When Do You Need A Portrait Photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area?
A portrait photographer in the San Francisco area can take site-specific environmental portraits. This photo is of a professional male executive at his workplace.
Portrait photographs tell compelling visual stories about your personal brand. They’re a highly effective and essential part of your digital marketing toolkit, especially if you’re a business owner, a consultant or entrepreneur. A portrait photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area can partner with you to take confident and striking images of you at your best - creative photos that leave a lasting impression and catch the eye of recruiters, investors or leads.
However, in many cases, headshots are the better option for LinkedIn, company websites and general jobseeking purposes and marketing purposes.
So, what are the benefits of portrait photography and when do you need it? We’ll outline the advantages, but first we’ll start with the differences between headshots and portraits.
Headshots vs Portrait Photos
Portrait photographs can be used as headshots, but headshots are not the same as portraits. Professional portraits are usually much more creative and are designed to authentically capture your character, whether they’re used for corporate, dating or for posterity purposes. In short, portraits are often more intimate and unique and are a sharper tool for brand storytelling.
This portrait can also be used as a headshot.
These are the features of headshot photography:
The framing or cropping – They usually only feature your head and shoulders, although some head and torso shots have been categorised as headshots too.
The background – It’s usually neutral, whether it’s taken in a studio or the office.
The lighting – It’s usually well-lit and neutral.
The pose – Since the focus of the photo is usually your face, the pose is usually straightforward. You usually stand fairly straight, with your weight on one foot and a shoulder slightly raised so you don’t appear too rigid or stiff.
The composition and format – the look and feel is often similar to the other headshots at a given workplace since this can portray their sense of shared purpose and values.
Where it’s published – it’s usually used on LinkedIn profiles, company websites, email signature blocks intranet phone directories and other professional spaces.
These are the features of portrait photography:
The framing or cropping – There are no hard and fast rules. Portraits can be head and shoulders shots, head and torso or full body photos
The background – Portrait photos can be captured in a studio, outdoors or at the subject’s workplace.
The lighting – It can exercise a high degree of artistic licence and include dramatic lighting patterns, shadows and illuminations to capture a mood or depict a persona. It can also sculpt or add definition to the face such as the cheekbones or jawline.
The pose – The sky’s the limit. You can be sitting, standing or even striking a pose that represents your profession, whether you’re a chef, dancer, jet-setting executive or yoga instructor.
The composition and format – Portrait are meant to show as much of your personality as possible, so can be highly creative in terms of the pose, background, lighting, the angle and the portrait photographer’s retouching processes.
Where it’s published – Depending on the photo, it can often double as a headshot and be published in the same places. If it’s for a company that’s trying to achieve uniformity with their headshots to present a unified public image, it’s worth taking some headshot options during a portrait photography session.
Corporate portraits can feature more than one person, for example, business partners or a team.
Do I Need a Headshot or Portrait Photos?
When it comes to personal photos taken for posterity, the answer is usually pretty clear. Portraits are your best option when you’re taking family photos or documenting milestones such as engagements, weddings, pregnancies, graduations, ceremonies or events.
The lines become more blurred when the photos are for professional purposes. A clean expert headshot is usually the most suitable option for most professionals as they are the “standard” for LinkedIn profiles, email signatures and anywhere with limited screen real estate. But just because they are the more standard option, it doesn’t mean they can’t convey your individualism. Your choice of wardrobe, accessories and hairstyle, as well as your body language and facial expression can present your professional image effectively.
Your portrait photographer in San Francisco can take photos at your workplace, the studio or outdoors.
I’d recommend that you hire a portrait photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area if you fit into any of these descriptions:
You work in a creative industry, for example, fashion, music or design and you’re trying to give recruiters or leads a sense of your professional style.
You’re a business owner, founder or entrepreneur trying to build trust with your client base, prospects or potential investors and want to invest in personal branding and brand storytelling as a marketing tool for your business.
You’re a consultant or freelancer who is trying to distinguish themselves in a highly competitive marketplace.
You want to strategically use your workplace or tools of the trade as a backdrop to convey your competency, passion and skills in your profession, whether you’re a professional chef, horticulturalist, curator or another career.
You want distinctive photos that look a little different from a corporate headshot and stand out to recruiters or leads and would like a portrait photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area to help you achieve that. The options could include taking outdoor environmental portraits or being highly creative in a studio setting.
In short, portrait photography is more creative and mostly used to tell a visual story. If you’re in doubt about whether to have a headshot or portrait photography session or both, I would recommend you ask your portrait photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. They can act as your creative partner to help market your skills, professionalism and image.
Slava Blazer Photography has been taking eye-catching headshot and portrait photographs of professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 12 years. If you’d like to work with a true partner who will help to market your skills and experience, contact us today.