Business Photography vs. Headshot Photography

We talk about business photography and headshot photography in a lot of our writing. But what is the difference? In this post, will define these terms. We will break down how it all works together to create a complete picture of your business.

Business Headshot Photography

Everyone knows about corporate and business headshot photography. It is exclusively about covering individuals in a consistent way company-wide. It is a cropped-in, shot, typically horizontal and it focuses on one person. The background is often solid, but it is sometimes environmental, to suggest something about the business. We are New York corporate headshot photographers that do thousands of these a year.

It is now expected that a company website or a LinkedIn profile features photos of staff and individuals. Website visitors will see the photos and feel more familiar with your team. Someone who wants to know more about your individual professional experience will form their first impression by looking at your LinkedIn profile photo. Speakers submit them to a conference where they are speaking at so attendees can know who is presenting. Thought leaders will share this image with a magazine who is publishing their writing.

When we at The Booth talk about headshot photography, we are mostly focusing on business headshots but headshots are used heavily in creative industries. We are talking about headshot photography for actors, musicians and other creative talent. The goal for people in these fields is to showcase their talent or their type. They are all about YOU. The creative choices you make can be highly individualized. With a corporate headshot the image will say something about you and the organization for which you work. In this case the image highlights the individual but maintains overall company-wide consistency.

The lion's share of our jobs are exclusively to cover headshots for our clients. If they are a small/mid-size business we might go and cover the entire staff. If they are large corporate clients, we are more likely to be brought in to target specific departments. Having a sales conference? Everyone on your sales team is in one place, so bring us in to do new, updated and consistent headshots.

Business Photography

New York Business Photography

We also do business photography. Business photography is where we cover all aspects of a business. Headshot photography is a sub-category of business photography. Here are other things we would include as business photography:

-office photography

-product shots

-candids

-event candids

An Aside: Products Shots and Advertising Photography

Product shots and other imagery that you would use for advertising or, say e-commerce, are in their own category and require a specific type of photographer, studio, light, etc. We have limited capability for this kind of work. More typically, companies who come to us need to highlight their people and their place of business

Back To Office Photography

The goal of office photography is to showcase all or certain elements of your place of business. This can include interiors (offices and other workspaces, common spaces, exteriors of the building, etc). A client might ask for office candids that show their staff working collaboratively in a boardroom, at their desks, walking the halls, and otherwise going about their daily business.

There are a few reasons that a business come to us for this kind of work. If they are a new business and their office is an important part of the client experience, they will want to use these images on their website. For example, a medical practice might want to show new patients more about what to expect when they arrive at their appointment. Seeing comfortable waiting rooms, up-to-date exam rooms and a neatly and professionally dressed staff will help them feel confident about the care they will receive.

The most common times that clients come to us looking for a New York business photographer is: 1) when they are starting a new business and want to launch with all new content, or 2) when a client moved location and past images might be, in some way misleading for a client or 3) when a client is rebranding and they want to update all of their imagery to be consistent with their design and mission.

Let's talk about stock photography. There is plenty of stock photography out there that can help shortcut a company into a new look. But if you go this route, make sure the work is carefully curated for consistency of style and message or it can feel inconsistent or disingenuous.

Photos of your people in your office is preferable as it is simply more authentic. Imagery produced by a talented and well-prepared photographer will display your company as it's best self. It will feel natural, yet polished. It will help clients who are considering your services feel a confidence and connection that you know how to present yourself professionally and in a genuine way.

Business Photography for Meetings and Events

Conference Photography

Photography done at meetings and events is also business photography. Conference photography usually includes photos of speakers, awards ceremonies and other presentations. Since conferences are about bringing people together in some way, you can also showcase different ways that this is happening – in workshops, during coffee breaks, at social moments, etc. And, of course, covering details of signage, décor, and other elements help illustrate the creative vibe of the gathering.

Collaborating at a corporate conference.

It can also be important to cover smaller scale meetings. Perhaps there is a half day meeting where a senior executive is coming to welcome a special group of new hires. It could be a meaningful moment to cover and use in your marketing, online or in print.

Why cover meetings and conferences? The most obvious answer is that you are a conference planner and these images showcase your services. But there are other reasons for non-planners to cover a conference they are hosting or maybe even sponsoring. It is content that can be used for attracting attendees for future meetings. You can use the content for advertising and recruiting staff. It is content you can release over social media to build brand awareness. Finally, having images of the meeting or conference can be a tool or record. You are covering a moment in time that you can look back on and reference for future projects.

