What should you look for when choosing an office photographer for your company?
When you are looking for an office photographer to come into your offices and take working office photography there are a few key pointers you might want to look for –
1. Has the photographer got experience of working in a busy office environment?
It is necessary to make an assessment of the lighting and elements of the office almost as soon as the photographer walks into the room. A busy office could very quickly become a messy photograph so the photographer should aim for a shallow depth of field to isolate interesting people and elements throwing the busier parts of the image out of focus.
2. Can the photographer be flexible when setting up lighting and directing participants during the photo shoot?
It is much quicker all round to organise a ‘spontaneous’ photograph, waiting in the vain hope that the elements will fall into place is often wishful thinking. Therefore, it’s important for the office photographer to carefully place the right people in an interesting part of the room, lighting it with off camera lighting for added drama then, 10 minutes later they will have some great images.
3. Does the photographer have the charisma to encourage the staff members to take part on the day?
It’s important for the photographer to have the ability speak to anyone and everyone at all levels to get the best out of them, from aloof heads of state to a humble cleaner. The final photographs should look as natural as possible and give a sense of behind the scenes in the company’s offices.
4. Will the office photographer be able to arrange a number of different shots to fulfil the brief?
It’s important to be able to shoot the photographic brief as supplied, but then expand upon it to make images that perhaps the marketing hadn’t considered, ultimately, having more photographs in the library for websites and annual reports is a great asset.
5. Can the photographer quickly arrange the lighting and direct teams to pose as required?
The photographer must know his kit inside out, be confident that a flash power can be set to override a harsh ambient light or just a small pop to eliminate some shadows on a subject’s face.
6. Will the company be supplied a large number of working office photographs after the photo shoot?
This library of photographs will provide a vital resource for the company. The final images once selected are likely to be used for a range of different materials from annual reports through to the website. During the photo shoot it is important to cover as many different compositions and groups as possible to supply a broad selection of animated images from which the client can selected their favourite pictures.
The examples on this page are a small selection of the pictures taken for an infrastructure company in London. Office photography can make for a wide variety of interesting images with strong composition and careful use of colour and depth of field.
Staff portraits
As well as the office photography there is often a part of the day devoted to capturing portraits of staff members.
This requires professional lighting and direction by the office photographer to capture a full set of portraits from which a final image can be chosen. Using the environment when photographing portraits can offer a much more interesting portfolio of images than a plain background. The subject appears isolated by using depth of field, but within the context of a busy office environment.
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Professional corporate photographer, providing company headshot photography and video for businesses in London, the rest of the UK and Europe. Piranha are commissioned by FTSE100 companies and start-ups alike, for numerous projects, covering a wide range of work and styles. Portraits and office photography for use on websites, events coverage and PR shots for press and publications, as well as Board and location photography for annual reports. Using top of the range Leica cameras and lenses. We process the images promptly and to an extremely high standard.