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

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.

NEW SERVICE!!! The Booth Can Help You Polish Up Your LinkedIn Profile.

We have been working for weeks prepping our newest service and are excited to share it:

Our LinkedIn profile writing and advising program.

Our mission is to create excellent headshot photography. The natural next step is to help clients create a polished presentation with a better profile to go along with that current corporate headshot photograph. This next step will be a more thorough take on your professional presentation as a whole.

LinkedIn Profile Services Include:

Profile writing

Virtual and in-person workshops

Remote guidance

Tip-sheets and on-going learning for next steps with your online profile

Take a look at our

Candid Photography As a Visual Tool

We talk constantly about corporate headshot photography, what our New York corporate headshot photographers can do for your firm. We talk about technical things that corporate headshot photographers use to make a better shoot, like lighting, background colors, how to dress, etc…

There are other types of photography that are relevant for businesses and could help deepen your connection with potential clients. If you are business that has public facing materials, you should think about how candid photography could add to your presentation.

So what is candid photography and what does a candid photographer do that is different from our New York corporate headshot photographers? Candid photography is when you take pictures of actual, authentic moments as they happen. It is about capturing something real through photography without setting it up or posing someone. Here are a few examples of corporate candid photography and business photography...

Can a corporate headshot photographer also do candid photography? Often, yes. Many of our New York headshot photographers have skills doing candid photography, but not all. If we were to be contacted by a client for both, we would think through what the client needs, what the environment demands and which of our shootings that have both corporate headshot photography skills and candid business photography skills would be a good fit.

Candid and staged photography happen on a continuum with one at one end and one at the other end. For example, a candid corporate portrait can happen during a headshot session. Everything is set up, we are asking the subject to pose a certain way and the subject is trying to portray a certain professionalism through his or her posture and positioning. But while all this happens, that person is still, well, a person. They might react to something and laugh, or smile or look in an unexpected direction. This would be more of a candid moment that is part of a studio shoot. Everything happens somewhere in between these two ideas of candid and staged.

What about posed photography that appears to be candid?

We have all seen those photos on a website where everyone is leaning in around someone's desk. Or there is the boardroom shot where someone is standing at the head of a long table giving a presentation. Maybe you have seen the bank teller greeting a client. Everyone is wearing well-fitted clothes, their hair is styled, but not overly so, and they have just the right expression of thoughtful or welcoming and friendly.

Are these shots actually candid photos caught at just the right time? Probably not, but they still have that feel and can be a great way to illustrate something about your business. Unless you are shooting for the NY Times or acting as a photojournalist for someone else, there is nothing wrong with trying to make a staged moment look natural and candid. It is a totally legitimate thing to plan out your photography so it tells a story. Maybe it helps share the idea that your company collaborates and uses technology. Maybe you want it to position you as the company with the highest expertise or the most welcoming. Maybe it helps illustrate an actual process, or shows a potential client how it feels to be in your space.

And inside of this staged candid moment, there is still that continuum. These photos can be completely staged, including props, sets, actors etc. Or they can happen in an actual places where people work and are interacting with each other or clients. How it is done really depends on what a company wants the end result to be. Does the business want something relaxed illustrating a day in the life of their company? Or do they want something very pulled together that is sticks closely to their important set of branding guidelines. Budget can also be a huge factor for achieving these kinds of photos.

And then there is social media.

Not all companies are on social media, but many, many, many are. Companies choose a channel (Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) that best fits their demographic and messaging. Then they put together a strategy with a content calendar helping them plan how they can share the images with their audience. For some companies, this can be a looser, more behind-the-scenes outlet which calls for a looser, more candid group of images. Perhaps you are an architect and you are mid-project on new apartment building. You might want to include images of what has been happening on-site so that future residents can get excited about moving in. Maybe you take a photo of a fixture or a rooftop deck being installed, using the details to get people interested.

Does your staff participate in any interesting activities as a group and do they relate to your business in any way? Perhaps a shot of a group doing a charity project or attending an award ceremony for an industry association are candid images that this company would want to include on it's social media feed. You don't always need a our New York corporate headshot photographer or candid photographer in this case. A cellphone photo could work just fine. But it is important to think about how you plan to get that photo. If you know a moment is going to happen, plan for it appropriately. Does someone on your team know they should be taking the photo? Will they be in a good position to do it? Where in the room do they need to stand to get the photo? Think through what kind of planning needs to happen to make sure the photo can get made.