In Summary

In summary, headshot photography is only one part of business photography. These are all things we do. There is still a lot to know and understand. Please let us be a resource. We are happy to be helpful!

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New York Corporate Headshot Photographers

Political Photographers Inspire New York Corporate Headshot Photographers!

Can one get political without being political? We think it is possible if it's in service and admiration of 3 very talented photographers. It's 8 days out from the presidential election, so what better time to highlight those photographers that have aimed their camera at the political circus as a serious and, often amusing subject. Like all good photographers, these three offer us distinct windows into a world that is not always accessible to us.

All three of these photographers embrace something of the photojournalistic approach. They cover live action events and are trying to tell a story. The goal is to come back with something that can be published, that stands on its own or enhances a written piece. It somehow expresses an idea that is part of a larger project.

Photojournalists are some of the most committed and dogged professionals in the photography industry. While we New York executive portrait photographers can glean techniques, our challenges pale in comparison to a good photojournalist. They use patience, perseverance and skill to show us what is happening. They hit the road, they goto where the action is and they take pictures of how they see it. A good one operates with the same ethics and unbiased point of view as his/her writer/journalist colleagues.

David Burnett one of our featured photographers is very much a photojournalist. He embraces the tough job of finding the image, making excellent content and making it look easy. But we know that so much work goes into each iconic photo. He must know where his subject will be and find a way to get access. While our New York corporate headshot photographers walk into a space with a scheduled appointment, a journalist might have to hustle his/her way to the front line of a red carpet as a president is disembarking from Air Force One. Or be prepared with the right gear so he/she can shoot behind a chain link fence half a football field away. A journalist might attend a rally thinking that there will be supporters or protestors or something interesting to cover and the event could be a dud.

There's the waiting. The photojournalist could learn about a meeting or something less public that is meant to happen and then sit on a corner for hours until the subject shows up. Or maybe there is a small town that represents a certain population and topic that a newspaper wants to cover. The photographer will go there and just keep looking for the shots that tell the visual story. Instead of waiting, this photographer must learn his/her surroundings, build trust with those who live there and try to gain access in a respectful way.

And then, of course there is the hundreds of photos a photographer might have to take to get the right frame. While our New York business photographers are tethered to a computer, studying the images as they come up, the pace is less forgiving for a photojournalist. Sometimes they get lucky with a promised 5 minutes of access and the perfect shot presents itself. More typically he/she will shoot frame after frame, looking for the right shot.

Three Great Photographers that Influence our Corporate Headshot Photography

3 photographers that we admire who tell such interesting stories with their cameras are David Burnett, Pete Souza and Mark Peterson. They are completely different and fill different roles inside of photojournalism but they all do something unique and admirable.

David Burnett

David Burnett has been an enduring favorite of ours. Burnett has been everywhere, photographing stories for over 6 decades. He has worked with different types of cameras and covered a wide range of subjects. An early photographer, he covered the Vietnam war for Time and Life Magazines. One of his most famous series is 44 Days: The Iranian Revolution from 1978. While he is decidedly a photojournalist, his images blur the line between hard facts and artistic presentation.

While he has covered many famous people, his focus has always been on telling the real life story in real time. He says. 'shoot shoot shoot!' but not without purpose. Find your subject, look for the right shot. Take plenty of frames, but don't use a motorized trigger. When you get the shot a few times, but then move on and look for the next angle.

As a photojournalist, Burnett has photographed presidents and veterans. He has witnessed the ritual of Vietnam Vets monthly cleaning of the Wall in Washington DC. There is the very formal meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev and a casual shot of President Clinton and VP Gore in hair and makeup with Larry King in advance of an interview.

Pete Souza and Covering the White House

When it comes to recognizable names in political photojournalism right now you cannot avoid Pete Souza. He is best known for being President Obama's White House photographer, but his projects are cast wider than just this one subject. Souza also covered the Reagan White House, a story about first year Plebes at the Naval Academy and images from the fall of Kabul. He was part of a Pulitzer Prize winning team covering the airline industry in 2001.

It is hard not to love the images Pete Souza took during his tenure as White House Photographer with President Obama. The images tell the story of our enormously popular first Black president, a handsome first couple and their children, a public figure working with his staff celebrating good news and struggling with terrible information. Here he was covering and open and social media-savvy first president. While he maintains journalistic integrity, we, as corporate headshot photographers, can relate to being pulled in, emotionally to the moments he captures. The pictures are better for it.

In his role as white house photographer, Souza had somewhat easy access. There is tremendous skill in what he did, which was tell the behind the scenes stories of two presidents, but his challenges were in finding those intimate and telling moments.

