Professional office photos

[NJMAN]

I have been hired by a national office magazine to do a series of professional office shots (candids and poses) for an upcoming article soon to be published in the September issue of their magazine.

Does anyone have any tips for poses, lighting, composition, or know of any good examples of corporate/office photos to look at for inspiration?

I will be doing the shoot tomorrow afternoon, so I dont have much time to prepare.

Thanks!

 

[AutumnRebellion]

I have done some similar photos, for an accountant, for his website. I can post some of those as soon as I get home (I'm at work at the moment). But, they might help give you some ideas. They're fairly easy to do. Just shoot while they're working. What kind of business is this? I'm full of ideas.

 

[NJMAN]

I have done some similar photos, for an accountant, for his website. I can post some of those as soon as I get home (I'm at work at the moment). But, they might help give you some ideas. They're fairly easy to do. Just shoot while they're working. What kind of business is this? I'm full of ideas.

Thanks! Yes, please post a link or direct images. It's for a software company. It will be for a feature article about a recent acquisition.

Thanks again!

 

[skieur]

I have been hired by a national office magazine to do a series of professional office shots (candids and poses) for an upcoming article soon to be published in the September issue of their magazine.

Does anyone have any tips for poses, lighting, composition, or know of any good examples of corporate/office photos to look at for inspiration?

I will be doing the shoot tomorrow afternoon, so I dont have much time to prepare.

Thanks!

Watch the weird colour balance that is often the result of office lighting. Some fluorescents really give off a green shade. I tend to go wide for some candids because it gives you good depth of field to include for example the computer in the shot or telephoto so that the "victim" does not even know that you are pointing the camera at him/her. I also sometimes use Photoshop to "create" a shallow depth of field by blurring out the background.

The problem with poses is to ensure that the result does not look stiff and posed. That may or may not be a challenge depending on the people that you are working with. Easier said than done, but try to get them to relax and be themselves as opposed to trying to project a self-image that is not natural.

By the way, overhead light can lead to dark areas around the eyes that need to be lightened and light reflections can over-emphasize baldness, so I would tone them down a little with Photoshop

skieur

 

[AutumnRebellion]

Okay, here they are. When I went to take these, the man told me that he had gone to Sears and gotten some done, but he just wasn't happy with them. He said they were too "generic", "cheesy", "too posed". So, I tried to do my best to do a better job than Sears. He was so happy with them that he paid me nearly 4 times the amount I had originally asked for. And, since he liked them so much, we've been doing a lot more business with him. So, this is what we did. I hope this will give you some ideas.

As for lighting, yes, office lighting is never good. Luckily, this man has 4 very large windows in his office to let a lot of natural light in.

 

[NJMAN]

Watch the weird colour balance that is often the result of office lighting. Some fluorescents really give off a green shade. I tend to go wide for some candids because it gives you good depth of field to include for example the computer in the shot or telephoto so that the "victim" does not even know that you are pointing the camera at him/her. I also sometimes use Photoshop to "create" a shallow depth of field by blurring out the background.

The problem with poses is to ensure that the result does not look stiff and posed. That may or may not be a challenge depending on the people that you are working with. Easier said than done, but try to get them to relax and be themselves as opposed to trying to project a self-image that is not natural.

By the way, overhead light can lead to dark areas around the eyes that need to be lightened and light reflections can over-emphasize baldness, so I would tone them down a little with Photoshop

skieur

Thanks skieur for the great tips!

 

[NJMAN]

Okay, here they are. When I went to take these, the man told me that he had gone to Sears and gotten some done, but he just wasn't happy with them. He said they were too "generic", "cheesy", "too posed". So, I tried to do my best to do a better job than Sears. He was so happy with them that he paid me nearly 4 times the amount I had originally asked for. And, since he liked them so much, we've been doing a lot more business with him. So, this is what we did. I hope this will give you some ideas.

As for lighting, yes, office lighting is never good. Luckily, this man has 4 very large windows in his office to let a lot of natural light in.

These are great Autumn. Thanks! I like 2, 3, and 4 the best, but it looks like his head is glowing in #2. Can I ask what you used for fill light to fill in the shadows on his face?

