Corporate Head Shots

Through word of mouth, I was given the opportunity to photograph some CEOs and high-level executives of a corporation last week.  Before bidding on the job, there are always questions that don't get answered in the initial phone call or email that I think of as I'm outlining my plan for the shoot. 

To give me an idea of what sort of lighting would be required, and how creative I could get with it while still keeping in mind budgetary and time constraints, I needed to know how many people at one time I was to photograph.  I also needed to know whether there was a hard floor or carpeted floor.  Typically trying to place people on a seamless paper background while resting on carpet would create holes in the paper.  I was lucky enough to be able to scout the location beforehand, and deduce that the carpet was thin enough to prevent considerable sinking-in of high heels or chair legs. 

Lesson learned:  A 9-foot seamless background was not wide enough for an eleven-people group shot.  I had to Photoshop some white along the edges of the people before sending to the client, a soft cost I had to eat due to improper estimating of seamless real estate.  But lesson learned!