It is very interesting to contrast Souza's images of Obama with President Reagan. With Reagan there is a greater overall formality: men in suits looking at documents and maps or swarming the oval office. Even more playful images illustrate the more formal personality of this president. In a social moment with Nancy Reagan and Michael Jackson at the White House even Mr. Jackson, in his full regalia, stands properly, hands clasped in front of him, looking off to the side. Out horseback riding we see the president 'at play'. But still, it is picture of a handsome, preppy cowboy with good posture and perfect hair.

Mark Peterson, Political Theater in Photographs

But photographers who cover politics are not all so strictly bound by the rules of journalism. Some are purely there to capture events from their own point of view. Perhaps they are more interested in colors, emotions, shapes, perspective, etc.

The last photographer is someone that is much more confrontational. He is in the room, looking for the shot, shooting from a reportage/documentary perspective. But he asserts a point of view.

Mark Peterson is not out to flatter anyone. He takes the images he see, but uses different camera angles, vibrant colors and action to reveal the drama. He does a raw-feeling story about a basketball at the famous 4th Street court in New York City. He also covers his fair share of celebrities and entertainment industry subjects.

When Peterson points his lens at a political subject he pulls no punches. His collection, Political Theater covers much of the 2016 election. He uses his photography techniques to amp up the theatricality of the presidential race, covering candidates and supporters. He includes super tight portraits of an expression and equally tight portraits of a patriotic accessory.

We think about this in relation to our corporate headshot photography. Our takeaway is how we can use technique to amp up the flattering qualities of a shot. The goal is not to lie, but to take a photo that best serves the purpose of the shoot.

There are no lies in what he is delivering through his photography, but there is a clear perspective. The story is Political Theater and his images deliver on that theme.

There are so many ways to cover politics, but these three photographers cover an interesting range of what exists. During a time that is so fraught with extreme feelings, it is nice to appreciate the field of political photography for creative art that it is.

As we enter into an election, we are thankful to have these photographers out there reporting back to us. We appreciate that the work they put into bringing us stories that are not available to us. We can tune out of our news channels droning on and recycling the same material and turn to photographers who bring us closer together to a depth of experience that is hard to see elsewhere.

NEW SERVICE!!! The Booth Can Help You Polish Up Your LinkedIn Profile.

We have been working for weeks prepping our newest service and are excited to share it:

Our LinkedIn profile writing and advising program.

Our mission is to create excellent headshot photography. The natural next step is to help clients create a polished presentation with a better profile to go along with that current corporate headshot photograph. This next step will be a more thorough take on your professional presentation as a whole.

LinkedIn Profile Services Include:

Profile writing

Virtual and in-person workshops

Remote guidance

Tip-sheets and on-going learning for next steps with your online profile

Take a look at our

Candid Photography As a Visual Tool

We talk constantly about corporate headshot photography, what our New York corporate headshot photographers can do for your firm. We talk about technical things that corporate headshot photographers use to make a better shoot, like lighting, background colors, how to dress, etc…

There are other types of photography that are relevant for businesses and could help deepen your connection with potential clients. If you are business that has public facing materials, you should think about how candid photography could add to your presentation.

So what is candid photography and what does a candid photographer do that is different from our New York corporate headshot photographers? Candid photography is when you take pictures of actual, authentic moments as they happen. It is about capturing something real through photography without setting it up or posing someone. Here are a few examples of corporate candid photography and business photography...

Can a corporate headshot photographer also do candid photography? Often, yes. Many of our New York headshot photographers have skills doing candid photography, but not all. If we were to be contacted by a client for both, we would think through what the client needs, what the environment demands and which of our shootings that have both corporate headshot photography skills and candid business photography skills would be a good fit.

Candid and staged photography happen on a continuum with one at one end and one at the other end. For example, a candid corporate portrait can happen during a headshot session. Everything is set up, we are asking the subject to pose a certain way and the subject is trying to portray a certain professionalism through his or her posture and positioning. But while all this happens, that person is still, well, a person. They might react to something and laugh, or smile or look in an unexpected direction. This would be more of a candid moment that is part of a studio shoot. Everything happens somewhere in between these two ideas of candid and staged.

What about posed photography that appears to be candid?

We have all seen those photos on a website where everyone is leaning in around someone's desk. Or there is the boardroom shot where someone is standing at the head of a long table giving a presentation. Maybe you have seen the bank teller greeting a client. Everyone is wearing well-fitted clothes, their hair is styled, but not overly so, and they have just the right expression of thoughtful or welcoming and friendly.

