Last week we undertook a corporate headshot commission at our studio in Beech Street near The Barbican. What was unusual about this is that the client knew exactly what style and look he wanted. For most of our commissions, we take the lead on suggesting different styles etc and 90% of corporate headshot commissions are captured with a white background and soft studio lighting. For this commission, the client asked for a dark background with side lighting.
We were delighted to help out with these headshots and produced the style and feel the client wanted. It is always good to have different ideas to keep your eye fresh and to work with interesting lighting styles. The client was very pleased with the finished results and recommended us to his co-workers.
The sample below shows the use of a dark background which gives the headshot a striking look and the use of a soft large softbox being used to one side gives the headshot more contrast and makes it more eye-catching.
If we undertake a corporate headshot commission at client’s offices in London then as standard we bring along a white background. Now we are checking with each client prior to the shoot which background they prefer. The reason for this is that although we are very skilled in changing and removing/adding backgrounds in post-production it is still tricky to add a dark background onto a headshot that has been taken on a white background. This is because the edges of the person have a light edge that bleeds into the hair, skin and clothes and once you make the cut out you have a manual job of erasing this light edge which is time-consuming and you would achieve a better result photographing the headshot on the correct background in the first place.