How Does It Work When You Book A Portrait Shoot For Your Business?
01.
Choosing Your Style
Once you enquire, if you haven’t already mentioned, I will ask you what kind of style you’d like for your portraits.
Environmental portraits
These are photos that show you or your team in the context of your workplace, be that an office, meeting room, factory, or outside perhaps.
Portraits on a plain background
These are portraits on a background of grey, white, or any colour of your choosing. Perhaps you have brand colours you’d like to use.
02.
Studio Setup on Location
I come to your office or workplace and set up a professional studio with all the necessary lighting equipment and camera equipment.
The amount of space needed depends a little on what style of portraits you want, but most of the time I find a medium to large meeting room is perfect, especially if it’s possible to move the tables out of the room or to one side.
03.
Timing & The Photo Session
How much time do you need for your portraits?
5 minutes per person
Quickfire portraits, not allowing time for people to choose their favourite images on a computer but instead I choose for them. This is fine for headshots that might be used internally, but not really enough time to ensure that everyone is super happy with the result. It doesn’t allow them enough time to relax because it all feels rushed, which doesn’t translate into photos where they feel like their best self. However it does mean I can photograph close to 100 people in an 8 hour day.
10 minutes per person
a popular choice
This amount of time allows me to have a quick chat with each person, giving them time to relax a little. It allows me time to take a test photo of each person before giving them all the guidance they need in order to get a great photo. I take a selection of images and because my camera and computer are connected, they can see the photos immediately and change anything they want to change. Before the 10 minutes are finished, they choose their favourite photo with my help and advice. This allows me to then immediately start the post-production process after the shoot, which means you get the finished, retouched images back sooner. This amount of time means I can shoot a maximum of 48 people in an 8 hour day.
15 minutes per person
A quarter of an hour is a great amount of time to allow people to really relax during their session. It means they get all the benefits from a 10 minute session, but have a little extra time to try something a bit different or to choose 2 favourite images instead of 1. It also allows a little more buffer should any of your team be running late for their slot.
04.
Live Viewing & Selection
Why do you shoot portraits with your camera connected to your computer?
Have you ever looked at a photo on the back of your camera or phone and thought it looks great, only to load it up onto your computer later on and you then notice that your collar was wrinkled, or there was a flyaway hair going over your eyes, or some of your lunch stuck in your teeth? That is why my camera is always connected to my 16 inch laptop screen. It allows me (and each person) to spot little things that they would never be able to see on a 3 inch screen on the back of a camera. It is also a great way for me to show each person how small changes in their posture or expression can make a massive difference to the photo. Of course it then also allows us to go through the various photos I take of each person and choose the best one. Many people find my advice and experience really valuable when it comes to choosing which is the photo they should pick.
05.
Post-Production & Delivery
After The Shoot
Following the shoot, because each person has picked out their favourite photo (or in time restricted scenarios I have picked it out), I am able to get going with the post-production straight away. Each person’s photo is edited and retouched to make it look its best, without going too far. In this day and age of AI generated images, it’s important that people still look like themselves and not an AI generated version of themselves.
The finished images are then uploaded to a private online gallery, from which you can download them in high resolution and web resolution.
The finished photo files are renamed with each person’s full name and the date the photo was taken, which makes them really easy to organise for you when downloaded to your local network.