Over the past two months, I photographed a total of 49 business portraits for a few small to mid-sized Toronto companies.
What never ceases to amaze me is how different each person looks. If you walk along a street and casually glance around at other people, you may think that everyone looks about the same. But, as with snowflakes, no two people are alike.
Face shape, eyes, ears, nose, smile, hair, skin colour and skin texture are quite different from one person to the next. This is very noticeable when photographing people up-close and later when editing and retouching the pictures.
Speaking of retouching, it’s always better to use a makeup artist and hair stylist before the picture is taken rather than relying on retouching afterward.
Seeing how people react to being photographed is also interesting. Some folks enjoy it while others are, let’s just say, less enthusiastic. Some people can smile easily but it can be a painful chore for others.
It’s always difficult to objectively judge pictures of ourselves. Everyone wants to look good in a portrait but I’ve noticed that most men seem to prefer a serious stare and many women are mostly concerned about how their hair looks.
Business portraits don’t have to be the usual person-standing-in-front-of-a-plain-background. Although this type of picture is timeless and versatile.
A business portrait can use almost any type of background but try to avoid having desks, computers, bookshelves, company products, company vehicles, or any other busy background in the picture. The focus of a portrait should always the person’s face, not the background.
If your company’s business portraits are more than a few years old or if you don’t have any business headshots, contact your favourite business photographer. All cities have many good corporate photographers who can provide portrait photography services. Business portraits are a very important marketing tool for any company.
