Corporate Photography Website Design

In our last post we wrote about putting video onto our new website and now we are having to look at how we should design the site. We have plenty of help from our website designers and programmers who are a great bunch of people but we have to set out what we require from them to do what they do.

When we first set up the site with WordPress we looked at what other photographers were putting together for their portfolios and noticed that wedding photographers were a few steps ahead of what commercial photographers were doing. We really like the work and website of wedding photographers Jacob and Pauline which is beautifully designed and the content flows well. Also we were impressed by the photography and website design of Andrew Prokos who had a lot of content and information on his site but managed to keep it looking simple and easy to navigate.

In the end we settled on a design which was taken from a news item which we found on the BBC website Although this had nothing to do with photography as the subject we really were impressed by the design of the pages and how large amounts of imagery and content were easily navigated and information imparted in a simple way. Being able to navigate the entire site by simply scrolling is something we are big fans of and will be moving our site forward with large icon images for each of our corporate photography services and with the smaller scroll strip containing further examples and information about what we offer clients in London.

Above is our design for our corporate photography London page with a scrolling strip showing varies styles of our location corporate images with content explaining what we offer.

Here is our corporate event photography design again with a full page image and further samples scrolling down.

Lastly we have a corporate video page with live action clips and a scrolling strip moving up and down depending if you want to read the text or watch the video content.

Corporate Video on Photography Website

How we decided to run a corporate video on our London photography website homepage.

We are in the process of revamping our website and our web designers came up with a suggestion to have a video on our homepage showing how we supply our corporate headshot photography services in London.

Although we shoot video for our clients a large percentage of our work is still photography and it felt a little uneasy not have still photographs on our homepage. We decided to put together a video featuring our photographers working with clients in their offices. We also shot some City footage to give the video a sense of location and to show we travel to different areas of London.

We kept the video fairly short as it was to be a quick introduction to our services and was going to be looped on our homepage. We are pleased with the outcome and will be adding it to our website in the near future.

Corporate Photographers London from Corporate Photography London

Our only other dilemma was that we had to feature our corporate video services on our site and we did not feel the homepage video was suitable to illustrate this as although it was video it featured us being still photographers.

In the end we put together footage we had shot for clients over recent years and made this our corporate video section on the revamped website. This needed to be more generic footage of meetings, clients talking to camera, graphics we have added to video, corporate offices in use, clients being interviewed, close ups of office working environment and corporate events.

With the advent of professional DSLRs we have the ability to capture good website quality video in tandem with still photography. We have seen clients adding more video to their websites as the cost of commissioning the services is becoming more affordable and easier to show.

Corporate Video in London from Corporate Photography London

Please get in touch if you need any further information about our corporate video and London photography.

Corporate Headshot with London Office Background

We posted before about adding different background to a corporate headshot in post production. I thought this would be a good point to show how popular this service has become as clients often require the office backgrounds in their headshots but for various reasons do not want to have the shoot take place in their offices. In these instances we capture the headshots at our Beech Street studio and then add a new background in post production. We give clients wide selection to see which they prefer and how the headshot works best taking into account light and colour balance.

These are a recent shoot and you can see how we have blended headshots and backgrounds to try and make the photograph look natural and also fresh and contemporary.

Out of these eight I prefer the last two corporate headshots as the backgrounds seem to compliment the client. The image 7 with the greenish tint gives the portrait a softer feel and image 8 is a stronger portrait with the backdrop bolder and with diagonal elements.

Moving on we captures some office style corporate portraits for the same client and then again added a selection of different backgrounds. To achieve this we found that the wider the portrait the harder it was to add the correct backgrounds.

Out of the four above we feel that the second image works best as a deeper and more 3D background has a beneficial effect on the corporate portrait. The other 3 styles although perfectly acceptable do not have the same quality which creates less of an interest for the viewer.

Lastly we worked on some much wider photographs for the client and with these we found that these worked with with backgrounds that have elements of perspective in them and showed more detail in them ie more realistic images of London offices and views through windows.

