April 25, 2008

Business Portraits: Formal Headshot vs. Environmental Portrait

I get a lot of calls from clients for headshots, and am seeing a trend moving away from the traditional executive headshot to clients looking for ways to compliment their personalities and businesses.

As both corporate and small businesses work to create approachable, customer-centric images for themselves, it's natural to reflect this positioning in your custom photography.As to which is right for you, formal vs. envirnomental, perhaps the answer is: both, depending.

WHICH ONE'S FOR YOU?

Formal Headshot
Environmental Portrait

Think of this: on your Web site, where you might have 3-7 key business member bios and photographs listed, a consistent, close-up view of the team is often the way to go. You can incorporate the feel of the business with colorized or black and white imagery, unusual cropping, unusual focus, etc. Magazines will often want a formal headshot image, and brochures and business cards generally don't have enough room for larger environmental images.

Alternatively, press packages and editorial articles, as well as the Web site, are often looking for that shot of the businessperson involved in the business.

Which one is right for you? When you're ready for a business portrait session, talk to your photographer about how you hope to use your photographs, what you want to represent, and what you style as a person and business reflects. Often, from answering those few questions, the answer is already solved.

Copyright 2008 Kimberley Bermender
maginei photography

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April 10, 2008

Professional Photographer's of America Workshop

What do photographers do when we're not on assignment? The answer: continue learning, playing with gear, photographing photographing photographing the world around us. I attended a PPA (Professional Photographer's of America ) workshop last weekend hosted by Marc Benjamin in Suisun, CA. Here a couple of the shots where we were playing with lighting:


Model on Pony
Classic Portrait Setup

Pretty Girl, Crazy Lighting. 'Harry Potter' Double Side-Lighting

Copyright 2008 Kimberley Bermender
maginei photography

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