How to Photograph Creative Corporate Headshots

Corporate headshots are a staple of the business world. With a few simple pictures, you can let your clients know more about your team and your business’ personality. But the corporate headshot doesn’t need to be limited to formal wear and plain white backgrounds! As hyper-formal company culture declines, more and more businesses are looking for ways to spice up their corporate identity. One of the best ways to do that is with creative headshots. Your headshots are among the first things most website visitors will see, so including creative elements is a great way of letting customers know what to expect from your brand. Here are our top tips for shooting more creative corporate headshots.

Get Adventurous With the Background

By far the easiest place to start on creative headshots is with the background. You can do away with the plain white sheet or painted wall. Instead, think about heading out into the real world to find backgrounds with some colour and depth to them!

Hunt for creative backgrounds that feature:

• Great colours, like natural green or city backdrops
• Variation in the depth of background features
• Use depth of field settings to soften background variation
• Interesting lighting sources
• Textured surfaces, like brick or stone

It can also be a good idea to mix up your backgrounds for each subject. If you’d like to maintain some consistency between each employee, you could choose a background location (like a city street) that allows each photo to be taken in a slightly different spot. This way, each employee will have their own background, but the backgrounds will be similar enough to give the whole shoot a sense of cohesiveness.

Play With the Lighting and Angles

A good corporate headshot is taken with even key lighting and a front-on pose, right?

Creative headshots are here to break that mould. The first tip to a creative headshot is to let more of the subject’s natural features show through. That often means playing with angles and making better use of natural lighting (or simulated natural lighting) to give the photos an unstaged appearance. If you really want to get creative, then combine those unusual lighting schemes with subject posing and angles that show off their best features. The better your subject looks in photos, the happier they’ll be about having them taken, and the better the result will be.

Let Employees Choose Their Own Outfits

Does your company have a uniform? Only about 50% of Australia’s working population does. While a uniform is a great way to lend coherency to corporate headshots, the more creative angle is to let your employees choose their own outfits. Ask them to wear outfits that reflect more of their personality. Just remember to avoid certain types of clothing that don’t show up well on camera, like:

• Very dark or very bright colours
• Loud patterns
• Lots of accessories
• Colours that blend with the background

Clothing is also a great place to add texture to a photo, catching light and the eye in interesting ways. A simple woollen jumper or woven jacket is a quick and easy way to create a more interesting photograph and make better use of the lighting.

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Candid

Traditionally, one of the things that really made a corporate headshot was the staging. Even your customers know the pictures are staged to be clear and simple. And that’s great if your business wants something classic! But modern businesses often find the best way to connect with customers and build relationships is to show off more of their reality.

Candid photos (or photos that are staged to look candid) are a great tool for giving your headshots more personality. Maybe you can capture your employees while they’re hard at work, or relaxing in the kitchen, or winding down at a Friday lunch. Whatever the case may be, getting the subject to relax will lend your photos a huge dose of authenticity that customers will love.

Ready to Invest in Modern Corporate Headshots? Speak to Mel Noonan Creative Today!

Modern businesses are relying more and more on their personality to make lasting connections with customers. Dressing up your website and social media feeds with stunning, creative headshots is a great way of letting people know more about who you are as a brand. The experienced team at Mel Noonan Creative are experienced corporate headshot photographers. We can help you design and execute stunning headshots that show off the best of what your business has to offer. Contact us today to talk about your ideas and arrange an appointment!