and cellular level. Need an example? How about that weird circular cell with suction cup looking arms growing out of it on all sides. Covid19 is famous, or shall we say infamous, and it will be difficult to find any digitally connected person in this world that could not make an instant identification.

This cellular photography, is fascinating. It is ultra micro and it is absolutely amazing in what it allows us to see about the world and about ourselves. It helps us explain our aches and pains, it helps us understand what makes up a leaf. We learn why water is making us sick. We learn what foods contain that make us uber healthy. Also, it looks really cool.

While we very much appreciate this medical-focused industry photography, it is a very specialized craft. It is one that requires very specific tools and a degree of knowledge about the subjet to be done right. We respect it and are awed by it, but we do not do it.

We are involved in medical and healthcare photography on a far more macro level. Our focus, if you will, is on what those many cells and molecules make up. We are professional business photographers that take photos of whole people, waiting rooms, testing equipment, etc.

Medical offices.

As a category, medical practices are very much like small businesses. To cover them, they require professional business photographers. These people must understand the flow of the business but can bring a professional eye to the project. The components are the same as a business. There are offices where the doctors and support staff do their work. They serve clients. But there are also many things that are different than non-medical businesses. Instead of products, they offer care. Instead of clients, they serve patients. And instead of a typical staff, they have doctors and other practitioners.

Here is where corporate headshot photography comes in. Physician headshots are an important part of your business marketing. It is very important for a physician to include website headshots for both familiarity and to signal professionalism. Your doctors must be shown to be clean, tidy, well-put together and approachable. A clean and tidy presentation telegraphs that it will be a well-organized and safe, clean environment in which you will be seen.

There are options in how a doctor can present him or herself. We always recommend professional dress, but know that this can mean different things to different providers. If you want a strictly professional headshots for business in the medical field, you might choose a lab coat. When our professional business photographers cover a doctor in a lab coat we know that the doctor is trying to instantly telegraph their training and capability. However, not all doctors work in this uniform. They might prefer a creative corporate headshot that is professional but that evokes more personality. If a medical provider decides against a lab coat it might be more important to use some other environmental elements that suggest a medical practice.

A headshot for business in a medical practice is an opportunity to tell your patients something about who you are and how you intend to care for them. The way you stand, what you wear, what kind of environmental background you use are all elements of the creative corporate headshot that translate how the patient will feel when they are with you. Does this physician want to signal a feeling of warmth and caring? Yes, but maybe they are more focused on signaling absolute confidence. Is the work you do more clinical or research-focused? There are so many opportunities to turn these characteristics into a visual representation offering an opportunity to connect with the patient.

The results of your business headshot photography should be to make clients or patients feel comfortable and familiar with you before they walk through the door. While we all know what it is like to visit the doctor there can be some anxiety around it for patients. Help them understand who you are and get more familiar with you by strategically using a corporate headshot photographer.

Corporate Headshot Photography for Medical Practice Staff

Which of your staff should you have your professional business photographers cover? We recommend anyone who will see or treat the patient. Obviously doctors should be covered, but we recommend any practioner, including nurses and alternative care providers that will come in close contact with the patient. It is great to have an individual corporate headshot of these individuals so you can some kind of individualized bio to match.

No think about reception, billing, procurement, etc. As for the rest of your team, they make the wheels turn and having a photo of them never hurts. It is perfectly acceptable to do a group photograph for this part of the team. Including a nice photo of these people on your website can help start the patients relationship with the non-medical team on a positive note.

Photography The Office

Your office is likely designed to feel comfortable and organized for your patients. Use yoru Business photographers to show what your patients what they will see when they walk through the door. Include photos of your examination rooms. It inspires confidence to see a clean, professional space with the right kind of equipment.

A proper edit of images provided by our professional business photographers will help you share a full picture of your medical business. Using corporate photographers to cover website headshots and the physical aspects of your practice will inspire confidence and comfort in your new and existing clients.

Update: COVID-19 Safety and Our New York Corporate Headshot Photographers

Our New York corporate headshot photographers at The Booth are ready to take some photos! We have had some clients come to us over the last few months, but, in general, our workload has been pretty light.

Of course it has. Until recently the idea of working shoulder to shoulder with colleagues you have known for, potentially, years was a non-issue. Now, it seems like every living body, including those same colleagues, could present the threat of COVID-19. You imagine everyone you know, with their kids in school 2 days/week, visiting Trader Joe's, stopping by the local deli, bringing their packages in from the outside without spray disinfecting… We are no longer people to each other. We are anthropomorphized Coronavirus walking around on 2 legs.

Around here, we err on the cautious side of things. But we are also practical and very interested in knowing more about how we can serve our clients and mitigate risk. Like everyone, we have spent the last several months paying attention to new information and thinking about how to adjust ourselves for safe and successful interactions with others. Somehow, life goes on.

