The business of photography and retouching
While browsing through the corporate site of Postmedia, Canada’s largest newspaper chain, a few things stood out:
• The site has no pictures of its directors, just text.
• There are portraits of its entire executive team along with short bio’s of each. Perfect! But:
The start of a new year is an ideal time for a company to re-evaluate its business photography and consider updating its images. Just as schools have a “picture day” at the beginning of each new year, businesses should do the same.
Like a loaf of bread, business headshots can go stale after a while. While you might be tempted to keep using that 12-year-old portrait from when you had fewer wrinkles, the shelf life of a business photo is typically about two years. There’s a reason most annual reports require fresh executive portraits each year. Perhaps it’s time to show your customers that your president owns a tie that’s not from the last century!
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Earlier this year, the director of communications of a Toronto corporation requested a photo quote for a dozen business portraits for its upcoming annual report. The organization needed a portrait of its CEO and each board member. I sent a quote for the photography but never got the job.
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You’re at a business conference. People are dressed in a variety of ways—some in business formal, others in business casual, some in jeans and t-shirts, and a few in beachwear. Which group catches your attention?
The people in beachwear will certainly stand out, but probably for all the wrong reasons. Those dressed in jeans and t-shirts will appear sloppy next to those in business attire. Business casual always looks appropriate and is universally appreciated. Business formal may seem a bit over the top, but it commands respect and admiration.
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Q: What’s the difference between an Executive Portrait and a Business Portrait?
A: About $500. (It’s an old joke but sometimes it’s true. Read on.)
This is usually a head-and-shoulders photo against a plain background. Eye contact with the camera is important and a bit of a smile never hurts. A plain background, while not absolutely necessary, won’t distract the viewer. It’s also easy for any other photographer to duplicate a plain background in any future business portraits of other employees, should the need arise.
This type of portrait should never look like a passport picture, a driver’s license photo or a family snapshot. On the other hand, depending on the company, a business portrait doesn’t have to be a serious suit-and-tie picture.
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Got a phone call from a business, here in Toronto, looking to hire a photographer. The caller said that they’ve never hired a photographer before and admitted they weren’t sure “how it works.”
The company wanted executive portraits for its web site. Business portraits are the most common request that a corporate photographer gets. There are many uses for such pictures and smart businesses like to update their photos every couple of years or so.
I suggested the best way to do the photography, how the pictures could be delivered and then gave an approximate cost for the required usage. That last bit, about the price depending on the usage, caught the caller by surprise.
Aha! Licensing.
Here’s the deal about licensing:
If you’re a business person, especially in a smaller company, then you should be aware of the value of a business portrait. Larger companies, for better or worse (and it’s mostly worse), tend to photograph only their C-level people.
Here’s a link to a UK marketing expert’s blog, with a post about the importance of a business portrait to your branding:
A few years ago, I hired a professional photographer to take my picture. It didn’t cost much (£200, I think) but I think it was the best marketing investment I have made.
‘Nuff said?
Six months ago, I got a call from a medium-sized, business management consulting company in Toronto. They wanted portraits of their top executives, mostly for use on their web site. I quoted about $2,000 for business portraits and they never called back. To this day, the “About Us” page on that company’s six-year-old web site is still empty except for a list of executive names. I guess they couldn’t find a cheap-enough photographer.
Point is, it’s penny-wise but pound-foolish to treat a rather important marketing tool as a cheap commodity. A good, and even unique, portrait is an important marketing investment. This is one of those things that are worth more than what they cost.
A business portrait can be a simple and quick head-and-shoulders headshot. It can also be two hours of photography resulting in a variety of images with various poses, locations and lighting styles. It all depends on you and your business. Talk to your photographer about the possibilities.