In Summary – We say Yes!!! to Candids!

Headshots are a really important tool in connecting with your audience and potential clients. The next step is to tell your company who you are as a group. Candid business photography can be a really good tool to help you better fill out what you want people to know about your company.

Crisis Time Corporate Video - Post 2 of 3

Video Blog 2 of 3: Show What You Know

Our goal in this series of three posts on video is to share how we are not just executive portrait photographers. We are content creators. We are proud to be a leading New York corporate headshot photographer whose goal it is to help our clients tell their story visually through corporate photography and video even when they cannot be together.

Recap – Using Video to Fundraise

In our last post, we spoke about non-profit organizations that we typically would collaborate with to do corporate event photography and professional headshots. They are now adapting their Spring fundraising gala season to distance fundraising. The New York Times has written about this twice already. In their Articles, “The Spring Gala Season Has Been Canceled” and “When Black Tie is Replaced by Plaid Pajamas”. Not being together is really taking a bite out of their fundraising goals.

Everything is cancelled, but people still want to help. So now the goal is to go to them and share your message digitally. They are checking their email, paying attention to their social media feeds and visiting websites.  Now that you know where they are, go to them. Create and share a video and remind them why what you do still needs support, now more than ever.

UP NEXT - Serving People In Professional Services - Beyond Business Headshots

The next group of clients, who we already serve with professional headshots and business photography, are businesses, especially in the field of professional services. This includes lawyers, accountants and investment advisors, among others.

In these fields, it is so important to create and maintain a trusting relationship with your clients. Clients want to hear from you, especially during difficult times. A newsletter with corporate photography is one way. A short series of videos is another. You can address a new or ongoing issue. Help them understand what you are doing to help them mitigate current or upcoming challenges.

It is a special set of circumstances, doing this kind of communication during a crisis like this. A company always should stay on brand. Think, for example what kind of creative decisions were made when working with your executive headshot photographers for business photography. But now there is a unique opportunity to go off script a little, message-wise and creatively.  Share more about why you went into your industry and how that makes you and your team qualified to support their business through the crisis. Talk about the people that are part of your team and have them share what they are doing to support the company and it's clients.

These are not normal times, so be real.  Acknowledge the challenges in a way that feels true for your company.

Next, paint a picture of where you are going once the crisis is over. Maybe it is unclear. Your message can be as simple as, “we can see things will be different when we are on the other side of this. We will be here to serve clients then, as now, in the way their world demands.” Fall back on your mission statements and tell people why you exist in the world. If you don't have a mission statement yet, write one. (Here is an oldie-but-goodie article from Entrepreneur magazine about how to write a mission statement https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240085.)

The Tools To Do This:

Video is one way.

We think corporate video can be a great way to share your message with maximum impact. We like that it can be conversational or tightly edited, that it can be done as a series and that it can give your audience a rounder view of the message you are sharing. Also, Google loves video. If you are simultaneously looking to increase your SEO ranking, using video on your website and blog can be a positive side effect.

Now, how can The Booth as corporate headshot photographers serving New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC, but grounded and working from home help you create a video of you and/or your team during a mandatory work from home mandate?

So many ways!

And we are ready to get creative with you. We showed you a video we created for SoulRyeders in our last blog post about videos. That is a more traditional video. It is a little difficult to do right now, but know that it is an option.

Another option is to use still corporate headshot photography with voiceover to share your story. The New York Times did a wonderful series called One In 8 Million back in 2007. It profiled New Yorkers in a visually interesting and very impactful way.

Here's a link.

This was done with two main components:

1. Still photographs were used to tell the story visually

2. Interviews where they learned more about that person.

We could help you put a plan in place on how to produce one master video and/or a series of videos that can be rolled out using email, video, social media and blog posts. We will schedule production , editing and retouching using newly captured images or by digging up already existing photos. We would help you create appropriate sound content remotely and put the entire project together.

Finally, we would put together a content calendar, showing you how and when to release the content for maximum exposure.

New York corporate headshot photographer

Crisis Time Corporate Video - Post 1 of 3

Ways that Video Can Help you during the time of Coronavirus

Our goal in this series of three posts on video is to share how we are not just executive portrait photographers. We are content creators. We are proud to be a leading New York corporate headshot photographer whose goal it is to help our clients tell their story visually through corporate photography and video even when they cannot be together.

