Translating the brand identity into visuals is always challenging when you work for a new client. Quite exciting! People love to see who is behind the company before they want to work with them, this makes corporate portraits essential, especially when you want to give your company a face.
But taking a photograph of someone is not always an easy task. As a photographer, I am a firm believer of the way how someone is portraited, and I hold myself responsible for that (like most photographers). It is, after all, a moment into time that I have to freeze. It is so important that the person in front of the camera is feeling at ease, and more importantly is him or herself. Like any other ordinary day.
This is the most difficult aspect of portrait photography. Having control over the light, knowing what buttons to press and know what settings you have to adjust to make a clean shot has nothing to do with the essence of photography, in my opinion. Everybody can learn this, anyone can become a master of the light, the easy or the hard way. Let's leave the technical part all out, just per say. What's left? That's right, it's just the two of you, and maybe some observers or an assistant.
How do two people who have just met interact with each other? Yeah yeah, you can think of all the possibilities. You talk, crack jokes, get to know each other. When you have the entire day to get to know each other it doesn't really matter how long it will take or how much you'll learn about each other. When you have 5 minutes per person, this can be a whole other story.
From the moment that I walk into the office, I am always introducing myself to all the people that I need to photograph and respond depending on how the person introduced him/herself. When I feel tension/worries, I will bring something up to lower the expectation, and then try to get a connection so we can interact as normal people. When people are at ease, I try to pursue and connect directly with them. When people are positioning or ranking themselves higher than me, I level with them, with a more aggressive form of communication, and quickly tell them who I worked for, what high-end brands hired me and so on, whatever it takes to bring someone down to a normal level of interaction. The last type of people is my least favorite people to work with. I don't like to brag or feel the need to tell them what global brands hired me. In the end, all I need is to have humans in front of my camera who have no ego or people who are roleplaying someone who they are not.
Recognizing these types of people with just the handshake and a few words shared helped me to improve the quality of a portrait and getting it done within the time. I'm not leaving without being satisfied. I know that 90% of the photographers don't show samples of their work. I do. This is where I make a difference, I mean, what use does your photograph have if someone doesn't really would like to use it. Paying attention to these indicators can help you improve the quality of the relationship you have with your client and leave them super satisfied.
I made these portraits last week. Tried to make them as clean as possible that would go well with the young, refreshing and dynamic identity.
Cheers,
Ruben