Category Archives: LinkedIn Portrait Photography

Professional LinkedIn Photos

We have written many posts on the benefits of commissioning a corporate headshot photographer in London to capture professional LinkedIn photos for your profile page. Here we would like to jot down some further thoughts on this subject.

Recently we were in touch with a freelance email marketing expert who was advising us on wether this would be a plus for our business. It turned out that it was not the process we wanted to pursue but I had noticed that the chap in question was using his headshot as part of his email signature. This interested us as it seemed an obvious way to connect with potential clients by making the email communication much more approachable. The headshot he was using must have been taken at a wedding as we noticed another person in the background in wedding attire and so we offered to photoshop that for him and improve his email signature headshot.

Following on from this we now use headshot in our email signature but keep the headshot as a thumbnail as if you are in regular email conversation with people anything too large would become overpowering in time.

The majority of people who get in touch require professional LinkedIn photos but we are starting to see these profile photos used in many different media now. When companies produce pitch documents they are including headshots of the team that have produced the pitch. Individuals hosting presentations will include their headshot in promotional literature. Corporate CVs can benefit from including a professional headshot to bring a more personal touch to the document. We have already mentioned email signature photos and LinkedIn but also use the image across all business social media such as Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

If you do decide to have a professional LinkedIn headshot taken then taking into account the above make sure you get the corporate photographer to give you some options. Ideally you can have a 30 minute session where you can have a change of wardrobe and different options for the background and of course a variety of expressions and with formal and casual poses so you can use the most suitable headshot for each application.

Further samples of our corporate portraits © Corporate Photography London

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.

Studio Headshots on Location in London

Samples of recent corporate headshots captured on location in London offices using our professional mobile studio system.

Over the last year we have been building up our mobile studio set up so we can produce ‘studio’ style headshots at any location in London. Although this means lugging a little more kit around it enables us to capture contemporary headshots at client’s offices or individual’s homes. We have found that many businesses prefer the formal headshot but need to have a photographer visit them as taking employees away from their office interferes with the running of their business. We come on site and it takes approx 10-15 minutes to set up the background and the professional lighting. We can then capture a good range of portraits for each member of staff which gives a much more polished look to the company website ‘About Us’ page.

With many companies having remote workers and employees in different offices around the UK and across the globe, sometimes a conference or AGM is the only time everyone gets together in one place. We are often asked to take headshots on these occasions and they are normally at a function centre or hotel in London. With our mobile studio kit we can set up in a spare room and capture uniformed and consistent styles of headshots to either match existing current headshots or create a new look for the client.

Getting professional business portraits for your company has become a major factor in marketing as potential customers want to see who they are dealing with on your website or LinkedIn profile. Our studio system allows you to capture up to 60 staff in one day and we provide a pop back service to photograph any staff who were not in the office that day.

Approachable & Professional Headshots.

Corporate headshots – The professional and approachable style.

These headshots were taken for a client who wanted to look professional and approachable. This is a request we get frequently and it can be quite hard to pin down exactly the style the client is hoping to receive. We quoted on a shoot recently and sent over some sample headshots. When we asked if the samples meet with their requirements the client mentioned that they were really good but they were not what they were looking for as the men in the headshots had ties on. We now class the ‘professional & approachable’ style as smart relaxed headshots without a tie.