Commercial and Business Photography, Reading. Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire and London » Business Portraits

CEO Portraits | Leatherhead, Surrey

Simon — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:43:25 +0000

I was asked to photograph a CEO of a major IT company at a business park in Leatherhead in Surrey. The aim was to get away from the standard dull ‘passport’ style photograph and create something a little bit more individual.

Here are a couple of the portraits that caught my during the editing.

Headshot Photography | Business Portraits, Reading, Berkshire

Simon — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:22:29 +0000

A very nice lady called Sue, a business coach and management trainer, booked me for a headshot session recently. Every time I schedule a business portrait at my studio near Reading in Berkshire people always remark that it’s something they have been meaning to get around to for ages. Apart from using it to bring a website to life and to connect with your potential customers, a nice portrait photograph is so useful for networking sites like Linkedin and of course Facebook and other sites. I think subliminally we are always slightly suspicious of a lack of avatar on internet forums and small business websites. Some say that a bad or unflattering photograph is worse than no photograph at all on your website. For me, it’s always been about the expression – it has to be warm and sincere in my view for a typical small business application.

If you are interested in a professional headshot session, please call me on 0118 9885088 for details and availability.

Here are a couple of favourite photographs of Sue from the session.

Relaxed Business Portraits | Maidenhead

Simon — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:10:24 +0000

I was asked by the ladies of HN Marketing near Maidenhead to photograph them in a relaxed style. The idea was to photograph at their offices in a portrait style rather than a strict business headshot style. Here are a few favourites from the portrait shoot.

Business Portraits | Reading Berkshire

Simon — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:21:05 +0000

The brief today was for some relaxed commercial portraits of Nicola Carruthers, Chief Executive of the Thrive Charity. The photographs are for press releases, web use and for brochures and reports. It’s been a while since I photographed at Thrive but it was a pleasure to be at this gardening based charity once again today.

Here are a few favourite portraits we photographed in the grounds of Thrive. Autumn is an interesting time for portrait photography outside. When the sun is out this time of year it can be very contrasty with harsh shadows. I generally prefer my portraits to be lit with a softer, more flattering light so we sought some shaded areas of the garden for the photography. The autumn colours are of course a bonus at this time of year.

Relaxed Business Portraits | Reading, Berkshire

Simon — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:54:38 +0000

Julie is a workplace health and safety specialist and approached me with regard to producing some relaxed business portrait photographs that would show her personality and be a little different from the standard corporate photograph. This was a great brief – I enjoyed working with Julie and here are a couple of my favourite images from the photography session.

Business Portraits in Aldermaston, Berkshire

Simon — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:19:29 +0000

I was working in an industrial park in Aldermaston near Reading in Berkshire today. The client had asked for a corporate headshot photography session to update their website. The brief was to use the ever popular off-white background (to match in with the existing company website portraits).

I think images of your employees on the corporate website is an excellent idea – too often we see websites that feature no decent photographs. Often there is a picture or two culled from a stock library – even if you are a casual web browser you somehow sense the website has a generic, non-personal feel to it. For your target market, it can totally put potential customers off if your website has a slightly vague description of the company with no personal details. Such a site can perhaps appear evasive and not committed to serving the customer.

We all know that customers prefer to buy from real people and having some professional business portrait photographs on your ‘About’ or ‘Our Team’ pages connects your prospective and existing clients directly with you.

Sometimes for a professional photographer the assumption exists that camera and lighting skills are the most important but I feel that for business portrait photography it’s the ability to work with people that is the most important skill you can have. The expressions on the faces of the subjects can tell you a lot about the photographer. It’s absolutely vital that the subjects look relaxed and friendly so people are happy to visit your website and of course to do business with you.

If you are planning a website or brochure revamp, please call or email for details of our location portrait photography service. In the meantime, here is a small selection of images from today’s shoot.

Reading Berkshire | Relaxed Business Portraits

Simon — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:08:42 +0000

Here are a couple of favourite images from a short headshot session for Chris. Chris is recently back on the job market and wanted to update his CV photograph and his Linked In profile picture. We can’t stress the importance of a good profile picture enough. It speaks volumes about who you are as much, or more so in some cases, than any supporting text might do. A great expression is key – looking like you would rather be somewhere else is a sure way to convey a negative impression.

The natural lighting, casual clothing, great expression and relaxed posing all help to convey a positive image for Chris. Rather than a studio backdrop, the photograph was shot in an office to strengthen the ‘real life’ impression of the headshot photograph.

If you are interested, you can view all the images from this short portrait session by clicking here.

If you are interested in our brand of relaxed business photography, please call 0118 9885088 or email.

Reading Business Photography

Simon — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:07:21 +0000

Simon Alexander is a magician and entertainer from Wokingham in Berkshire. His website is undergoing a revamp and he asked me to shoot some new photographs for the new style of site he has planned. The idea was to move away from the expected style of cheesy magicians photography – bow ties , top hats, stuffed rabbits etc. The photographs were planned to be natural and more ‘lifestyle’ in concept (if that makes sense). I guess whatever you are selling via your website it’s natural that your prospective clients like to relate to people first, rather than a service so these images were designed for that purpose. Simon is a self-confessed photo-phobic but I think he did really well. I received an email after I sent him the images which read “…I am absolutely delighted with the photos…you’ve done a truly amazing job and really surpassed my expectations…”

Here’s a few favourites from the shoot.

Business Portrait Photography | Reading, Berkshire – Rob James

Simon — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:57:29 +0000

Business portraits can take many forms depending on what sector you operate it. Banking, the law, religious figures and senior medical appointments often call for a more conservative approach and for photographs in a traditional style. With the creative and entertainment industries obviously the approach can be different. It can be fun to shoot these kind of photographic portraits in a more creative, contemporary or interesting way.

I had the pleasure of photographing close up magician Rob James recently. Rob’s one of the country’s leading magicians and has worked all over the world at weddings, corporate events and parties. Hyperbole aside, he performs incredible things at his fingertips right in front of you that will have you doubting your senses.

Here we shot some studio portraits using natural light. There are subtle differences in artificial photographic lighting and the light that enters a room naturally. It can be trickier to use but gives a result I really like for business portraits. We took the opposite tack with the exterior shots and used supplementary location lighting to create a slightly edgy, unreal look to some of the images which I think works really well.

Here are a few favourite images from his business portrait session.

Business Portraits Reading Berkshire

Simon — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:34:44 +0000

I was asked to shoot some informal business portraits in Forbury Square, Reading Berkshire today. The light was soft and overcast which is ideal for people photography. The client was a financial services company with two new employees and the brief for the photography was to keep the images natural and relaxed and make sure the subjects look approachable and friendly. I think these kind of images are ideal for websites where you are trying to build a relationship with the customer or potential customers.

Here are a few favourites from the shoot.