Our first Coronavirus cancellation was two weeks ago, Monday. It was a big one. Since then one corporate headshot event after the other have evaporated.

We get it. A conference hosting 500 people in a giant conference center makes NO sense right now. Add hair and makeup for those professional headshots and the risk grows. And how can you take company headshots of your team when most companies are working from home?

Our clients are making good decisions. Social distancing is a must and it needs to happen quickly. We need to flatten the curve.

But we’re still The Booth and we are still image makers. How do we adapt our headshot photography skills to what the world needs right now?

How can we still serve our clients?

We listened and this is what you all told us: Coronavirus cancellations are driving a huge wedge between your organization and the people you are trying to reach. This means lost business or fewer donations or weakening relationships.

Video is a great tool to minimize the physical distance, and we have ideas on how it can help you, whether you are a business, a non-profit, or a person that is just trying to get a message out!

For our non-profit and fundraising friends...

Client Problem 1: Our non-profit fundraiser was cancelled. We will not meet our fundraising goals for 2020.

Client Solution 1: If you can't get together, reach supporters where they are with an update in professional video form, including a message of why their sustained help is essential. Create a video that can be sent to their inbox. Then post that video onto social media channels. You can even run it as an opener on your website. Don't forget to include a 'donate here' button.

Use this video to stay connected and take steps towards meeting your 2020 fundraising goals.

We can create videos in a few different ways:

1. We shoot a video from scratch. We will come to you or you can come to us. We will develop a plan where there are no more than 2 people in the room at the same time.

2. Do it remotely. We develop a plan for how to create a message for your audience. We share our plan with you plus tips on how to capture nice video using iPhones, etc. Your subjects can record and submit their videos. We will edit it into a cohesive message that you can use for the final video.

3. Use existing video content. We will guide you through how to share existing content that we can shape into a new, cohesive message for your audience.

4. Use still photography with voiceover. We will guide you through how to share still images with us and how to capture voiceover content. We will take that content and craft a video that is appropriate for your audience.

Our goal is to keep you connected to your audience using photography and video.

1. Stay connected to your supporters and keep them updated without the in-person celebration.

2. Overcome the out of sight, out of mind problem. Stay in sight.

3. Tell them why your audience's sustained help and contributions are essential, especially now.

Here is a video we did for Soul Ryeders, an organization committed to helping people the community affected by cancer.

New York corporate headshot photographer

7 Famous Photographers That Revolutionized Photography

Who are the world's most famous photographers? 

Alfred Ansel once said, “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” A photograph can be much more than just an image, it can tell a story deeper about whatever message the photographer wishes to convey. 

While most days, we focus on being New York Corporate Headshot Photographers, we also like to look at the very creative side to photography. There are different reasons why some images have been able to make an impact on the world. The images invoke emotion and tell an important story about a place in time.

We’ve created a list of some of the world’s most renowned photographers. There are so many inspiring messages that can be translated through their creative visual images, and many lessons to be perceived from their work.

Let’s take a look at 7 influential artists who have greatly impacted the photography world through their contemporary perception and prodigious artistic talent. 

Shells 1927, printed later © reserved

7. Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886- January 1, 1958) 

He was a famous American still life photographer of the 20th-century. Throughout his 40-year photography career, Weston photographed an ever-expanding collection of subjects. Amongst these were still lifes, portraits, nudes, and landscapes.

Weston began focusing his talent on portraits after working on nature photography (trees and rocks) in California during 1937. He was innovative in his approach and style, making a huge impact on modern photography. 

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John Lennon and Yoko Ono, The Dakota, New York, December 8, 1980

6. Annie Leibovitz (October 2, 1949 - Present)

She is a famous American portrait photographer as well, known for her style that set her apart. One of her most famous images was of John Lennon and Yoko, on the day of his assassination. On January 22, 1981, Rolling Stone published Leibovitz’s photograph leaving a huge impact on the world.

Her photography has been recognized in several media outlets, as well as in an exhibition in Washington’s National Gallery during 1991. She was a famous photographer because of her unique ability to capture images of people that told a more personal story about them.

