Business Lifestyle Photography
I often get asked to photograph business lifestyle pictures from the same clients that ask me to shoot corporate headshots and for me, it is a seamless transition from one to the other. Often we are bouncing back and forth between one genre and the other depending on the client’s scheduling needs.
Choreographed business lifestyle image
Business lifestyle photographs are an extension of my photojournalism experience working for magazines like Time, Newsweek, and the New York Times but without the restrictions of photojournalism. They need certain kinds of images for marketing and content so we cannot wait around for the decisive moment, so I choreograph when necessary.
Often, I am just shooting what I find on the fly, and other times I will see the potential in a picture or an empty office and ask someone to stand in place and do something, also corporate lifestyle images may need a little bit of additional lighting so the image reads well. For this, I might bring in a single strobe, speed light, or reflector as a side light or to fill in shadows, but only subtly because I like the natural look.
My approach depends on the situation, but I have to adapt quickly and shoot fast because there is always a schedule to keep.
Business lifestyle photography at a boardroom meeting in Los Angeles. No choreography required.
Sometimes, I have to be a fly on the wall and work quietly behind the scenes like during a corporate board meeting or a planning meeting. Then I don’t move unless I see an image about to happen. I never insert myself into the meeting unless it is choreographed for the specific purpose of making pictures. I often wait for the photographs to come to me while I wander the office floor with my eyes open and my mind quiet. Eventually, the picture calls me and bingo!
Woman passing infront of a corporate art piece at Crescent Capital.
“When you learn to trust yourself implicitly, you no longer need to prove something through your art. You simply allow it to come out, to be as it is.” -
— John Daido Loori
At other times, when my spidey senses (photojournalism) pick up an emerging image, like the image on the right, I will wait for someone to walk by to get the photograph I imagined. It is all part of the flow for me, and I don’t wonder what to do or how to meet the client’s needs. I just know.
That is one advantage of working so long as a corporate photographer and photojournalist. It is now effortless, and my search for images is without friction. I can just create corporate lifestyle images without much forethought, though I give the photographs a lot of thought when I arrive to assess the location and take an inventory of locations when the corporate client wants me to “create” images.
Businessman talking on the phone at Kennedy Wilson
This highlights the idea that true creativity flows naturally when one trusts their instincts.
There are other times when something spontaneous is happening, and I will just whip around and reflexively photograph the scene. The point is to be open to receiving ideas and seeing opportunities without any expectations, which is just premeditated disappointment.
I approach all of my corporate photography assignments with an empty mind and let the images fill it, much the same way as when I go to a concert. I am just open to receiving the music.
I always find or make great images, but on rare occasions, the office space is challenging for lack of design and beautiful window light. That is where my experience comes in. I make due.
I see everything as a story, whether I am shooting business lifestyle images, architecture, or an event, I see a beginning, a middle, and an end to the photographs, and am open to surprises along the way.