We feel that all four of these work and interestingly they are all very different in content but have good strong visual impact which really benefits the corporate portrait and makes it much better than a simple white background.

If you are interested please get in touch or connect on our corporate photographer London page on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn Professional Photo

I have written before about the benefits of hiring a corporate photographer and would like to discuss the merits of getting a professional LinkedIn photo for your profile page.

After searching for examples of professional LinkedIn photos I came to the understanding that anyone searching the same was being given endless headshots against a white background or some tips on how to take a headshot with your phone. This made me think that once an individual or company decide to hire a professional photographer that we should look at the variety of LinkedIn headshots that can be achieved rather than just the headshot with a default white background.

Above are two great LinkedIn headshots which have been professionally taken. A decent portrait lens has been used and good soft lighting with a quality colour balance. We have applied a white web friendly background in post production which is an essential if you want your LinkedIn photo to look crisp and sharp.

Below we have added a London cityscape to give the headshot a interesting background and to show where you are based. This is produced in editing after the shoot so anyone commissions a pro LinkedIn headshot could request this option.

Continuing on the London theme some people prefer to get out of the studio or office and feel more relaxed outside for their photo. This does create a few headaches for the professional photographer as they are unable to control weather conditions but it can often result in a strong LinkedIn photo.

Often companies want the professional photographer to come to their offices. The first questions we are asked is can we bring a white background for their staff headshots. We can always do this for you but lets consider using your office as a background for the LinkedIn photos. Clients often say their office is messy or needs decorating but a professional can hide all the imperfections and use elements to benefit the headshot. Blurry backgrounds, using subtle shades and exposing tones.

Lastly lets look at my favourite still of headshot the reportage photo. Very rarely used on LinkedIn as they are a little less conventional and you need a professional photographer with the correct lens and plenty of experience in capturing this style. These are great for showing people’s personalities and where they work. Full of character and gives the LinkedIn visitor to your profile page a glimpse into your working world.

The Portrait Photography of Annie Leibovitz

Three wonderful images created by one of my favourite portrait photographers Annie Leibovitz.

Connecticut born Leibovitz first became interested in photography on a school trip to Japan.

In the 1970s Leibovitz approached Jann Wenner of the Rolling Stone magazine with her portfolio. Wenner approved of her photographs of John Lennon and Leibovitz was quickly made the magazine’s chief photographer.

Although she had already photographed Lennon in the early 1970s, it is her single polaroid shot with Lennon and Yoko Ono that she is most renowned for. In 2005 it was named the best magazine cover by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

The Portrait Photography of Annie Leibovitz

I find this image striking with Lennon looking childlike in the fetal position and his nakedness contrasts against Yoko’s dark clothes and her relaxed hands behind the head position.

Not sure who’s idea or what discussion lead to the overhead shot but it is a beautiful photograph which shows their commitment to each other.

In 1983 coinciding with releasing her first book, Photographs, Leibovitz joined Vanity Fair. Leibovitz has created many famous covers, including 1989 cover with Michael Jackson in an angelic white shirt and in 1991 Demi More who was pregnant with her daughter.

This is another favourite of mine and for different reasons than the obvious fact that she has captured him in his famous dance move or that he looks an angel. I admire the expression and the stillness of the portrait and to me he looks like a statue captured at the height of his stardom.

Again not sure who came up with this idea but it is stunning to see such a strong portrait of a pregnant lady. In my opinion prior to this photograph female movie stars seem to disappear from the public gaze when pregnant so to see Demi Moore looking defiant and proud of her body was remarkable. I admire the fact she is not looking to camera and she has a distant look in her eyes as if she is looking to the future.

I had a chance to see her exhibition at National Portrait Gallery in London in 2009 where she was displaying her recent work. I had expected more of the above, strong and striking portraits. I was amazed to see she had captured images of family which were very intimate with natural lighting and dream like in their quality.