Professional Portrait Photography, Too

I hope you have been enjoying the wildlife photography, especially that recent post with the "energetic bathing goose" and my Puerto Rican bird collection. You can see earlier posts by following the links under the Blog Archive on the right.

Now, for something completely different, this photograph above and the six images below were part of series from a recent assignment I had to do executive portraits of the local branch of a national company for their website and other PR uses. Shooting these types of images is of course quite different from doing wildlife photography. Everything is controlled in doing formal studio portraiture: the venue, the background, the lights, the poses, and even the clothing worn by the subject. In addition, shooting executive portraits for a business web site requires maintaining a consistent look and feel in terms of lighting, pose, background and attire. 

Most everyone dislikes having their photograph done this way, but I have developed the ability to make my subjects feel at ease and relaxed, even those whom one would think would be a real challenge. The final images speak for themselves, and the client was very pleased. 

I've been doing portraits for many years, and because one has to eat, studio portraits are the bread and butter for a photographer. Nevertheless, I really prefer to shoot in a non-formal setting where I can move around or move the subject around to get the best shot. The conditions are less controlled, particularly in terms of light, but the resulting images are fresh and dynamic. What follows are some favorite portraits from my collection of personal as well as commercial work, done outside the formal setting of a photography studio. 

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Until next time, be sure to sign up with your email address in the box on the right at the top of the blog to get regular updates, and leave me a comment in the comment box at the end of any post if you'd like to share anything about photography, have questions, etc.

Larry