Before the event I worked with Amanda to take some promotional photos at a Sherwin Williams store in Milwaukee.
Rachel, an account design executive for Sherwin Williams, was the one who set up the meet and greet event.
In March I had the opportunity to fly down to Atlanta and work with Sherwin Williams on a fun meet and greet event where they invited in local designers to talk over coffee and donuts. They also offered each designer a complimentary headshot and that’s where I came in.
For those of you that aren’t especially into home construction, you may be unfamiliar with Sherwin Williams. Well, it’s a chain store around America where you go to buy paint and painting products. It’s recognized as one of the best and most high quality painting stores out there.
My father-in-law is a retired firefighter and now he runs a painting business and he absolutely loves Sherwin Williams. That’s his go-to place.
As for this event, taking headshots was a super fun change of pace for me.
Rachel, the Designer Account Executive with Sherwin Williams who was running the event, chose the color wall as my background.
The color wall is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s an entire wall devoted to little rectangles of color that represent all the paint that Sherwin Williams sells at the store. If you’re into graphic design or are a photographer you think about colors a lot as well, so seeing twenty different shades of yellow fade into orange and then red make sense to you.
For a background, it was really unique and vibrant.
The difference between this and my normal work day was the consistency of the project.
Usually, I photograph everything on location in either indoor or outdoor locations, but because of that my whole photographic process is constantly in flux.
In one session, I may have a background of Lake Michigan, then switch to photographing in downtown Milwaukee and then in the deep woods. In these cases you have to adjust everything about the way you shoot.
But at Sherwin Williams, I set up my flash and softbox on a stationary light stand and had a chair for everyone to sit on. Even when I did take photos of them standing, they all stood in one spot for their picture.
It was a setup where everything stayed the same for the three hours that the event went on.
The only thing that did change was the subject. Every few minutes a new person would come to my station and I’d take photos of them for 2-3 minutes.
I hadn’t been focusing on corporate headshots before 2021, but I’ve found myself taking more and more of them and I really enjoy it.
I start off greeting each person and then walk them through a little bit of what I want to do. At first I would take a close up of their faces, cut off at the shoulders and then I’d take one further out that showed their body cut off at the waist.
The biggest challenge was that I had to work fast and it’d be on me to identify what pose was the most flattering for each person and which pose was most comfortable.
My easiest option was to have them crossing their arms. It’s something everyone does on a daily basis, so it’s a pretty universal pose with their body angled away from the flash. But, some people look a little more natural on their right side and some people look more natural on their left side. Others look more comfortable with different poses such as having their hands in their pockets or on their legs or holding onto their jacket.
Sign up for your headshots
All told almost 50 designers came to the event, so along with taking headshots of the Sherwin Williams employees I finished the day taking headshots of 53 people.
As a photographer, it was an incredible opportunity to hone in the craft of taking headshots. I really got a crash course of working with both men and women of all different ages and looks.
Headshots can be super beneficial for all employees or employers. Even if you’re just starting out as an intern in your corporation or run your own business, personal branding is huge these days.
It’s always nice to put a face to a name before you buy something, even if it’s the plumber you hired to come work on your bathroom.
So, if you’re interested in some quick and easy headshots please reach out to me. Right now, I’m offering individual headshots for $75 if you come to my home studio in Milwaukee. Otherwise, if you’d like to meet me at your office or home, it’d be $125 or more per person depending on location. This would be 15 minutes of headshots and result in three delivered images per person.
There would be a three day turnaround and it only covers basic editing and toning. In depth editing including getting rid of skin blemishes, teeth whitening and changing the background would cost extra.
Larger sessions up to 90 minutes will be $225 with multiple wardrobe changes and we’d go through a wider variety of poses. You’d also be able to look through the photos in real time so we can adjust as we go.
Tips before coming in for your headshots
1. Bring in your freshest face.
This one is simple; for women make sure to focus on your makeup, doing it in a way that you like it but realizing also that we’ll be taking closeups of your face. So, make sure to not have too much makeup where it starts to become noticeable on camera. For men, make sure that you take care of yourself ahead of time. I notice my face looks fresher when I get enough sleep and watch what I eat. If you want a nice flush, take a walk outside in the morning before coming in for the headshot as well.
2. Pick your tops.
For headshots you actually don’t really need to worry about making an entire outfit, because I’ll be only taking photos of your top half unless you want a lifestyle picture. So, focus on the tops and match those tops with jackets or blazers. I normally encourage accessories, but unless that is your style I’d keep that to a minimum. But, really think about what kind of business you’re running. A headshot for a CPA should look very different from a headshot for a fashion designer.
3. Practice in front of a mirror.
I’ll help you get your best smile for your picture, but I’d also practice ahead of time. When I smile for photos I practice smiling not only with my mouth, but also with my eyes. And, for a good smile from me I always have my mouth slightly open with my teeth showing. You can also practice smiling without showing your teeth, which is more of a soft smile.
4. Know what you want.
If you signed up for a 15-minute session from me, we’ll be spending the time running through my base poses. We’ll need to stick to the basics in order to get at least one image of the highest quality. If you find yourself wanting to add different poses or try something more unique, you’re looking for the 90 minute session which is for lifestyle headshots that show off your personality and other elements of your work life.
