Corporate Photography San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and San Jose CA
These days – especially here in Silicon Valley – corporations need to make their organization look attractive to prospective employees. It’s a competitive market out there and it’s not enough to just post a job on your website and then wait. So smart companies are calling me frequently to shoot what are typically called “action shots” for their website.
Action shots are images of your people in your workplace looking dynamic, fun, attractive (lots of leeway here – no set style for attractive), engaged, smart, intense, and collaborative. Images that show those great people in a cool environment. For example, it might be a shot of a small group having a fun lunch in your colorful catered cafeteria. Or maybe it some shots in a great meeting room with the natural light and bay view showing your team engaged and communicating? And don’t forget the company picnic, team-building event, or celebration to show that fun is part of the job too!
Corporate Photography – Action shot showing people engaged in a meeting. It’s a staged meeting to get the photos. This was the only spot with some nice color in the windows behind them, which really livens things up.
Action shots are primarily about hiring great people, but these shots also have an important psychological effect on your customers and potential partners too. Everyone wants to buy from or work with great people and these shots portray your company in a great light.
Corporate Photography – Action shot showing people collaborating. It’s a staged event to get the photos so the photographer has to provide guidance.
Shooting good action shots is a task that takes patience and creativity and guidance from your corporate photographer. There’s no right or wrong solution and every situation and group are different. Let’s say you want meeting room shots. How wide should the shots be? I typically like to shoot three people next to each other with someone across from them engaging them in conversation. Three people seems like a meeting but allows you to get in tight enough so the expressions on the faces can be seen and felt. To many people and the images become a little distant. Since people are going to be talking and moving, it’s necessary to shoot for a while since most of the shots will have someone with their mouth at an odd angle or their eyes closed and won’t be usable. But in 15-20 minutes, the photographer ought to be able to get a nice handful of shots from a few angles and showing different group dynamics and expressions. Then bring in a second and even a third group or at least mix up the seating for the people you have. You never know what will happen so give the shoot a chance and get a nice collection of subjects if possible. A good photographer will keep the mood light and also give direction because some steering it needed. Surprisingly, people usually have fun with this kind of shoot and say it was a lot better experience than they expected.
Corporate Photography – Action shot showing people in an office meeting. It’s a staged meeting in a tighter area than a conference room. See how the background adds to the image too.