Also, what would anyone else recommend for fill light? Use a fill flash on a bracket or bring in an umbrella or reflector and use those with the flash?

 

[AutumnRebellion]

You're welcome. I hope you got some good ideas. As for fill light, I didn't need any during the shoot. It was so bright in his office, a good bright, natural light was flowing through the windows. And about the glowing, I know, my husband works on these in photoshop and I told him about that and he fixed it for the client's final copy, but for some reason, I couldn't find that copy to upload. Sometimes, I think he stares at one photo for so long that in the end he doesn't pick up on things. That's why I critique them when he's done. Anyhow, I would suggest, if there is any natural light, whatsoever, utilize it. Office lighting is terrible, terrible, terrible. I took some wedding pictures at this little chapel that had similar lighting. They were horrible! The client loved them, but that's only because my husband is so good at what he does. But, yes, utilize all the natural light, if there is any. I wouldn't have any more tips for you on reflectors or flash. We have yet to purchase a reflector and for some reason, I hate to use flash at all. Anyhow, I hope I was at least a little helpful. I'm sure you'll do fine. I'd like to see them when you're done.

 

[NJMAN]

You're welcome. I hope you got some good ideas. As for fill light, I didn't need any during the shoot. It was so bright in his office, a good bright, natural light was flowing through the windows. And about the glowing, I know, my husband works on these in photoshop and I told him about that and he fixed it for the client's final copy, but for some reason, I couldn't find that copy to upload. Sometimes, I think he stares at one photo for so long that in the end he doesn't pick up on things. That's why I critique them when he's done. Anyhow, I would suggest, if there is any natural light, whatsoever, utilize it. Office lighting is terrible, terrible, terrible. I took some wedding pictures at this little chapel that had similar lighting. They were horrible! The client loved them, but that's only because my husband is so good at what he does. But, yes, utilize all the natural light, if there is any. I wouldn't have any more tips for you on reflectors or flash. We have yet to purchase a reflector and for some reason, I hate to use flash at all. Anyhow, I hope I was at least a little helpful. I'm sure you'll do fine. I'd like to see them when you're done.

Unfortunately, I dont have a lot of natural light to work with. The shoot is this afternoon, so I brought my speedlite, and umbrella, and a 42 inch reflector/diffuser combo. I also plan to shoot in RAW, so I will most definitely be adjusting the white balance in post processing. As I mentioned before, these will be for a national magazine, so I will need to make them look as good as possible before I send them this afternoon. I only have about a 2 hour window this afternoon to process and send in the photos. Thank goodness for digital!!

 

[AutumnRebellion]

No kidding! Well, I can't wait to see them. Are you going to post them?

 

[NJMAN]

Im planning on it. yes.

 

[danalec99]

office photos to look at for inspiration?

Arnold Newman for environmental portraiture. There are plenty more names but his was the first name that came to my mind.

I know I'm late, but just wanted to share the link for future reference. : )

 

[NJMAN]

Arnold Newman for environmental portraiture. There are plenty more names but his was the first name that came to my mind.

I know I'm late, but just wanted to share the link for future reference. : )

Thanks danalec! You are not too late yet. The shoot is this afternoon. Thanks for the site. Lots of famous people on there. I like the posing suggestions. Got any more?

 

[tcooper]

I have been reading this thread with great interest -- thanks to all those who have posted. I often take photos for a client of mine. The subjects always work in an office and often don't have much time. So if the weather is bad there is really no option but to take the photo in the office. This has given me some real headaches in the past with some very greenish looking photos. I've tried reducing the green element in photo shop but I'm not a real expert and the results were not that great I don't think - for example see the photo on this link below. For this one I used a flash which reduced the effect of the fluorescent lighting, but then you have the problem of bright lights and shadows etc. The question is: if office lighting is all you have and time is tight, what exactly is the best way to deal with it? any more suggestions would be gratefully received!
http://www.cimaglobal.com/cps/rde/xchg/live/root.xsl/Insight053772_3867.htm