The Business Portrait – Yes, It Is Important

OK, so today I was handed a business card from someone who “would love to have me as a client.” We met in line while waiting for coffee, which is cool because I meet a lot of business people that way. The problem was with her business card. It included a photo of her that was shot in the parking lot of Costco. It was horrible! Not the kind of horrible like the $50 business portrait. This was even worse. Upon visiting her website, Twitter, and Facebook accounts I found that she is using the same image.

The business portraits above are being used by successful small business owners. While your accountant will call a business portrait an expense, in reality a great business portrait is an investment. A bad business portrait is going to cost you sales. For example, I won’t be giving the woman mentioned above a call. An investment on her part of $200 – $400 would have gained her a client worth well more than that. Professionalism is not an option.

One of the most important qualities of a top notch business portrait is that the lighting will be top quality and will be appropriate for the subject. No there is no one size fits all! All of a person’s features and characteristics need taken into consideration.

Next is camera angle. A business portrait is much more than a picture of a person dressed in business attire. For example, a man should never be photographed from what is considered a submissive, feminine angle. Additionally, camera angle is extremely important to take into consideration with women as the photo should match their position and level within the organization.

Finally, the photographer needs to be able to bring out the real person in the business portrait. Not an easy task but the best business and executive portrait photographers pull it off with ease.

Don’t skimp on your business or executive portrait. You work hard at many aspects of your business and a poor quality portrait should not be allowed to negate all of that hard work.

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Dave Scott Photographic, based in the Portland OR area, provides business portrait and executive portrait services nationwide.