Environmental Portrait as an Alternative to the Corporate Headshot
The corporate headshot is efficient and quick, ideal for a company that is mindful of the busy schedules of their executives, but they say little about the corporate executive being photographed. The corporate headshot is essentially a picture of record of the person.
Environmental portraits of executives offer much more depth and character and create almost a short story at a glance of the person being photographed. Most often we see them in magazine features, but they have their place in the corporate portraiture; especially if the executive is blogging or has a large audience where nuance and personality have a place.
Of course, they take more time than cookie-cutter corporate headshots which take 10 to 15 minutes to execute once the set is built. Environmental portraits will take twice as long after the corporate photographer has scouted and set up the lighting. My favorite way to photograph executives is to use diffuse light and reflectors, but sometimes strobes are called for, depending on the client’s needs.
I also like to scout the location ahead of time, so there are no surprises. I have worked for magazines like National Geographic, Life, Forbes, and Fortune, so my years as an editorial photographer, where scouting is seldom an option, have trained me to make environmental photographs anywhere, work quickly, and be prepared for less-than-ideal circumstances.
Environmental portraits usually require a couple of about an hour to set up and at least 20 minutes to shoot and if there is more than one background then they take more time. The results, however, are way more interesting. A variation of the environmental portrait is to find one area and photograph several people in this area with slight variations in the background for differentiation.
My typical equipment is strobes, silks, and reflectors to light the subject and a 24-70mm lens with little depth of field. We usually shoot to a laptop or iPad so the client can review the images and I always bring at least one assistant. Depending on how much time we have and how many people we can often find more than one background. Additionally, we charge by the day and for scouting the location. Additional expenses include an assistant, mileage, meals, and potentially light rentals.
For corporate headshots on a seamless, we charge a setup fee, and then by the person.
