I often do onsite corporate portraits in client offices, bringing with my the lighting and backdrop setup needed to get the shots. Not all offices are created equally, but no matter what the space, I usually find a place to set up (most commonly in a boardroom, or training room). While this service is hugely convenient for clients, who get their headshots done at work, with only a brief interruption to their day, it does have a few little drawbacks when it comes to managing lighting. The trickiest shots are those where clients require a pure white background, which is hard to attain in an office with coloured walls (which throw a tint into the white) as you can see from the Before slideshow below.
UNEDITED CORPORATE PORTRAITS – Images by Julian Haber
However, with just a few minor edits and adjustments to the images, the end results are just what the client needs.
CW-EDITED FINALS – Images by Julian Haber
As most shots, no matter how well taken, require a little post-production in Photoshop, this is normally baked into the session fee. People are sometimes surprised at prices for portraits because all they see is a photographer telling a few corny jokes, pressing a button and within 5-10 minutes, asking for the next victim to be sent in. But the typical office portrait session fee covers not just the actual time spent between photographer and subject (which is actually a well-honed art that takes years of experience to make look simple) but also set up and break down time onsite, as well as the computer work and revision requests once the proofs are in.
The best value for your money, of course, is booking several sessions at once (ie arrange a portrait photo day for the whole office, not just one or two staff) as you will save on the session fee and be guaranteed to have a consistent look in the images of your employees. The savings by coordinating 5 or more employees for a shoot are substantial.