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Serra Pelada Gold Mine, Brazil, 1986

5. Sebastião Salgado (February 8, 1944 - Present)

Far from the world of corporate headshot photography is Sebastiao Selgado. He is journalist, famous for his ability to depict tragedy through his photographs. Salgado traveled the world taking photos, visiting over 120 different countries. 

During the 1990’s, Salgado had a new project in Rwanda, Africa. His new photography project turned out to be very impactful, as there were horrible acts being committed in these countries that were unknown to much of the world outside that country. In Rwanda, there was genocide and devastation caused by the killing and pillaging of these innocent people. 

This dark period inspired Salgado and his wife Lelia to focus on rebuilding the forests in Brazil. Currently, nearly two decades later, the forest has two million planted trees and an increase in nearly extinct populations of native animals. Photographers can get inspired from their own work to do something greater, in this case making a difference on the planet too. 

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Albert Camus, 1947

4. Henri Cartier Bresson (August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004)

He was a French photographer, famous for his candid photography. In 1932 he started to use the Leica camera, and it was history from there on out.  While he was no headshot photographer, he was very interested in capturing people living their lives and doing their work.

Renowned as one of the first photographers using mostly 35mm film, he founded a new genre within his field - street photography.

He published his first book, The Decisive Moment and in it, he states, “For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously. In order to give a “meaning” to the world, one has to feel involved in what one frame through the viewfinder.”

He had a different perspective about photography for which he received a large number of awards and prizes. 

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Baigneurs sur la Marne 1944

3. Robert Doisneau (1912-1994)

He was a French photographer and photojournalist, whose photos have become beloved and idolized by many aspiring photographers today. He captured images of a variety of subjects, mostly French people caught in a surreal moment of everyday acts.

He was a photographer for an advertising agency called Renault until 1939 and didn’t return to photojournalism until 1951. In between this time, he worked during the war with the resistance in France and for French Vogue for a few years. 

Doisneau has been a featured photographer around the world from the Bibliotheque National in Paris, to the Art Institute of Chicago and the George Eastman House (NY). He has become widely recognized and highly esteemed within the photography community. 

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The Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive, Gift of Cornell and Edith Capa, 2010

2. Robert Capa (Oct 22, 1913 - May 25, 1954)

Robert Capa was known as ‘The Greatest War Photographer in the World’. He was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1913 and was originally named Andre Friedmann by his Jewish parents. Capa attended the Deutsche Hochschule  für Politik in Berlin and studied political science. In 1933 he settled in Paris after he was threatened by Nazis and driven to flee the country. It was there that he met photographer and journalist Gerda Taro, and he was represented by Alliance Photo. Together they created the influential American photographer, Robert Capa. He began to sell his printed photography under that name. 

Capa met Earnest Hemingway, and befriended famous photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, and David ‘Chim’ Seymour. From 1936 forward, Capa’s photography of the Spanish Civil War began to frequently appear. His international reputation as ‘The Greatest War Photographer in the World’ was earned by his photograph of a fatally wounded Loyalist soldier. This photograph became a powerful and influential symbol of war.

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Mount Williamson- Clearing Storm - Adam Ansel, 1944

1. Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) 

He was an American photographer well known for his black-and-white landscape photographs. Ansel Easton Adams was a passionate environmentalist and enjoyed photographing Western America, most famous for those of Yosemite National Park. 

Adams generally shot with a large-format camera to optimize the sharpness of his photographs with their high resolution. The zone system was developed by Ansel and his colleague Fred Archer to determine the proper exposure and to adjust the contrast of the final printed image. This resulted in-depth and clarification which represented his photographs and influenced the work of those he taught the system to. Ansel Easton Adams’s photographs can be enjoyed by its viewers in a variety of formats, as they are reproduced in books, on posters, and calendars.

View our blog including content about Ansel’s Zone system here: 

These Photographers Are Unique, Yet They Have Each Contributed to Modern Photography

Photography is not a new concept in the 21st Century, the thing that changes are styles and technology. Sometimes a certain style becomes trendy as certain images become influential. The bottom line is, famous photographers have changed the future of imagery and made an impact larger than words can describe - so the pictures will do just fine.

Which Famous Photographers Did We Miss?

