Corporate Portraits Using Available Light - Need Input

[Bgagnon127]

Hello,
I have a job coming up to shoot natural light portraits for a large corporation. I've been to the building to scope out locations and there are a few decent areas near large windows that provide nice natural light. I typically shoot in studio so this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but they've made it clear that they want natural light in actual locations, not studio lighting against a backdrop. I would really appreciate any thoughts or ideas you may have in regards to working with available light. I've attached a few of the quick shots I did when I went to visit.

 

[wyogirl]

My advice, take lights anyway. Do what they ask, but then ask them to do it your way too. Then they can pick the ones they like.

 

[Derrel]

The one on the left has like, 22 ceiling lights that are hugely distracting. Then 17 or so lights in the second are a little bit less distracting. The one with the sink in the background is a bit better. All in all these seem cluttered in the backgrounds, which compete with the man for attention. Not sure exactly what the client wants, but perhaps a more-telephoto look would narrow the background angle of view, yet still provide a big foreground person. I think the B&W conversions look nice though, and the guy looks friendly and at east enough.

 

[Bgagnon127]

My advice, take lights anyway. Do what they ask, but then ask them to do it your way too. Then they can pick the ones they like.

Thanks Amanda, good thought but they are going to have 10-15 people to shoot so I don't think I'll get a chance to do two separate sessions.

 

[Bgagnon127]

The one on the left has like, 22 ceiling lights that are hugely distracting. Then 17 or so lights in the second are a little bit less distracting. The one with the sink in the background is a bit better. All in all these seem cluttered in the backgrounds, which compete with the man for attention. Not sure exactly what the client wants, but perhaps a more-telephoto look would narrow the background angle of view, yet still provide a big foreground person. I think the B&W conversions look nice though, and the guy looks friendly and at east enough.

Ha! Yeah I get it, these were just quick shots to see what kind of light I would get in these locations. Do you have any experience mixing strobes with available light? With my experience the intensity of strobes are usually much stronger than available so it's not likely I would get a proper exposure. Do you agree? I'm just wondering if I really do need to stick to the areas with good window light, or if I can venture in rooms that are more interesting, but the light is less than ideal.

 

[IzzieK]

I agree with Derrell in this. The lights are too dominant. I would shoot telephoto too. I do not like the sink in the background though it is the best in the shot...because a corporate shot with the sink in the background isn't a corporate shot at all. How about if they want to use natural light you stand them near a window with the blurred view of the outside instead of the ceiling lights on the inside?

In the meantime, google "corporate photographs" and research on poses using natural lights. I am sure you can choose some from that...Just a thought because I always do my research before embarking on any assignment or shooting at an event. It helps a lot.

 

[Designer]

#2 has the best light and the best pose.
#1 light is a little too flat.
#3 light not bad, but the pose is killing this one.

Don't let men pose leaning in.

 

[KmH]

Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography

 

[Derrel]

Do you have any experience mixing strobes with available light? With my experience the intensity of strobes are usually much stronger than available so it's not likely I would get a proper exposure. Do you agree? I'm just wondering if I really do need to stick to the areas with good window light, or if I can venture in rooms that are more interesting, but the light is less than ideal.

Yes, I've mixed strobe with available light off and on over several decades, with light as weak, as most commonly TV screens, computer screens, and also indoor 60- to 75 Watt incandescent bulbs as well as brighter quartz fixtures. It's actuallya fairly straightforward way of working: adjust the shutter speed up, or down, to "peg the brightness" of the continuous light; regulate the flash exposure by distance to subject and/or the power output level of the flash. Shoot with the camera tripod-mounted of course.

Usually, using a slightly elevated ISO, like 250,320,or 400 ISO puts the shutter speed and f/stop around almost exactly 1/15 second at ISO 400, at f/8 for computer monitors, and perhaps f/9 for bright indoor fluorescent fixtures. For matching strobe with television sets, you need a shutter speed of usually 1/6 or 1/8 second, to avoid scan bars, same thing with ISO, 400 ISO usually, and the right amount of flash for the f/8 aperture. When matching strobes to TV set images, like say when shootiung parties like Super Bowl parties, other game parties, the SPEED is critical, to avoid scanning bars on the TV image, so you use the ISO as the adjustable variable and leave the shutter speed set to what gives a good NON-scan-bar image, and you can adjust the f/stop a bit too, as needed.

