Preparing For a Corporate Group Shoot
Today’s blog entry deals with one of the questions that we constantly receive from the people who set up their office’s photo shoot. The question 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!