Are these shots actually candid photos caught at just the right time? Probably not, but they still have that feel and can be a great way to illustrate something about your business. Unless you are shooting for the NY Times or acting as a photojournalist for someone else, there is nothing wrong with trying to make a staged moment look natural and candid. It is a totally legitimate thing to plan out your photography so it tells a story. Maybe it helps share the idea that your company collaborates and uses technology. Maybe you want it to position you as the company with the highest expertise or the most welcoming. Maybe it helps illustrate an actual process, or shows a potential client how it feels to be in your space.

And inside of this staged candid moment, there is still that continuum. These photos can be completely staged, including props, sets, actors etc. Or they can happen in an actual places where people work and are interacting with each other or clients. How it is done really depends on what a company wants the end result to be. Does the business want something relaxed illustrating a day in the life of their company? Or do they want something very pulled together that is sticks closely to their important set of branding guidelines. Budget can also be a huge factor for achieving these kinds of photos.

And then there is social media.

Not all companies are on social media, but many, many, many are. Companies choose a channel (Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) that best fits their demographic and messaging. Then they put together a strategy with a content calendar helping them plan how they can share the images with their audience. For some companies, this can be a looser, more behind-the-scenes outlet which calls for a looser, more candid group of images. Perhaps you are an architect and you are mid-project on new apartment building. You might want to include images of what has been happening on-site so that future residents can get excited about moving in. Maybe you take a photo of a fixture or a rooftop deck being installed, using the details to get people interested.

Does your staff participate in any interesting activities as a group and do they relate to your business in any way? Perhaps a shot of a group doing a charity project or attending an award ceremony for an industry association are candid images that this company would want to include on it's social media feed. You don't always need a our New York corporate headshot photographer or candid photographer in this case. A cellphone photo could work just fine. But it is important to think about how you plan to get that photo. If you know a moment is going to happen, plan for it appropriately. Does someone on your team know they should be taking the photo? Will they be in a good position to do it? Where in the room do they need to stand to get the photo? Think through what kind of planning needs to happen to make sure the photo can get made.

In Summary – We say Yes!!! to Candids!

Headshots are a really important tool in connecting with your audience and potential clients. The next step is to tell your company who you are as a group. Candid business photography can be a really good tool to help you better fill out what you want people to know about your company.

Group photography for your business team? Yes or no?

Sometimes, a company will ask our New York business photographers to do group photography. This group photo can be anything from executives to specific teams, to the entire company - no matter how big or small.

We believe that this is a plus/minus scenario (as so many business decisions are!!). On one hand, we like the idea of seeing the team together. It signals cohesiveness and can be another way to tell the world something about personality of the business. It can be done environmentally or against a background and can be a nice visual addition to use in your branding materials.

On the flip side, it can be limiting. The best example of this is when someone senior in a group photo exits the company. You would need a serious Photoshop ninja (and a big budget) to fix this convincingly.

Let's dig in a little more....

Professional group photography can result in business growth

There are several ways in which a story can be told about a business, an image can hold more value than text related to a product or service. What a group photo can do is:

• Show each individual face within the company or specific teams

• Illustrate your company culture in a positive, cohesive light. It signals to clients that you are a team that works well together.

• High-quality images can lead to better overall company values and representation

Why not just produce a single group photo?

So if we can just do one group photo that has everyone in it, why bother with individual corporate headshot photography?

In our opinion, group photos cannot stand in as a primary way to represent your staff. You might save a little money, but this photo inevitably has a short shelf-life. The second someone leaves or moves departments, this group photo is obsolete.

It also does not work as well if you are trying to tie in individual profile text to accompany that photo.

If you do not feel that you need to bring in a New York corporate headshot photographer to cover everyone in your company, individually, we, of course, have recommendations. The best choice, we believe, is to have an executive headshot photographer cover your senior team and then do a group photo of the whole team. This way you can profile your most senior employees but still capture the benefits of showing the world everyone who works with you. And, if someone leaves the company, it is a little less important to change that group shot.

The Exception – When a Group Photo Works As The Primary Profile Photo.

This photos is an example of where a group shot works as the primary photo. These two are partners at a small architectural firm in Baltimore and they brought our New York executive headshot photographer down to do a photo together.

When there are a just a few stakeholders in a company it is unlikely that either will leave. Therefore that group photo has more longevity. In this case we like the idea of the team photo. Not only will it work for as long as the business exists, but it showcases this duo as a real team. It tells potential clients that these people share responsibilities and compliment each other in providing a service.

