London businesses need corporate portrait photography of their staff to appear on companies’ websites, in annual reports, brochures and marketing materials. The styles taken by our professional photographer range from reportage or documentary photographs to more formal set piece images and conform to the brief discussed with and then supplied by the company to Piranha.
Corporate & Business Portrait Photographer London
Business portrait photography in London offices
An office setting can be a useful ‘stage’ for business portrait photography that showcases colleagues at work. We will assess the look and feel of your office, work out the best angles and lighting options, and take test shots to ensure the office background doesn’t distract or confuse. Above all, we like to be discreet, taking photographs without getting in the way of anyone’s work. Sometimes we can produce fabulous pictures by featuring the London skyline through a window or from an office balcony. Reception areas can provide a modern feel in a new building where there is often plenty of light and space.
We used Douglas for all of our chambers photographs for our new website and he was fantastic! The photographs were brilliant and he put members and staff at ease.
Barristers chambers client
Reportage style photography
Increasingly popular, many corporate photographic assignments require unposed photographs to capture the essence of colleagues going about their normal day-to day-work.
We work unobtrusively, quickly and discreetly, using natural lighting or flash only where strictly necessary to take our photographs without disturbance. We create reportage photography that is natural, fresh and unstaged.
Douglas is highly personable, interacts well with everyone and puts people at ease in order to capture the best photos.
Law firm client
Douglas reliably produces excellent, high quality photography suitable for everything from portraits for company reports to arty website shots and photos that the press will take without question. He managed to do all of the above in the last session he did with us. He's really good with your c level execs and understands their time constraints, self-sufficient in terms of sorting out lighting and locations and he's just great company making photo shoot days less of a chore.
Bristol client
Corporate portraits taken outdoors
Settings, whether indoors or out, are important factors in any corporate photographic assignment. Our outdoor photographs around London place the subject in the foreground, but our shots will also include buildings or landscapes in the background that help communicate something extra about the company and its positioning, or create more visual interest and excitement. Other European cities provide interesting settings and context for images and are popular locations with companies wishing to demonstrate the global nature of their business.
I have worked with Douglas Fry for several years now and am always pleased with the creativity he produces. Corporate photos are not the easiest, but he always seems to be able to get the best out of people making them feel relaxed which is so important.
Finance company
Planning corporate portrait photography – Five things to consider
Points to bear in mind when commissioning a company portrait photography session:
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Consistent lighting for business portrait photography
Is your shoot a one-off session or part of a series? It’s an important consideration because of the need to be consistent. For example, if you decide to arrange for all the business portraits to be taken in a light airy room on a bright summer’s day and use daylight to highlight the space behind the subject, consider what this means if the next photo shoot is going to be in November and the ambient light could be nearly zero if it is in late in the afternoon.
Ask whether the change in ambient lighting will affect your design guidelines or will you be happy as long as the style and subject lighting remain the same?
A solution that allows much more consistent corporate portrait photography all year round is to light them with flash and exclude nearly all ambient light. With the flash on the right power settings and adjusted for ‘softness’ this simulates natural light without being harsh or distracting.
Thank you Douglas for an amazing session last week. As usual, you made the whole process fun and made everyone feel at ease.
Corporate client
I recently had the pleasure of working with Douglas, whose skill and ability to capture my personality truly impressed me. I felt at ease throughout the shoot and was thrilled with the final result. I highly recommend Douglas to anyone looking for exceptional professional photography!
Portrait client
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Choosing a suitable background for the photography
Variety is worth considering rather than sticking to one background only. Yes, plain white backgrounds are often all that’s required for many projects, but how about using the surrounding environment as a blurred backdrop, either inside or outside, during the same photo session?
A website contact page can be made comprising a grid of smaller corporate headshot photographs against a plain backdrop when someone is searching online for a particular employee. In one quick click the searcher could switch to see a larger environmental portrait overlaid with text detailing the person’s career highlights. This is much more engaging for website visitors.
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Consider using a makeup artist
It’s worth seriously considering makeup artists at photoshoots. It only takes about five minutes to apply some matt powder to deal with shine on a face, and everyone appreciates a bit of hair care ahead of a company portrait. Some clients can be reticent about asking their CEOs or senior executives to use make up services, but we remind them that corporate portrait photographs often have very long shelf lives on the internet and can be found many years hence. So, applying make up before a photoshoot is well worth a few minutes of anyone’s time.
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Interpretation of the portrait photographer’s style brief
It’s probably good to avoid ‘dramatic’ lighting or compositions that are too complex, especially if the portrait photography style is to be rolled out to other offices if your business is part of a larger group. While more adventurous imagery may make an immediate statement about your company, too bold a style might soon look dated. Also, consider carefully giving different portrait photographers too much control over their interpretation of your brief, because there will be consistency issues. A business portrait is all about consistent expression, composition and lighting but shouldn’t be a contender for the next Turner Prize!
I've used Piranha Photography over many years to photograph corporate clients, mostly head and shoulder portraits, but also more creative briefs. Their service is very professional, they really understand deadlines and the need to impress clients with efficient handling.
PR client
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The right focal length for the best portrait photography
If commissioning a corporate portrait photographer, consider finding out about their approach to lenses for portraits. In our view, a 50mm lens is best. The distance between photographer and subject works best with a 50mm lens, allowing normal conversation volume levels during the session, which isn’t true of telephoto lenses, which demand shouting instructions from afar, this can be unnerving for the subject.
Standing at around 1.5 meters from the person being photographed helps enormously to put the subject at ease. The proximity helps people quickly to relax and feel that the photography is not intimidating.
A standard lens also produces a natural rendering of perspective and allows for a shallow depth of field which is more cinematic and therefore attractive for environmental business portraits. Couple that with a very large soft box, contrary to intuition, the larger the flash, the softer the light which makes for the best possible quality of corporate portrait.