And, thankfully, our photography has gone on as well. We are starting to shoot more and wanted to offer an update, full of the learnings over the last few months of how we are doing this safely.

Photography, used to be a far more social and chatty experience for us and our clients. We would talk to our subjects, ask a few questions and take some time to get them comfortable. We might make a joke, play around, have some fun. We were always mindful of time in order to keep a schedule or not to keep others in the line moving. We had plenty of structure, but it was, again to make sure the wheels were spinning properly and on time.

Now everything has shifted around a central theme: COVID-19. You are still going to feel welcome and we will continue to enjoy meeting you and putting you at ease. But now, our primary focus, first and foremost, is using what we know to stay safe: We plan, we shoot, we setup our equipment and we interact with the subject with COVID-19 in mind. We are constantly taking into account how we can best mitigate risk to our subjects and to our super conscientious and talented New York business photographers.

We published a blog post several months ago about what COVID-19 precautions we are taking. It is all still very relevant, but we wanted to share how, now that we know more about the virus, we are accommodating clients.

The most important thing we our watching out for is the significant airborne spread of the virus. Yes, we will continue to clean surfaces, but our focus will be on how to create a well-ventilated environment where air circulates and plenty of distance can be maintained among participants. We open windows, we install intake and exhaust fans and free-standing fans that will keep things moving around.

We are also well-aware that risk goes down when we spend less time together. Visits should be kept to a 2hr maximum, says one recent study published in Fast Company. Good thing for you, we need way less time than that to get a fabulous headshot. Right now, for our in-studio headshots we are keeping headshot sessions to 30min or less. The same is happening when we visit offices in the city.

As for distancing, it is still a 6' minimum between you and your executive headshot photographer. We are choosing the right lights, lenses and other equipment that can allow us to shoot a photo from that distance. If any of you have had your photo taken by Ian Londin, you will know that he can get well within the 2-3 feet distance from his subject. Not anymore.

At our studio our equipment is positioned in a way that the photographer and subject will not have to cross paths at any point. We position the background in a location where the subject can easily walk in and out without sharing space with our photographer. Here is a diagram of how the setup looks in our studio.

Planning and implementation for Covid protection is a little different when we are working in a client's office. If it is an existing client we will probably know the space fairly well. We might ask the client for a more open location or we might suggest a spot that could allow for more distance and better airflow. If it is a new client, we will ask for scouting photos of the space. This is a fancy way of asking our client to click 5-10 iphone photos of the space so we can get a sense of how big it is, where the ventilation points are and how we can set up our equipment to create the least possible interaction.

Is there still a risk to how we operate? Of course. But we are trying to be smart. We are reading everything we can about being together, about how to position air purifiers, how much time we can be together and more. We are waiting for the next bit of news to come out and tell us what we should be looking out for next. We are keeping new products in mind that can help mitigate.

Would I put our team or our clients at any major risk to take a headshot photo? No. But we are willing and able to carry on and make some great photos for our clients limiting the risk and keeping everyone as safe as possible.

Political Photographers Inspire New York Corporate Headshot Photographers!

Can one get political without being political? We think it is possible if it's in service and admiration of 3 very talented photographers. It's 8 days out from the presidential election, so what better time to highlight those photographers that have aimed their camera at the political circus as a serious and, often amusing subject. Like all good photographers, these three offer us distinct windows into a world that is not always accessible to us.

All three of these photographers embrace something of the photojournalistic approach. They cover live action events and are trying to tell a story. The goal is to come back with something that can be published, that stands on its own or enhances a written piece. It somehow expresses an idea that is part of a larger project.

Photojournalists are some of the most committed and dogged professionals in the photography industry. While we New York executive portrait photographers can glean techniques, our challenges pale in comparison to a good photojournalist. They use patience, perseverance and skill to show us what is happening. They hit the road, they goto where the action is and they take pictures of how they see it. A good one operates with the same ethics and unbiased point of view as his/her writer/journalist colleagues.

David Burnett one of our featured photographers is very much a photojournalist. He embraces the tough job of finding the image, making excellent content and making it look easy. But we know that so much work goes into each iconic photo. He must know where his subject will be and find a way to get access. While our New York corporate headshot photographers walk into a space with a scheduled appointment, a journalist might have to hustle his/her way to the front line of a red carpet as a president is disembarking from Air Force One. Or be prepared with the right gear so he/she can shoot behind a chain link fence half a football field away. A journalist might attend a rally thinking that there will be supporters or protestors or something interesting to cover and the event could be a dud.

There's the waiting. The photojournalist could learn about a meeting or something less public that is meant to happen and then sit on a corner for hours until the subject shows up. Or maybe there is a small town that represents a certain population and topic that a newspaper wants to cover. The photographer will go there and just keep looking for the shots that tell the visual story. Instead of waiting, this photographer must learn his/her surroundings, build trust with those who live there and try to gain access in a respectful way.

