Portrait and Corporate Photography

Corporate photography is usually portrait photography
. Even if those corporate shots are not only of the head and shoulders, they still tend to be way too clichéd. That is, they pose the businessman doing - or not doing - the same old thing over and over.

Many times you may have no say over how to pose your clients, but if you explain that a photograph is meant to communicate an important message, then the boss might begin to see it your way and allow something a little different. He may realise that corporate photography can actually be interesting; that if he is presented a human being he will certainly become more popular.

For instance, instead of getting a shot of the businessman in his office answering the phone, how about taking one of him walking down the street talking into his mobile phone? Or he could be posed in a park next to a giant statue of some appropriate figure.

Instead of using a canned shot that is usually allowed because the subject feels more at ease sitting at his desk, just keep on clicking until they get used to having you around. That is when you will be more likely to get a picture that both looks natural and says something about that person. You may even catch an expression on his face that makes him look human.

If you have to take a group shot of all those who work in a specific section of the business, try and make it more interesting by including one of the things that binds them into a unit. Don't just have a row of people standing there looking at the camera. For instance, if they design cars, they could be in a show room with one of the cars they designed.

Other shots to try and stay away from are when two people shake hands and smile for the camera - something that we see all the time. And even photos of employees supposedly working - pointing at a chart on the wall - so boringly predictable that everyone who sees it will yawn and turn the page.