A whole bunch! It's impossible to pick just one photographer as the greatest in the world, there are hundreds of other incredible photographers not included in this list. Everyone has different opinions, we just wanted to share a few of the top photographers in history that made an impact on the world. 

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Citations:

Intro Quote: https://spark.adobe.com/page/g9tj6VHGPjdqT/

https://shotkit.com/famous-photographers/

https://www.all-about-photo.com/photographers/famous-photographers.php

https://expertphotography.com/create-stunning-black-and-white-landscape-photography/

Leibovitz:https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-annie-leibovitz-perfectly-captured-yoko-johns-relationship

Salgado: http://www.artnet.com/artists/sebasti%C3%A3o-salgado/serra-pelada-gold-mine-brazil-1986-a-8_gisXP8lyRgdU6ukhmLgA2

Doiseneau: https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/outside-rene-garraud

Bresson quote: https://www.henricartierbresson.org/en/hcb/

http://www.artnet.com/artists/henri-cartier-bresson/albert-camus-a-Yzncz3rwe4lalxOGCoaSNg2

Capa: https://www.all-about-photo.com/photographers/photographer/72/robert-capa

https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/objects/children-of-an-orphanage-sitting-in-circle-and-dancing-in-a-garden-in-2

Ansel: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ansel-Adams-American-photographer

Ansel Zone system: http://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/the-zone-system-and-the-digital-photographer/

How to Best Use Corporate Headshots on Your Website

Why Should You Use Corporate Headshots on Your Website?

It’s no secret that corporate headshot photography elevates how you present your company in so many ways. Corporate headshots on your website are a great visual representation of your company for your clients.  We will look, more specifically, at why it’s important to have website headshots, why it is important to hire a New York Corporate Headshot photographer and how to choose a look. We’ll also look at the practical and technical elements, like the headshot size for your website, you should consider before you actually get to your shoot date.

So, why do you need professional headshots on your website? Easy – connection. Your clients want to know about your company and the people that make it run. If they see something in your team that is relatable or trustworthy in some way, they will be more inclined to take further steps in engaging with your company. Just like a logo represents your brand, a New York Corporate Headshot photographer can help you show clients who you are, and how you position yourself in the market.  It sends many visual cues.  

If you work with clients remotely, having business photographers come to cover your staff is even more imperative. Since your client might never actually meet your team, you can use professional headshots on your website as an opportunity to personalize the experience. They want to know that a person is behind the Google search and other digital connections that bring them to you. They like to know that there is a real team of people behind the brand.

Professional service businesses are a no-brainer for corporate headshot photography. Attorney headshots have been an industry staple forever. Why? Because they create a connection while conveying the professionalism and integrity that they want their clients to understand about them. While all industries strive for this, other industries, such as accounting, financial services, medical and real estate follow closely to that idea.

Other industries might hang their website headshot decisions on other values. For example, advertising, design and marketing firms might want to communicate a style. Universities and educational institutions might want to communicate scholarship, diversity and honesty.

The quality and style of your headshots convey a lot about your business and signals how you conduct business.  Forbes conveys this well in the article linked here. A New York Corporate headshot photographer can you create photos for your website that illustrate a more full and clear idea of who you are.

Make Sure Your Executive Headshots Match Your Brand

Your website headshots should closely follow your branding. Whether it is mood, color scheme or level of formality, make sure the images are visually consistent with other design elements on your website.

For those companies that have not thought through this branding idea, now is the time. We dive deep into rebranding in our last blog post, should you like more information on how to do this. To summarize, though, the first thing you need to do is decide how to evoke the type of business you are, visually.

We mentioned some of the types of businesses that would benefit from website headshots in the last section. There is plenty of room for creative decisions and the choices made will communicate who you are inside of your industry. 

What is your industry? What type of work do you do in your industry? Where are you located? What kind of clients do you see? The answers to these will help drive your decisions for the professional headshots on your website.

One of the key things to think about is what kind of business you have. What kinds of clients do you serve?  If you are in the legal profession, are you a large or mid-size firm? Do you focus on business-to-business or corporate clients where you need to evoke a buttoned down corporate feel? Or are you a lawyer that focuses on family law?

In the first example, you would have your staff dress professionally - a suit and tie, for example. You might shoot in an office or against a solid white or grey backdrop. For the latter, you could go a little more casual and approachable and choose a softer, more environmental look. A tidy sweater with a collared shirt evokes trust and confidence and the slightly dressed-down look creates a sense of comfort. 

