chris is a young executive who needed a photographer in washington dc to do some business headshots. he had decided to go for a business casual style rather than formal. the goal was to capture the image of a young professional who looks friendly, energetic and really someone you can build rapport with instantly. we had to schedule a shoot on a wednesday after-hours because late evenings were the only times he was available. I’ll shoot anytime a client wishes but evening shoots are a drag. everything quiets down and that eerie silence is a challenge to being creative.
after I set up my lighting, he wet his hair to make it look trendy. I soon noticed that he had a white shirt on and the background was white. I needed to readjust my lighting so the fall-off would make the wall darker to make the shirt stand out. though we were shooting business headshots, client wanted them youthful, dynamic, friendly. so I did not bother to have background lighting. a lot of photographers have been told to avoid taking pictures of people wearing white clothes. I know how to set my exposure to capture the full tonal range of the picture. no sweat.
we were taking some incredibly good pictures and it was fast paced. I tried various lighting setups and he started seeing differences in the quality of the light. I tried the beauty lighting to accent his youthful look. it came out nice and he really liked it. most people tell you not to photograph people wearing black, especially if they’re white. same issue. same non-issue. that’s how you shoot corporate headshots of a young professional to look business, casual and friendly.
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