Mark Kleanthous Triathlete Portrait - Images commission by Triathlete's World

Mark Kleanthous Triathlete Portrait

Strobist: Nikon D3s, 80 – 200mm lens x2 SB800, x1 SB80 x3 PW triggers

For the past 2 years I have been asked increasingly to provide images suitable for social media websites when undertaking corporate headshot photography. This has meant fulfilling briefs which ask for approachable, friendly and eye catching images of staff. Understanding how Avatars are used is part of this process. An Avatar is an image used to represent yourself on the internet, typically it is used on social media websites such as facebook, twitter etc. Gamers also use them to represent themselves inside a game environment. It is an image which uses simple compositions, bold colours, and good lighting to represent the subjects personality. It also an image which is adaptable to the different sizes allowed by social media sites, and it helps to break the ice to begin online conversations.

The avatar image is usually cropped to a square and some sites will allow you to position the crop where you want and others will do this automatically. So its best to choose an image which works well as a square initially. If you are going to crop the image yourself, its usually also best to crop to an image size no less than at about 180px x180px, most sites will reduce this size. So at least you can start with a better quality size and then let the site reduce the dimesions without loosing any quality. You will also have a file which uploads very quickly. For reference I have provided a some typical avatar sizes used by the common social media websites. Read More >

A professional photographer will be able to create a well lit and composed image which will jump out of the screen. Images need to have a lot of punch. This can be achieved with careful lighting and a good choice of background. If you intend to take the image yourself the best approach is find a location with colour and no confusing clutter. Make sure you face any available light source and then think about how you want your personality to be reflected.

The changing nature of corporate photography is still bound by restraints such as time and budget, but there is a greater amount of flexibility and creativity due to the need for a strong, corporate online presence. Boundaries are being broken through due to the informality of social networking sites, creating a more individualised and friendly corporate face.

The need to have web profiles, avatars and press releases has contributed to the style of these portraits changing. There is often a limited amount of time to shoot many subjects in a variety of poses and with multiple backgrounds. My preferred method to make best use of  limited time is to use the existing daylight when available and filing shadows with reflectors. This allows a fast turnaround of location background and subject poses. Below are examples of available and artificial light portraits all taken using interior office locations or nearby exterior locations, sometimes with many changes of location. Very often portraits are produced during conferences or between board meetings.

Friendly Approachable Corporate Portraits

Friendly Approachable Corporate Portraits

A professional portrait reflecting your personality, saying something about who you are can be very enticing. I will also be posting some advice on how to take your own images for use on website profile pages or social media. I would welcome any feedback or suggestions for this service.

Social Media Avatar Photography

Search & Rescue Team Briefing

Rescue Team Leaders Check Map

Trained volunteer search technicians are assisted by a central control room providing up to date information from the local constabulary and GPS radio tracking technology.

Cambridge Search and Rescue Incident Control Room

Volunteers undergo training to track a persons movements.

Search Technicians examining foot prints

Lighting for the two person portraits below was provided by off camera flash and the ambient daylight. Two flashes were placed behind and to the right/left of the subject and one overhead of camera position with softbox. Sunlight provided intermittent overhead backlight.

Search & Rescue Team find missing person

Relaxed Corporate Portrait lighting examples

The first image on the left above was set up as follows:

One Bowens Gemini 500 with wafer softbox positioned on camera right close to subject and with a white reflector on the opposite side to provide fill. A second smaller light a Nikon Sb800 was placed on top of my lighting case low down behind the subject aimed up towards the wall behind. This provided a formal set up but with some separation with the background. The pose and lighting is quite standard but was a good starting point to work from. It also allowed the subject to begin to relax and get an idea how things were looking by seeing the image on the back of the camera.

The set up for the second image was a matter of turning the softbox used in the first image around so that it  pointed towards the wall behind the subject, raising the level from a dark grey to almost white, no adjustment to the power output was needed. A second Gemini 500 with umbrella was used as the key light  placed on camera left and feather slightly so that light would not fall onto the glass partition immediately on the subjects left side. The pose was adopted by the subject and I only asked her to turn slightly more both left and right.

The third image from the left was changed only by moving the subject to a different part of the room where I could use a glass partition wall as background. Using as my key light the soft available daylight through a window behind camera. I left the softbox in place but rotated it again so that this time it was aimed at the glass wall behind the subject. Even though the ambient daylight level was quite high the background remained flat and dark. I wanted to keep the high key level created by the daylight and so used the softbox to create some fall off behind the subject. The pose this time was set up only by asking the subject to stand and lean on one hand toward the camera. Although the pose felt a little awkward to begin with, this soon changed as we chatted and laughed. The pose begin to take a more intuitive and natural feel.

The fourth image was lit in the same way, except this time I asked the subject to sit (a different portion of the wall behind could be used as background now) again leaning on the table with one hand, the subject adopted a version of this position when she sat down and I could see she was comfortable with it and so I asked her to continue but I refined some the shapes and position of her hands. It is always enjoyable to  be photographed when you are not aware of having to think to much about posing,  allowing subjects to find an intuitive position always works well and means you can continue to keep a dialog flowing.

In total shooting time for one subject was between 20-30 minutes. There were more variations taken but not included in this example.