Research your peers and your clients. What kinds of trends are you seeing in their headshot photography? Does any of it ring true for your company? How does their body language read in their images? Copying is a creative no-no, but there is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from others as a way of finding the right style for headshots on your own website. These examples will also help give you a way to start a more concrete conversation about creative direction with your photographer.

For those of you who have worked through these questions for your company, things will be easier! Your challenge is to make the headshots on your website match your existing brand identity. If you need ideas or inspiration, take a look at some examples in our headshot galleries.

If you have already done that and have a headshot plan in place, you are further ahead of the game. For example, at The Booth for Business, we always make notes on how our New York professional headshot photographer shot the client’s photos, including background color, lighting plan, studio setup, etc. This way, we can easily match the corporate headshots that were done on previous shoots. In our opinion, this is a must for any company that has more than 20 people and/or frequent new hires.

Sometimes companies build a website, but hiring their website photographer is an afterthought. They have individual photos, but they are clearly not done by a professional. You know those photos that double as their new hire security photos? Or the ones where they say, ‘stand up against the wall’, and they take a quick photo with their phone?

It is very jarring to the visitor to see a great piece of web design with bad photography. The discrepancy is obvious and it could make the viewer wonder if the company is cutting corners in any other ways.

Whether the photos are not professional or simply no longer align with your branding, book a few days where a New York corporate headshot photographer comes to your office. This way you can cover everyone, aligning your professional corporate headshots with the overall professionalism of your website.

What to Consider When Uploading a Headshot to your Website:

Size & Meta Data

Now that you have a plan for your business headshots as they relate to brand identity, you should start thinking about the nuts and bolts of creating and using images.

Think about where these photos will go on the website. Will there be a single page of photos where a rollover reveals title, name and small detail about the person? Will there be a full directory?  You click on a name and it brings you to an individual's page with a full bio, including experience, education and expertise? 

More technical questions to consider:

How large do you want your corporate headshots to appear on the website?  

Do you want the executive headshots to be landscape or portrait orientation?

A photographer will make choices on lighting, background, camera placement, how close/far he/she is from the subject based upon these decisions. 

Finally, there's the nitty gritty of where these photos are going and what kind of specifications you will need to accommodate those placements. When we photograph headshots, we always like to know ultimately what the headshot size for your website will be. Make sure you also share details like image size, file type (jpg, png, pdf) format and, sometimes, colorspace (RGB, CMYK).

Planning for your business headshots is integral to any business website. Working through these considerations we’ve laid out in the blog will lay the groundwork for a successful and mistake-free shoot. 

Still confused? Please give us a call or fill out the ‘contact us’ form, and we’ll be in touch!

Rebranding Your Team with Corporate Headshot Photography

Why Consider Headshots as Part of Your Rebranding Strategy?

One of the key times that clients come to our New York corporate headshot photographers is when they are considering a full corporate rebranding project.  They want to update their overall look, which can include their website, their logo and their overall corporate identity. The goal is to show clients, through updated design, language and business photography, who they are right now as a company.

How should you rebrand?

The first thing that people notice before they read a word of text, is the visuals - design and photography.  It takes 7 seconds for a viewer to form an impression of the business so visuals need to take the lead. Updated photography should be part of that thinking and make an integral part of your corporate rebranding project.  Further, as part of the project, a company may want to highlight their people, showing the world who they are now, with current photos of their people taken with an eye towards appropriately current stylistic trends.

A business should bring in a New York corporate headshot photographer for an update every 2-5 years, max.  Here are a few reasons it can look dated or obsolete:

1. Fashions change - current and modern or updated but classic is what you want.  If clothes look like they are out of the 90’s, people will get the impression that your business thinking is out of the 90’s. 

2. Hairlines change - as do hairstyles, skin tone, aging, etc.  If your lead salesperson is unrecognizable from his current headshot due to major shifts in, ahem, hairline, that is not good.  A good photographer will make people look their personal best at any age and, really, this is what your clients want to see. If you are using a 25 year old photo of you to represent your 40 year old self, clients will wonder what else you are hiding.

3. Staff change - Any business is likely to have staff changes.  People come and go over the years. Keep that roster current with updated business headshot photography.  Your staff will appreciate that you want them representing you on your website. 