But again...SHUTTER speed is the easy way to regulate the brightness or dimless or the "register" of the continuous lights. And shutter speed is critical for shooting TV or computer monitor images. Again, ISO 400 works great much of the time for TV and computer screens.

 

[Scatterbrained]

The question is, do they really want "natural" light, or do they want "natural looking" light? You can take three strobes/speedlights and get natural looking light without being confined to using the actual available light.

 

[JoeW]

The one on the left has like, 22 ceiling lights that are hugely distracting. Then 17 or so lights in the second are a little bit less distracting. The one with the sink in the background is a bit better. All in all these seem cluttered in the backgrounds, which compete with the man for attention. Not sure exactly what the client wants, but perhaps a more-telephoto look would narrow the background angle of view, yet still provide a big foreground person. I think the B&W conversions look nice though, and the guy looks friendly and at east enough.

+1

If you've got to shoot in their space with available light and they won't let you pose against a wall, think composition. For instance, the problem with #1 and #2 involves a basic composition 101 rule: the viewer's eye is drawn to light or bright spots. So that might be helpful in having a conversation with them...they can insist that it not be "studio" and it "looks natural" but you can point out that the basic rules of decent photography insist that we eliminate background and foreground clutter (not poles or wires coming out of someone's head) and eliminate glare or hot spots, and avoid bright or white spots that pull eyes away from the subject.

Also, a couple of other corporate portrait tips for you.
1. Be clear about how they intend to use these. Put 'em on a website (in which case you're going to naturally end up with a lower quality/grainy result regardless of what you shoot b/c they'll need to reduce the size)? And if it goes on a website, you'll want to get a sense of it (b/c B&W might not work in the context and layout of the site or your photos may be too dark against a very light and bright interface). Or put in an annual report? Or on a poster with an org chart?
2. Some degree of similarity in dress and appearance. You don't want some people posing casually ("hey, here I am hanging out at my place of work") and some show up with suit and tie. They don't all need to be in a uniform (all wearing a light colored polo) but they should all look like they work in the same place and the poses should have the same feel (i.e.: not 2-3 who are formal, 4-6 who are casual, 2-3 who are having fun or look spontaneous, 2-3 who appear to be working). Use the photo style to suggest "this is a group--these aren't just a random collection of individuals but they have at least one thing in common--they all work together!"

3. Find out who gets selection or veto power on the shots. In some companies, it's the Communication Director/PR. But in others, the company lets individuals veto a shot ("I look fat in that one!"). In which case it gets replaced by a phone camera shot of them against a bulletin board (and then your collection of work looks haphazard and a mishmash. So if individuals get to veto, then take a couple of shots and then pop 'em up on a laptop and let them approve so at least you know that won't problem with the final results.


4. Identify something for subjects to hold. New models who are uncomfortable doing this typically don't know what to do with their hands. Give 'em something to put in their hands (pen, cellphone, report, coffee mug).

5. Look for things to include in the photos that are iconic to the company. Did a shoot for EDS many years ago. Their big thing was the Eagle. So I looked for ways to sneak an eagle in to the photos. In one case, it was the corporate symbol (the eagle) on a mug. In another, it was an EDS eagle poster in the background. In another, it was a statue of an eagle on one guy's desk. Someone else was a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles so we had a piece of fan gear (I think a pen if I remember correctly) in his pocket. But what you don't do is to have everyone holding the same mug--that looks staged (or has people joking about how they all got a cold by sharing the same mug to drink out of). But if there's something iconic or symbolic to the company, prior to the shoot, ask people to bring an example of that (be it a mug, glass, T-shirt, poster, pen, hat, whatever) and see if you can naturally fit it in.