Corporate Photography Assignment for Virgin Galactic
On my first corporate photography assignment for Virgin Galactic (The Space Ship Company), we had a really big workload to complete but they kept adding to it and I hate being rushed into a mediocre job.
Fortunately, I perform well idea under pressure. After lighting and shooting large group photographs, and miscellaneous items, they asked me to make corporate headshots of astronauts, managers, and engineers, and instead of lighting them with strobes, I suggested, instead, that I open the 38 ft. tall bay doors and let the light flood in...
We used black flats and returns to shape the light, and later in post-production, I added styling. I did not know if Virgin would like the treatment, but they loved it, and now it has become a sort of branding for the bios on the Virgin site.
I did light business headshots for most of my career, but the influence of lifestyle photography has now transformed corporate photography aesthetics. Using natural light has been popular for some time, but natural light portraits have been slow to adopt the look. The look is popular now and many of my clients ask for natural light headshots. It doesn’t mean that I just pick up a camera and just shoot. I still have to find the beautiful light and then shape it to my needs. When the light is not great, I still need to know how to make it work.
The corporate photography assignment is changing fast. Lighting equipment is so light that a photographer is often expected to work alone. It is doabl,e but it means the photographer is a mule, and has no backup, no additional problem-solving resources, and no one to do small things like hold unwieldy reflectors, dry lights, and do other things that make a corporate photography project run without friction. The photographer is, forced to slow down the production when working without an assistant, and when something goes amiss, the photographer has to run around trying to fix things while the client waits.
Fortunately, communications professionals at large corporations understand this and never think twice about paying for assistants for photographers. They cannot afford a less than-frictionless workflow while executives are waiting around. They are the best clients to work for. Contact me for information pertaining to your corporate photography needs.