A great way to help in rebranding your company is to call in a New York headshot photographer

Finally, there is the familiarity you create when posting business headshots of your team.  Clients like to know who they are working with. If you are in a business where you will meet the client, that first look is a way to make you feel familiar.  If you are in the kind of business where your clients rarely meet you, knowing what the person on the other end of the email or phone looks like builds comfort and an affiliation.  Putting a face to a name really assists with connecting you and your client, a valuable outcome of a rebranding strategy.

How a New York Corporate Headshot Photographer Can Help Develop the Theme in Your Brand?

As discussed, your clients first impression is made through visuals on your website and other social channels.  This being key, you should allow time and budget for making sure that your plans for headshot fits cohesively into your overall design, that the photos feel current and that they make the right impression.

 In our opinion, a corporate rebrand should not be a do-it-yourself endeavor.  Our recommendation, if the budget allows, is to work with a professional designer in some capacity.  They can help you with everything from logo design to font choice, to page planning, to content production.  If this exists in-house at your company, fantastic. If not, it is worth the investment in hiring help.

What you will spend on a designer, you will save in time.  You will plan and organize better and your rebrand will launch in a more timely way.

But we digress...  Get yourself a good designer whose work you like and who has done projects similar in scope to yours.  Search online for words like, “website design trends 2020”, “midsize law firms”, “corporate rebrand design” or “design firm awards”.  Look at websites you admire of companies that seem comparable in size and scope. See if they will give you a reference to their web designer.

There are a few ways to find the right person.  Visit design websites like UpWork and 99 Designs.  You can identify criteria that you want from your designer and get a list back to contact.  

Once you have the big picture concepts in place, it is time to start considering how you will use a New York business photographer to help complete your website.  More specifically, you will start to understand how your corporate headshot photography will fit into the bigger picture creatively and logistically.

Next, think about what kind of photography is appropriate for your company.  If you are a law firm you might want to update to a more modern corporate look - something that looks great, but feels very professional.  A makeup company might want a look that has more of a beauty element to it. A tech company might want something slightly edgy. Not all headshots are the same. Choosing the right look for your company will only compliment your rebranding efforts.

Check out these tips on how to prepare for your teams’ corporate headshots. 

More things to consider:  Do you want the photos to be black and white?  Color? Against a solid background? Inside a boardroom or office environment?  Where will you use the photos? Will they be on a roster? Do you want the photos in a landscape, square or vertical format?  These decisions will become obvious once your creative planning has begun.

There are quite a few details to consider.  When you are working on a corporate rebranding project, you will save on time and money and build a more cohesive product if you plan for these kinds of questions from the well before you shoot.

When is the Right Time to Book A Business Headshot Photographer During Your Corporate Rebrand?

We have people that contact us at all stages of their corporate rebranding project.  We are always happy to help at any stage.

Our favorite time to be contacted is after a business has started working with a designer, and is in the middle of forming their gameplan.  We can be most effective when rebranding plans are starting to gel but there is still wiggle room for changes.

We will want to know, or work with you to uncover, what your goals are.  What are you thinking about creatively? How many people will you need to cover?  We will also want to know technical things like how you need the files prepared, what kind of crop you will use, what image size you will need, etc.  Planning ahead for all of this will make it very easy to use our images in the end.

In summary, corporate headshot photography is an important part of a rebranding project.  Whether we are leading a project or working collaboratively, the goal is to always create a professional presentation that shows who you are, today, as a company.

Let’s chat about how we can assist you with your corporate rebrand!

Group photography for your business team? Yes or no?

Sometimes, a company will ask our New York business photographers to do group photography. This group photo can be anything from executives to specific teams, to the entire company - no matter how big or small.

We believe that this is a plus/minus scenario (as so many business decisions are!!). On one hand, we like the idea of seeing the team together. It signals cohesiveness and can be another way to tell the world something about personality of the business. It can be done environmentally or against a background and can be a nice visual addition to use in your branding materials.

On the flip side, it can be limiting. The best example of this is when someone senior in a group photo exits the company. You would need a serious Photoshop ninja (and a big budget) to fix this convincingly.

Let's dig in a little more....

