We were recently contacted by Ameriprise Financial to do some corporate photos for their office in Langhorne, PA. What Ameriprise wanted was pretty much what 80% of our corporate clients need: an on location shoot, 5-15 employees shot individually, a group photo, and an overall efficient production so no one’s time was wasted.

After initially speaking with them and finding out what their needs were, we quoted them a competitive price for an on location shoot.  Most businesses try to shop around to a few photographers first, but that normally makes things more confusing from what we’ve been told after the fact. Our stance is this: if you like a photographer’s photos, hire them. Haggling over $5-10 a photo is a waste of time in the grand scheme of things. Afterall, you want great photos don’t you? In this case, Ameriprise were kind enough to hire us for the job after receiving another quote for 5x the amount of which we quoted them.

The shoot was a success, and after about an hour of their time we wrapped up and were on our way. Quick and efficient. About a day after they picked their favorite photos from the shoot, we retouched the photos and emailed them back. Our primary goal as a business is the quality of the photos, but right below that service is our dedication to quick turnaround.

See our article on Preparing For a Corporate Photoshoot for more information on our processes for the day you shoot.

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One of the questions that we constantly receive from the people who set up their office’s photo shoot is “what should I do to get my employees prepared for their individual shoot?” It gets asked every time, without fail. This question comes from HR employees, the office manager, or even from the president or CEO. Certainly it is a valid question and for the most part the answer is simple.

Physical preparation

For the sake of being as efficient as possible so that no time is wasted, every single employee should have their hair and makeup done, plus any changes that need to be made to their wardrobe when they enter the room. Every person is 100% responsible for how they look on camera. It’s easy to blame the photographer that you don’t like your nose, your makeup, or the way your hair looks, but these are things only the individual can ultimately control. Make sure you are well hydrated and stay off the sodium a good 24 hours prior to the shoot. Your skin will thank you.

Mental preparation

Believe it or not, most people don’t like being photographed, especially at work. They don’t feel relaxed, it can seemed forced, and it’s taking them away from their desks and more important things. This is not the perfect recipe to have us come in and do a corporate portrait. The secret is to great photos are confidence and relaxation. That’s it. Listen, we’re going to snap a lot of photos of each person and it’s almost mathematically impossible to not get a few great photos by accident. This is a worse case scenario here, but you get the idea. Plus we’re going to retouch you in post production and make you look even better, so sit back and enjoy it. It will make our job easier and your photos better.

Organization

Having all of your employees on the same page and ready to go is a huge help in the overall process for us. Once we have all of our lights and backdrop set up, we’re ready to go. Each person will be shot for approximately 5-10 minutes and then we’ll send them on their way. As soon as we finish with one person, we’re ready for the next to step right in. We believe our customers appreciate the fact that we try to disrupt their days the least amount possible, and we can do this by being efficient with your help. The process is usually painless!

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We recently completed a large project in Center City for Herbalife Inc., at one of their sales rallies at the Constitution Center. This was a huge challenge for us because they needed a large volume of photos taken, printed, and delivered within 24 hours. Usually a 24 hour turnaround time is close to impossible for a photo event of this size. In the end, we put together our heads, equipment, and time, and delivered everything on time, thanks to a lot of coffee and 80s hair metal at loud volumes.

Corporate events such as this one offer a few major obstacles, simply due to the size and scope of the entire project. Printers can malfunction, computers can become finicky, and all the while the clock continues to tick. The most important lesson we have learned over the years is to make sure that we talk with our clients and discuss the expectations of the shoot beforehand. Communication is vital when you’re dealing with corporate photography projects such as the one we completed for Herbalife. Our goal as a company is to provide our clients with top notch results, and the only way to do that is for everyone to be on the same page as it pertains to schedule, time, expectations, payment, and delivery of the final work.  When you do that, everyone is happy.

Thank again to everyone who we worked with at Herbalife and we look forward to the next event.

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