Corporate Work For Editorial
I have been shooting regularly for Commercial Executive Magazine since the beginning of the year, it's usually simple and straight-forward. Basically I'm setting up quick shoots inside of the subject's office and grab a few portraits and a few stills of them at work.
The shoots are incredibly short, even by editorial standards, and almost never go over 20 minutes or so in length. The magazine prefers natural lighting for the images, and that makes things either incredibly simple or incredibly challenging depending on the particular office. Some locations have been great, plenty of light, large windows, open lobbys, etc. It's as simple as compose and shoot. Other offices are dark, dark woods, dark furniture, no large windows. I can't be fighting noise at high ISOs in these offices, so that means I need to light.
The lighting isn't the hard part, having 20 minutes to meet the subject, scout a location, set up lights that will look like natural light, shoot the session, and wrap it is what is hard. They are good challenges, though.
In general, corporate shooting has a few 'rules'. First, the subject should look powerful. Long lenses and low shooting angles are the standard starting points. it gives the viewer a perception of looking up to the subject. You almost never want to shoot a CEO or someone similar from above eye level. One of the advantages of shooting corporate work is the subjects always have extremely professional attire, and high-end tailored suits are the norm. Grooming is rarely something you need to focus much attention to.
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The shoots are incredibly short, even by editorial standards, and almost never go over 20 minutes or so in length. The magazine prefers natural lighting for the images, and that makes things either incredibly simple or incredibly challenging depending on the particular office. Some locations have been great, plenty of light, large windows, open lobbys, etc. It's as simple as compose and shoot. Other offices are dark, dark woods, dark furniture, no large windows. I can't be fighting noise at high ISOs in these offices, so that means I need to light.
The lighting isn't the hard part, having 20 minutes to meet the subject, scout a location, set up lights that will look like natural light, shoot the session, and wrap it is what is hard. They are good challenges, though.
In general, corporate shooting has a few 'rules'. First, the subject should look powerful. Long lenses and low shooting angles are the standard starting points. it gives the viewer a perception of looking up to the subject. You almost never want to shoot a CEO or someone similar from above eye level. One of the advantages of shooting corporate work is the subjects always have extremely professional attire, and high-end tailored suits are the norm. Grooming is rarely something you need to focus much attention to.
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