Professional group photography can result in business growth

There are several ways in which a story can be told about a business, an image can hold more value than text related to a product or service. What a group photo can do is:

• Show each individual face within the company or specific teams

• Illustrate your company culture in a positive, cohesive light. It signals to clients that you are a team that works well together.

• High-quality images can lead to better overall company values and representation

Why not just produce a single group photo?

So if we can just do one group photo that has everyone in it, why bother with individual corporate headshot photography?

In our opinion, group photos cannot stand in as a primary way to represent your staff. You might save a little money, but this photo inevitably has a short shelf-life. The second someone leaves or moves departments, this group photo is obsolete.

It also does not work as well if you are trying to tie in individual profile text to accompany that photo.

If you do not feel that you need to bring in a New York corporate headshot photographer to cover everyone in your company, individually, we, of course, have recommendations. The best choice, we believe, is to have an executive headshot photographer cover your senior team and then do a group photo of the whole team. This way you can profile your most senior employees but still capture the benefits of showing the world everyone who works with you. And, if someone leaves the company, it is a little less important to change that group shot.

The Exception – When a Group Photo Works As The Primary Profile Photo.

This photos is an example of where a group shot works as the primary photo. These two are partners at a small architectural firm in Baltimore and they brought our New York executive headshot photographer down to do a photo together.

When there are a just a few stakeholders in a company it is unlikely that either will leave. Therefore that group photo has more longevity. In this case we like the idea of the team photo. Not only will it work for as long as the business exists, but it showcases this duo as a real team. It tells potential clients that these people share responsibilities and compliment each other in providing a service.

So, what do we think about group photos in general?

We love it. Do it. But aside from the infrequent exception, do not use it as a shortcut to covering everyone at your business. Take the time to feature certain key people using individual corporate headshot photographers. As a secondary photo, group photography will greatly enhance your outward presentation to the world. However, a group photo should not be the only photo taken. It is not the ideal primary way to tell the world who works at your company or firm.

Advance your business through an image of those working behind it.

The Booth For Business recommends sticking with the individual headshots. If there's room in the budget, we can always take group photos of the employees working at your business.

To see more work with previous clients, visit our blog or gallery page. We also have a contact us page. Go there to send us a request for group photography, company headshots or any other photo needs. 

Robert Frank - People Photographer

Robert Frank was the legendary photography who passed away earlier this month. Most famously, he created a project called The Americans. He had a way of seeing, a raw approach to looking at subjects. He moved quietly in and out of a scene and captured the essence of that person in that moment.

He has influenced the work of many that followed, including many that work in the ranks of The Booth, and we thank him for showing us what he saw.

Our Staff is Everywhere: Getting Consistent Headshots

Part 2: One business, multiple locations

While we specialize in New York corporate headshot photographers, we have teams everywhere!

Our clients, big and small, often have staff working in multiple cities.  What's the best way to cover a team like this?

1. Bring us in during an annual gathering. Do you do an all-staff event every year? Schedule us in around it and we can be there to cover everyone.

2. We work in many cities, many of which are considered local and would not incur travel expenses. Book us and you will have a consistency in look and process that makes your job way easier.

3. If they are traveling to NY, have them drop in at one of our Open Studio days. The booth holds periodic open studio shoots in NYC and Westchester. Individuals can sign up for a convenient time and pop in to get their headshot done quickly and efficiently.

1. Finally, if it's a small group and we do not have anyone local, have them visit their local photographer. We can give them a style guide so the images can match. Green screen is also an option to help maintain branding consistency.

Our Staff is Everywhere: Getting Consistent Headshots

Part 1: One Office, Staff Everywhere

You need high quality, consistent photographs of your team, done efficiently.  The problem is, how do you get everyone into the office on a specific day/time?  Half of the sales team is out in the field, two staff members work remotely, a CEO is constantly in and out of meetings, etc...

Good news. Our New York corporate headshot photographers are flexible! Here are a few solutions:

1. Book your headshot shoot over 2 consecutive days. If someone is out on day one, they will likely be back for day 2.

2. Book multiple days spread out over time – a month or more. You get all the above benefits, plus you can cover new hires, those that were out over long periods, or staff that has changed their look and wants a reshoot.

3. Send those last few people to one of our open studio days. The booth holds periodic open studio shoots in NYC and Westchester. Individuals can sign up for a convenient time and pop in to get their headshot done quickly and efficiently.