Smiling in the City
Stand out from the crowd
There are many ways to shoot a good corporate portrait, and over the past decade I’ve taken many hundreds of them in a variety of contexts but one style I find particularly interesting is taking onsite portraits in urban settings outdoors. Working with my client/subject, it is both fun and effective to use the local environment as backdrops to take candid, natural, posed but not posey photos that can be used for profile pictures, LinkedIn or any of the myriad sites that require a photograph for an account. I recently worked with a client who had strong – and good – ideas about how he wanted his portrait done and the kinds of backgrounds he was looking for. Living and working close to downtown Montreal it was not hard to satisfy his preference for shots with an urban feel, capturing the feel of the city and providing an appropriate context for a career-oriented professional.
We met up downtown and did what I call a “creative walkabout”; we each had a few ideas about where we wanted to go but took advantage of different views and angles along the way to capture some interesting shots. While most people who work in downtown office towers spend their time shuttling from work to home to work again, rarely pausing to take in the scenery in between, there is actually a lot of great looking buildings in Montreal and wonderful settings for portraits. We wandered around the downtown core, using local landmarks and finding the kinds of backdrops we were looking for simply by paying attention to our surroundings. Call it a mindful approach to corporate portraits.
Brightening up the cityscape
Both my client and I were pleased with the results. This kind of session can be useful for anyone who works independently or in a shared office space where the usual in-office portrait set-up might not be feasible or desirable. It is also good for people who require frequent image updates to refresh their profile. With autumn just around the corner there is a great opportunity for creative and colorful portraits taking advantage of fall foliage and cooler weather (no sweaty foreheads!). Consider having your next portrait taken on a mindful, creative walkabout in a setting rich outdoor environment and you may find yourself with a whole new set of great profile pictures – and a new appreciation for the area you live and work in.
