“A picture tells a thousand words”, as they say. In that regard, a company photo tells a million. Everything about the photo can tell a story of how your company operates; from obvious things like your team’s personalities (by their poses) to more subtle ones like their decision-making processes (by the chosen location).
So, what does your company photo say about your team — or rather, what do you want your company photo to say about your team?
If you’ve always dreaded organising a company photo, we have a couple of tips for you on taking corporate photos that will help tell people the story that you want them to know.
Formal team photo
Let us start with the most common type of corporate photo; a formal team shoot.
- Attire
But before the shoot even begins, you first have to decide the attire for the entire team. Yes, it should be formal, but how formal do you want to go? Go all out with suits and ties or perhaps just office attire will suffice? Try taking a look at your workplace’s culture and practices, and decide how you want to straddle the line between professional and stern.
- Location
Now that you have finalised your team’s attire, it’s time to do the same for your location. This is much more straightforward, with the location to be within the premises of your company office. The choice then would be which area of the office you should shoot at. Find a spot that defines your company — like next to your company logo or against the backdrop of your office architecture.
- Poses and expressions
Now that the shoot is underway, how do you get your team to pose? What expressions do you want them to have? Of course, like with the attire, much of this is your prerogative, but you won’t go wrong with some basic guidelines: a neutral expression might highlight the professionalism within your company, and some smiles might show your company’s camaraderie. Identify the type of image your company wants to portray, and you won’t be too far off.
Smart Casual team photo
Perhaps your company is a start-up, maybe your company is a little more loose about attire. I mean, it’s 2020, all the cool companies don’t wear formal clothes! Well, smart casual would be the way to go for your team photo.
- Attire
It’s as the name implies, wear something casual but smart! Jeans and T-shirts are absolutely fine but maybe try to avoid shorts; that’s probably too casual! Smart casual attire can still tell the vision of your company. For instance, if you are a fashion-oriented company, your smart casual wear will differ from a media-oriented one.
- Location
Much of the same goes for the location of your shoot; you could stick to within the premises of your company office. With that being said, you now have the liberty of choosing to do it outside too given the added flexibility smart casual wear offers.
- Poses and expressions
You can employ a more relaxed feel during these kinds of shoots to accompany the casual nature of the attire. No need to have your hands glued to your sides, wrap them around a colleague! Likewise, there’s no need to be so serious, let your employees express themselves with their smiles.
Theme-centric team photo
Celebrating a special occasion? Well, that calls for a team photo doesn’t it? Unlike the formal and smart casual team shoots, you can pretty much do anything!
- Attire
This, of course, depends on the type of occasion your company is having. It’s best to coordinate with your team on the attire they should wear to really make the team photo striking. A Chinese New Year celebration? Be decked out in all-red. Or perhaps your company wants to tell people they’re different and go against the grain? Try office wear — with an intentionally over-loosened tie and maybe even mismatched socks. The possibilities are endless.
- Location
The most important part of choosing the location is making sure it fits the theme. For example, it’s probably not the best idea to take a CNY team photo against the backdrop of a mosque. All the better if the backdrop is able to accentuate your attire even further with its colour scheme. Take note of how you can modify the existing environment to bring out the type of feel you want; for example, you could bring in an extra chair to prop your feet up to show a rebellious streak.
- Poses and expressions
Go all-out! This is the chance to show the dynamic within your team. Cool, funny, the choice is entirely up to you. This is a celebratory occasion, so limiting your poses and expression goes against the theme.
Key aspects to note about
Photoshoots are not just about attire, location and poses though. Here are the nitty-gritty aspects of making a good photograph.
- Lighting
Lighting is incredibly important in making your photo look good. Without good lighting, your photo can come out muddled and inconsistent.
Being in an enclosed space means that office spaces might cause photos to be too dim. And even if your shoot would be situated near windows shining natural light, you are still at the mercy of the weather conditions to be in your favour.
A photoshoot must be in a controllable environment. As such, the use of lighting and diffusion equipment should be considered. These help light up a person’s face well, a key component of a good photo that cannot be replaced with the flash from a phone.
- Props
Props can mean a variety of things — from the chair you’re boss will be sitting on, to even the little plant just at the corner of the picture.
Using props within your company photos is another thing to take note about. The right props support the right idea of how the organisation is while having the wrong props might do the opposite.
Props also add aesthetic value to an image by helping to make it less plain and boring, so be sure to choose the right ones to use in order to boost the vibrancy of the photo.
- Editing
Even if the conditions of your photo shoot fall into place, sometimes the photo still may not turn out perfect for you. That is why editing is key.
Editing is all about making the details matter. Sure, you can perhaps try to move some sliders around to make the image the image pop, but you can beat the quality that dedicated editors bring to the table.
Editors are meticulous in their approach and help solve whatever problem that is seen within the photo. Consider getting one with the know-how to bring your company’s vision to life in the photograph.
Corporate photos no longer have to be an arduous task that happens for your company. Most of these tips are things you can do to help prepare for a team photoshoot.
Of course, having a professional photographer helps a whole lot more in making the process as easy as possible. Not only are they able to bring their expertise in taking photos, but they would be able to help with the editing process
Need a photographer for corporate shoots? DANAMIC can help provide that service for you. Ask us: [email protected]