So, what do we think about group photos in general?

We love it. Do it. But aside from the infrequent exception, do not use it as a shortcut to covering everyone at your business. Take the time to feature certain key people using individual corporate headshot photographers. As a secondary photo, group photography will greatly enhance your outward presentation to the world. However, a group photo should not be the only photo taken. It is not the ideal primary way to tell the world who works at your company or firm.

Advance your business through an image of those working behind it.

The Booth For Business recommends sticking with the individual headshots. If there's room in the budget, we can always take group photos of the employees working at your business.

To see more work with previous clients, visit our blog or gallery page. We also have a contact us page. Go there to send us a request for group photography, company headshots or any other photo needs. 

Office Headshots - This Grey or That Grey

Our New York headshot photographers love a good grey background. It is, by far, the most popular background choice by our clients. It is universally flattering and almost everyone looks good against it in their corporate headshot photography. It is also the most neutral place to start thinking about creative choices. When you start with grey you can, next, start to think about how to differentiate your images.

Grey for Corporate Headshots - So Many Choices

Let's take a moment to appreciate all of these wonderful options grey has to offer. First there is the wide range of grey – light, dark, cool, warm. Then there is the idea of dimension - flat, textured, etc. There is so much to consider for our business photographers trying to get our clients just the right look!

If a client is looking for the most neutral option from their New York business photographer, we recommend going with 18% grey. What does this mean? It is based on reflection of light. On the spectrum between the reflection of light from white to black it is exactly in the middle. Thus middle of the road. Neutral. The Switzerland of grey, if you will.

White shirts and colorful dresses pop off of this grey. Black clothing can easily separate from this grey. All skin tones look good. Frankly, if you have a corporate headshot photographer that knows how to setup a light, it is very hard to go wrong with an 18% grey background.

Here are a few examples of how our New York corporate headshot photographers worked on that very very neutral grey.

What about texture? If you are looking to jazz up your grey a bit, why not consider a grey with some texture. This can be achieved through exposure or, through the type of grey background you are using.

Here is an example of a background where our New York business photographer chose to integrate the subtle texture of the background paper.

Here is an example of a painted background that is painted to give it real texture. This background artist used a variety of greys, layering them to create variation across the background. It is still grey, but the difference is significant. There is much more dimension to the background.

White That Is Grey

Now here is one that might really flip your brain around. Sometimes a subject can be photographed against a grey background, but it reads as grey. Here is a great example of that. This corporate headshot was photographed on white, but the result is a gradient grey background.

I know. Take a second to absorb that.

You can see that the center is brighter and as the eye moves out to the edges, it gets more grey. There is no true white on this photo even though it was photographed on white.

Grey With a Dash Of Color

Finally, and this is for the advanced color geeks in our audience (raising my hand here), grey can shift from red to green to blue tones and everything in between. There are so many factors that can create a color tone or color shift in an image. There can be some kind of ambient lighting (room light) that casts a tone. Lights have a color temperature measured by kelvins. You know, when you goto the hardware store to pickup a light bulb you will choose between cool white, daylight, warm light, etc.

This is something that the business headshot photographer can make happen on-site with his/her lighting choices. Often the headshot photographer or retoucher will make additional enhancements in the post-production (post- corporate headshot shoot) in Photoshop or another editing software. This happens if the client needs the tone of the photos to match other elements of the company branding materials. It is a common edit request and something that can really create better cohesion in the overall look of a website or other branding items.

So, as you can see, grey is more than just grey. While we love that 18% neutral and appreciate the consistency and beauty it provides for every subject, it's fun to see the wide range of opportunities inside this color family.

LATEST POSTS

Our Staff is Everywhere: Getting Consistent Headshots

Part 2: One business, multiple locations

While we specialize in New York corporate headshot photographers, we have teams everywhere!

Our clients, big and small, often have staff working in multiple cities.  What's the best way to cover a team like this?

1. Bring us in during an annual gathering. Do you do an all-staff event every year? Schedule us in around it and we can be there to cover everyone.

2. We work in many cities, many of which are considered local and would not incur travel expenses. Book us and you will have a consistency in look and process that makes your job way easier.

3. If they are traveling to NY, have them drop in at one of our Open Studio days. The booth holds periodic open studio shoots in NYC and Westchester. Individuals can sign up for a convenient time and pop in to get their headshot done quickly and efficiently.

1. Finally, if it's a small group and we do not have anyone local, have them visit their local photographer. We can give them a style guide so the images can match. Green screen is also an option to help maintain branding consistency.