And then, of course there is the hundreds of photos a photographer might have to take to get the right frame. While our New York business photographers are tethered to a computer, studying the images as they come up, the pace is less forgiving for a photojournalist. Sometimes they get lucky with a promised 5 minutes of access and the perfect shot presents itself. More typically he/she will shoot frame after frame, looking for the right shot.

Three Great Photographers that Influence our Corporate Headshot Photography

3 photographers that we admire who tell such interesting stories with their cameras are David Burnett, Pete Souza and Mark Peterson. They are completely different and fill different roles inside of photojournalism but they all do something unique and admirable.

David Burnett

David Burnett has been an enduring favorite of ours. Burnett has been everywhere, photographing stories for over 6 decades. He has worked with different types of cameras and covered a wide range of subjects. An early photographer, he covered the Vietnam war for Time and Life Magazines. One of his most famous series is 44 Days: The Iranian Revolution from 1978. While he is decidedly a photojournalist, his images blur the line between hard facts and artistic presentation.

While he has covered many famous people, his focus has always been on telling the real life story in real time. He says. 'shoot shoot shoot!' but not without purpose. Find your subject, look for the right shot. Take plenty of frames, but don't use a motorized trigger. When you get the shot a few times, but then move on and look for the next angle.

As a photojournalist, Burnett has photographed presidents and veterans. He has witnessed the ritual of Vietnam Vets monthly cleaning of the Wall in Washington DC. There is the very formal meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev and a casual shot of President Clinton and VP Gore in hair and makeup with Larry King in advance of an interview.

Pete Souza and Covering the White House

When it comes to recognizable names in political photojournalism right now you cannot avoid Pete Souza. He is best known for being President Obama's White House photographer, but his projects are cast wider than just this one subject. Souza also covered the Reagan White House, a story about first year Plebes at the Naval Academy and images from the fall of Kabul. He was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning team covering the airline industry in 2001.

It is hard not to love the images Pete Souza took during his tenure as White House Photographer with President Obama. The images tell the story of our enormously popular first Black president, a handsome first couple and their children, a public figure working with his staff celebrating good news and struggling with terrible information. Here he was covering and open and social media-savvy first president. While he maintains journalistic integrity, we, as corporate headshot photographers, can relate to being pulled in, emotionally to the moments he captures. The pictures are better for it.

In his role as white house photographer, Souza had somewhat easy access. There is tremendous skill in what he did, which was tell the behind the scenes stories of two presidents, but his challenges were in finding those intimate and telling moments.

It is very interesting to contrast Souza's images of Obama with President Reagan. With Reagan there is a greater overall formality: men in suits looking at documents and maps or swarming the oval office. Even more playful images illustrate the more formal personality of this president. In a social moment with Nancy Reagan and Michael Jackson at the White House even Mr. Jackson, in his full regalia, stands properly, hands clasped in front of him, looking off to the side. Out horseback riding we see the president 'at play'. But still, it is picture of a handsome, preppy cowboy with good posture and perfect hair.

Mark Peterson, Political Theater in Photographs

But photographers who cover politics are not all so strictly bound by the rules of journalism. Some are purely there to capture events from their own point of view. Perhaps they are more interested in colors, emotions, shapes, perspective, etc.

The last photographer is someone that is much more confrontational. He is in the room, looking for the shot, shooting from a reportage/documentary perspective. But he asserts a point of view.

Mark Peterson is not out to flatter anyone. He takes the images he see, but uses different camera angles, vibrant colors and action to reveal the drama. He does a raw-feeling story about a basketball at the famous 4th Street court in New York City. He also covers his fair share of celebrities and entertainment industry subjects.

When Peterson points his lens at a political subject he pulls no punches. His collection, Political Theater covers much of the 2016 election. He uses his photography techniques to amp up the theatricality of the presidential race, covering candidates and supporters. He includes super tight portraits of an expression and equally tight portraits of a patriotic accessory.

We think about this in relation to our corporate headshot photography. Our takeaway is how we can use technique to amp up the flattering qualities of a shot. The goal is not to lie, but to take a photo that best serves the purpose of the shoot.

There are no lies in what he is delivering through his photography, but there is a clear perspective. The story is Political Theater and his images deliver on that theme.

There are so many ways to cover politics, but these three photographers cover an interesting range of what exists. During a time that is so fraught with extreme feelings, it is nice to appreciate the field of political photography for creative art that it is.

As we enter into an election, we are thankful to have these photographers out there reporting back to us. We appreciate that the work they put into bringing us stories that are not available to us. We can tune out of our news channels droning on and recycling the same material and turn to photographers who bring us closer together to a depth of experience that is hard to see elsewhere.