Anna Saverimuttu's Photography Blog

Does Your Business Headshot Cut the Mustard?

Top Tips for Getting a Good Business Headshot and Why it Matters

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs - whether you have a presence on all or some of them, or you simply have a website, your business profile is being scrutinised all the time.

 
 

And what's one of the first things that people want to see when they visit the above?  Well I for one always like to put a face to a name before I do business with anyone, and judging from the comments I've heard lately from other entrepreneurs, they feel exactly the same as I do.  There's nothing more annoying than visiting someone's LinkedIn or Facebook page to be confronted with that headshot silhouette.

But if you want to make a good impression with your clients, why would you use that dodgy, fuzzy holiday snap that was taken five years ago or get your best friend or colleague to take a couple of quick shots of you at your computer?

It may be a cliche, but first impressions really do count, so if you want to come across as professional then here are some tips to get you started:-

• First and foremost, as a professional yourself, you should hire a professional.  Do your research and find someone whose style you like, whose work shows they have an understanding of lighting, posing and the particular demands of business portraiture, and who will help you to project the right image for your business.

 

• Prepare for your portrait session - don't just turn up having thrown on any old thing and expect the photographer to work miracles!  Dress appropriately for the image you want to convey, whether that be a more corporate, business-like look, or something a bit more relaxed but still professional.  If you're a woman, always wear makeup and if you're a man, please make sure your tie, jacket and shirt complement each other!

 

• It's all in the eyes!  For those of you who hate smiling to order, this should come as good news.  If you've ever watched an episode of America's Next Top Model, you'll be familiar with the word "shmize", which basically means smile with your eyes.  Cheesy, toothy grins are definitely out, but a warm expression which comes from the eyes will reveal the authentic you.  Which leads me nicely on to my next point ....

 

• Don't just sit there - think!  If you just plonk yourself down in front of the camera with a blank stare, thinking about how much you hate having your photo taken, and just waiting for the photographer to "get on with it", then I'm afraid the photos will live up to your expectations; you'll look grim, resigned and will probably scare any customers who drop by your website.  Instead, engage with the photographer by remembering that there's someone behind that camera; think of someone nice or something nice; look interested and animated.

Need a new corporate headshot for your business or simply some advice? Then click here to visit my corporate website.

Business Networking - the Benefits

As a business owner, I receive a steady stream of cold calls from companies offering me everything from website design to SEO services and advertising.  Most of them I have never even heard of: I've no way of knowing if they're genuine callers and even if they are, one phone conversation with a person I've never met is not going to persuade me to do business with them.

Doing business is all about getting to know people and finding out how you can help them (which is quite different from bombarding them with information about your products and services even if they're not remotely interested).  One of the best ways I have found of promoting what I do is by meeting other business professionals in an informal but business-like setting i.e. networking.  It's a great way of interacting with others and giving them information about yourself in a non-threatening and non-intrusive manner.  Again, it's not about seeing how many business cards you can thrust at people in as short a time as possible; it's about building trust.

I met Mark a couple of weeks ago at just such an event and it turned out that he needed a mixture of formal and informal business portraits for promotional purposes.  We swapped cards and he checked out my website and contacted me to book a session, which we did last week in Guildford.

The weather was bright and sunny but absolutely freezing.  I'd got my locations all worked out though, and took a good selection of shots for him which we were both very pleased with.  Job done - with absolutely no hard sell tactics!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business Portrait Photography - Surrey

I was recently approached by this lady as she needed some new portraits for a book that she was writing and also for her website.  She works as a counsellor and so wanted her photos to convey a friendly and approachable demeanour whilst still looking professional.  After a chat, we decided that an outdoor setting combined with some shots taken in her home would be most appropriate.

The weather was perfect for the outdoor shots which were taken at Denbies Vineyard in Dorking, a fantastic location and one which I'd never visited before but which I now plan to.  We spent a very enjoyable couple of hours finding different areas in which to shoot, and using a couple of different outfits, and I'm pleased to say that she was delighted with the photos. 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Corporate Photography in Surrey, Hampshire and London

This summer I was asked by an existing client to take some photographs of new staff members for their marketing material. 

I spent some time at three of their office locations, taking informal, meeting-style shots as well as individual portraits in different areas of their buildings. 

As always with corporate photography, the challenge was to get people sufficiently used to my presence that they felt comfortable just chatting and interacting with each other, rather than posing for the camera. 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Business Portraits Guildford Surrey

A lot of my business portraits are taken at my clients' offices and involve me setting up lights in one of their rooms to make a portable studio. However, I was pleased to get the chance to do some outdoor portraits for a new client who contacted me recently as he needed some shots for his business cards.  As well as wanting them taken outdoors, he also asked for them to be done in black and white.

 
 
 
 
 

Professional Photographer - A Job Description

Lighting expert

Business-person

Marketing expert

Photoshop expert

Psychologist

Counsellor

Stylist

Baby whisperer

Sprinter

Contortionist

Diplomat

Children's entertainer

Interior designer

Mind-reader

Weather prophet

Animal trainer

Plastic surgeon (see Photoshop Expert)

Juggler

Peace-maker

Reportage wedding photography - the myth

As the wedding season is now in full swing, a post about wedding photography.

