Ask Executive Photos NYC: What should I wear to my corporate headshot session?

To which, we ask right back at you: What are you trying to say? If you are a lawyer, or CEO, a suit and tie is often worn for your corporate portrait. However, if you’re at a forward thinking marketing startup, maybe you can wear something more tailored, and casual. However the case, we recommend looking up coworkers and competitors in your field to take a look at what their personal branding is if you are unsure.

That being said – there are a few guidelines.  (Keep on reading to learn more)

MENS CORPORATE HEADSHOTS

1. Wear your favorite suit that doesn’t bunch up when you sit down in it. Avoid distracting patterns and colors. When in doubt, think more conservatively.
    
2. Ties look best when they are a shade in between the suit color and the shirt color.  (ex. A black suit, a white shirt, and a blue-grey tie).  Avoid repeating patterned or tightly stripped ties.
    
3. If you’re looking for a more casual look, avoid polo shirts and T-shirts. A colored, button up shirt is a good in-between for a professional, but casual look. Darker colors for fairer skin tones and lighter colors for darker skin tones are a good choice, if you are unsure about what color shirt to wear.

WOMENS CORPORATE HEADSHOTS

1. While you have more options for variety in your nature of dress, make sure your outfit remains classic – on trend styling, however corporate, can look out of date very quickly.
    
2. Just as with mens corporate headshots, avoid loud patterns. Bright colors are acceptable, although it is inadvisable to wear red. (Red is the color your eye is most attracted to in any photograph.)
    
3. Keep jewelry minimal, so that it doesn’t distract from your face.
    
4. A little bit of texture in the fabric of what you choose to wear can add a nice accent to your headshot.

MAKEUP ARTISTRY

Interested in hiring a makeup artist for your shoot? Feel free to inquire about rates when you schedule your corporate headshot session. 

On Location Portrait Photographer - Headshots for Data Driven Storytellers

Kelton Global is a research consultancy firm with offices in Silicon Alley, New York City. While having both qualitative and quantitative data analysts on their team, their ultimate goal is to provide data analysis that is readable and easy to interpret by the client. Clients of theirs have included Bloomingdales, Viacom & Target. 

This form of data journalism is growing more and more popular in the digital era. Kelton Global's branding is approachable and demonstrates out of the box thinking. As a result, they required corporate headshots that had visual variety and were a little more creative than the average studio shoot. On location portrait photography was the decided route of action; studio portraiture just wouldn't do. Executive Photos NYC Photographer Michael Benabib went on a walk in downtown chelsea with each new employee and photographed them in a variety of unique locations, conveying a unique part of their personalities. 

Luckily, Executive Photos was lucky to have a client that understood and appreciated the value of quality images. As written on the Kelton Global blog, Sarah Stone writes, “If imaginative empathy is fueled by great photography, then we can build the empathy habit by looking at powerful images every day. By pausing briefly to consider the feelings, lives and experiences of people we view only from a distance, we practice imaginative empathy, broaden our range of understanding, and become better 21st century marketers.”

All images from our day with Kelton Global will be used on their website. Click here to read more about personal branding and photography for websites as an important marketing tool. 

Branding and Website Photography - Why Professional Corporate Portraits Matter

It's that time again. You are rebranding your business, and now you want to revamp your website to match. You could go to a stock photo agency to find images that illustrate what your company is about, but if you really want to stand out and give yourself a unique look, it might be time to consider hiring a photographer to provide the photography for your entire site. 

Using one corporate photographer to work on the job side by side with you ensures consistency with your branding and personal image, and gives your website a cohesive, professional look that would be hard to acquire otherwise. 

Michael Benabib photographed all the images for the below site, for Dynasty Financial Partners. Note how the headshots and board of directors portrait all have a consistent style with the feeling of the site. 

 

A shoot with a professional corporate photography company such as Executive Photos NYC also gives you the opportunity to update your headshot. It's extremely important to keep your headshots updated as often this is the first impression any client or potential business partner will have of you.