portrait do's (and don'ts)
Here are some general tips and best practices concerning corporate portraits:
Everyone
- Wear clothes that are comfortable and that make you feel and look great.
- Bring 2-3 changes of clothing to have choices on set.
- Clothes should be neatly pressed and should be new or look new.
- Avoid busy patterns, bold graphics, and distracting stripes and don't wear phones etc. in these clothings.
- Cream, beige, pastels, peach or yellow colors typically don’t work well on camera.
- Don’t cut or dye your hair right before the shoot. A new haircut looks its best after a week, and freshly colored hair can look too vibrant and unnatural on camera.
- Make sure to get enough sleep the night before the shoot and drink lots of water.
Ladies
- The standard corporate look is a suit jacket and blouse.
- For a no-jacket casual look, bring solid colored blouses or collared shirts that are darker than your skin tone. Keep patterns to a minimum.
- A white blouse by itself isn’t recommended unless you plan to wear it under something.
- Don’t wear sleeveless tops or dresses unless worn under a jacket or sweater. Bare arms can be distracting.
- Avoid shiny and sheer fabrics.
- Keep jewelry simple – small is better.
- Avoid statement jewelry that would distract from your face or that looks dated or too trendy. The picture is about your face, not the jewelry.
Gents- The standard corporate look is a suit jacket, dress shirt and tie.
- A casual business look can be an open jacket and shirt, collared shirt under a thin sweater, or button-down shirt with rolled cuffs.
- Short sleeves are typically not recommended for guys, even for casual looks. Exception to the rule are branded company polos or t-shirts.
- Wear solid colored shirts or small darker patterns.
- A white dress shirt by itself doesn’t work well on camera unless you plan to wear it underneath a jacket or sweater.
- Bring a v-neck undershirt or no undershirt at all so it doesn’t show.
- Make sure your jackets and shirts fit you properly. Not too tight. Not too loose. A poor fitting jacket or shirt will be obvious in the photos especially around the neck and shoulders.
- Don’t wear shiny ties or fabrics.
- The best rule of thumb for facial hair is to commit to your look- either a beard, mustache, or nothing at all. Anything scruffy or stubbly in between is not advisable. If you have a beard, trim it evenly so it’s nicely groomed. If you’re going clean-shaven, get a good shave the morning of your headshot.
After you’ve checked all of these pre-photoshoot to-do’s off your list, you’ll be ready to take professional company headshots that make you look amazing.You may want to get really creative and break some best-practice rules for headshots. We’re all for breaking rules. Just make sure the results are better off for it.
Most importantly – have fun with this. If you do this at the office for the entire team: It’s a great way to get your team bonding!
portraits.brussels
Sander shot portraits and events in Brussels for over 20 years.
His photographs stands out through composition, expression and boldness; catching the atmosphere and details of that moment in the most communicating way possible.
You can hire him for portraits, events, campaigns, e-commerce and all other professional photography.