"Reportage", "informal", "relaxed", "candid" are all words that have been bandied about for sometime now to describe a particular style of photography most prevalent in the spheres of weddings and also portraiture.  It's an attractive concept and something that most couples and families love, since it suggests the antithesis of the stuffy, posed, formal photos of a previous generation, where people had to stand around for ages with fixed smiles on their faces.

However, reportage photography has created its own set of problems, since it gives the quite misleading impression that anyone can do it.  After all, if you take enough photos then some are bound to turn out alright aren't they?  And digital cameras allow us to do exactly that. This means that couples who may spend thousands on the dress, the cake, the ring, the flowers and the stunning venue, are quite as likely to ask a work colleague who's handy with a camera to photograph the most important day of their lives.  

My heart sinks when I come across yet another website purporting to showcase the work of a photographer specialising in this type of work, and instead I see a series of poorly composed and appallingly lit snaps which could have been taken by just about anyone. To compound the problem, some of them will have been "rescued" in Photoshop.

Real reportage photography, by a skilled practitioner who knows exactly what they are doing takes quite the opposite approach.  It involves as much thought, planning, knowledge of composition and lighting as its more traditional counterpart.  And it's also a lot of hard work. 

Consider what would happen if you just turned up at a wedding or a family gathering with your camera and started snapping away quite indiscriminately; do you think that those people would just happen to be in the right place, in front of the perfect background, being lit by the perfect light or wearing  exactly the right expressions as you pointed your camera at them?  Unlikely.  Yes, of course it's perfectly possible to capture some beautiful and quite spontaneous moments by accident rather than design.  However, to do it consistently well, when it's pouring with rain or in brilliant sunshine, when there's a hideous sign in the background just where you'd like to photograph the couple, when one of the bridesmaids is having a tantrum or the vicar is being less than helpful, requires many other skills too.  

And if you look at the images created by a professional photographer who specialises in this type of work, they will have put a lot of thought into when all the right elements are going to come together to give them the perfect shot - they won't waste time or energy taking a photo if the lighting, expressions, background etc are not right.  They will wait for what Henri Cartier-Bresson termed "the decisive moment" before they press the shutter.  Each image will be the result of a lot of thought and expertise. 

The poses may not seem "posed" in the traditional sense, but the way in which people stand, the direction in which they're looking, how the light is hitting their faces, all these things have to be anticipated and captured discreetly by the photographer, without intruding on those special moments.  Two of my favourite photographers who are real experts at this are Jeff Ascough and Mark Seymour.  Their work speaks for itself.

So if you're hiring a wedding or portrait photographer and they say they specialise in informal, reportage photography, be very, very sure that when you look at their work, the photographs aren't just the equivalent of "snaps" which anyone could have taken.  And remember that "cheap" and "high-quality" very seldom go together - you get what you pay for, and with wedding photography, there really is only one chance to get it right.

© Anna Saverimuttu Photography

Conference Photography - QEII Centre - London

Last autumn I was booked to photograph a 3-day corporate event at London's QEII Centre.  The brief was to capture a wide variety of shots to sum up the occasion, which was a huge affair, attracting visitors from around the world.

For a job such as this one which is quite complex and where I need to know well in advance what is required of me, a briefing meeting with the client was essential.  We discussed the itinerary of the event in detail, and the coverage that was needed for each day.  As each day started early and ended with a series of evening events, it was decided to use two photographers; that way, I was able to concentrate on the day's coverage and know that I would (just!) have time to do a quick edit of the shots and also provide the client with the key images for featuring in a newsletter for delegates to read the next morning and to show on a slideshow on the final evening.

Here is a small selection of the 1,000 or so images which I gave to the client at the end!

 

 

Website Photography for Wine-tasting Business

Last autumn, I was asked by a networking contact to take some photographs for her wine-tasting business.  As most of my business portraits tend to be taken at my clients' offices, it was certainly a change to be photographing someone in their kitchen!

Heather Dougherty is the owner of a company called Red White & Rose, and I first met her about 3 years ago at a local business networking group.  As well as running wine-tasting events for a variety of clients and writing a column for the Surrey Advertiser, Heather has just taken on a new business partner, also called Heather!

The brief was to take a selection of photos which covered all aspects of their work, from the actual choosing and sourcing of wines, through to the tasting.  They also needed some images to highlight the new partnership and the fact that they cover many different types of events.

The shoot took place in Heather D's kitchen and living-room, and involved a fair amount of hilarity as both of them changed into different outfits, and we experimented with lots of different looks.

Here's a selection from the many photos I took.

I needed some extra light here to supplement what was coming in through the large windows, so I used some off-camera flash, and also bounced it off my Speedlight's built-in white card.  The extra light has given some additional sparkle, but without overwhelming the set.

For these shots, as it was quite dark in the cupboard behind the subjects, I set up one light with an umbrella.

And finally, I took some fun shots in the living-room, using two flash heads directed through umbrellas - the main light was pointed towards the subjects and the fill-light was bounced off the ceiling to lighten the shadows and reduce contrast.

Photoshoot for Florist

As it's currently wet and grey outside and blowing a gale, I thought I'd blog this shoot to brighten things up a bit!

A couple of months back I photographed some floral displays for a local florist who was updating her website.  She has some beautiful designs and naturally wanted to show them off in the best way possible.  I found it easiest to shoot from above, and take a mixture of shots which showed the whole bouquet and also highlighted some of the details, by using a large aperture and therefore a shallow depth-of-field.

Here are some of my favourites.