How to Take Better Business Portraits (for happy customers & more profit)

[@dphotos007]

My whole career has been shooting editorial and advertising. I have been shooting since 1980 and I am now starting to retire. My base is here in Los Angeles and I have had a very rewarding career. I used to shoot all my products with a 4x5 and for people a Hasselblad or a Mamiya RZ 6x7. Then everything was switched to Canon digital. I was a contract shooter for a major popular magazine for 15 years and I have photographed many celebrity home stories. I never owned a medium format digital camera. I would rent if I had needed one. I have shot many business portraits and you are correct with all your tips. For me for each person in the firm I would provide a web gallery and either the subject or the person who hired me would pick one final image and I would do minor retouching. Never take out moles unless they request. You are so right about that also a job will run a lot smoother with a skilled assistant that can also do tech work. Setting up a seamless background on location without an assistant takes too long to set up. One tip I will mention is before the shoot day each subject is given a request on their wardrobe. Men pressed shirt and pants and to make sure their jacket is free of wrinkles, women same pressed top and pants or dress. It is not easy to get wrinkles out on a fabric that has a busy pattern. No busy patterns or non company logos is desired. A company logo is fine but the client would have to approve that kind of shirt or top. If shooting at the end of the day I ask for a them to bring a second clothing change if possible. A man’s pants when sitting all day will look horrible in a picture along with their shirt. Best to shoot in the mid morning. I also ask that the women bring their own make up and their hair brush. I do bring powders for medium and dark skin tones for subjects with a shiny skin tone. Some jobs I am able to hire a hair makeup person. For me the 85 lens is the perfect portrait lens. You will need at least f8 to have both eyes sharp. Making the subject relaxed is super important. With a large group you will only have about 10 minutes with each subject so you have to show confidence when directing the subject but a good sense of humor helps them to relax too. For me I avoided real estate businesses because they never wanted to pay a fair rate. Law firms did pay the best.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks for the extra tips, some good advice.

[@jamilgotcher365]

Thank you for the extra tips. I've thought about marketing to Real Estate professionals, one of my regular customers is a title and loan company (real estate industry related) but I haven't photographed very many realtors. What about female realtors? Are you referring to Real Estate companies that want a volume headshot rate? My Dad has been a photographer since the 60's. He used to give the Real Estate people a competitive rate but he wouldn't include retouching. This is how he made a profit, he would charge extra for retouching and the individual realtors would decide if they wanted retouching and most usually would. You're right about their clothing becoming wrinkled, also their five o'clock shadow looks worse later in the day (more retouching.)

[@julesselmes]

Karl is head and shoulders above 99% of the other tutorials on this subject on KZbin. Good work Karl!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you!

[@hurleygreen927]

This is right on time for me: I've been commissioned to take portraits of a real estate staff for their website and you have helped me a lot!

[@dizzydira9695]

I love how Karl explain things he doesn't need to repeat it twice because he's confident and love what he's doing.. I make sure I don't miss he's videos ❤️💪 big up👌 am from South Africa

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you.

[@prajwalgraphy8430]

I never shoot portraits yet here I am because learning new genre is always fun and the way you explain everything is amazing you have a certain calmness in your voice

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you - glad you're enjoying the videos

[@cesarebonazza]

I can tell you really did this with corporate people. Right on the money.

[@katsanes]

What an absolute gem of a video. Nice refresher/intro with enough wisdom to feel more confident on one’s next job. Thank you!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@josephchan4198]

Love the videos on youtube and training website. Always learn something.

[@Esoxhunt]

I worked as a commercial photographer myself, back in the film area. You really know your s..t, a real pleasure to watch your content.

[@phironcjones4057]

You deserve more subscribers for your youtube videos. Thank you so much for your sharing your knowledge with us.

[@mwitimeeme5218]

Karl Taylor is definitely the go to Guy on matters Photography. Honestly speaking, to test whether a concept is true or not in this field, he is the encyclopedia. Thank You Sir

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks

[@thcrtn]

I enjoy how gangster you are about the technical and social problems that face the environment of biz headshots... The taking command and using humor The posture to fix clothing The reduction of ambient light Are my top 3... I'm going to use my 50mm and led lights to see what I come up with....

[@MattSpaugh]

Great stuff as always. I've done high-volume headshots for a number of years and am working to seriously up my game on environmental images. Thanks Karl - keep up the great work.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Cheers.

[@GC-yi9nj]

I have my first corporate shoot coming up - this video helped me tremendously. Thank you. Clear and concise wording, no fuss, straight to the point. I subscribed and saved your webpage so I can learn more in the future.

[@replaylounge]

karl thank you so much for great english speaking.... as i am non english speaker (native) audiance .... i can understand every single world perfectly. unlikely the other instructer are speaking like all audiance are american citizen or UK citizen. thank you again.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Cheers.

[@josephchan4198]

Thanks for the videos here and website. I will check other videos during the fall. Thanks.

[@damiancanteros]

Very useful information. Specially the "who is in control" and the "choose and delivery" part.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad you liked it

[@deanhenthorn8674]

So much good information in this video alone. I can only imagine how good your classes are. In fact, I'm going to check them out. Thank you for posting this.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Awesome, thank you!

[@jlwilliams]

Lots of terrific stuff here as always, but the best tip comes right up front: It's all about what the company wants, not what the subject wants. I'm nowhere near Karl's level, of course, but I used to do in-house headshots for a company website, and I remember a sales manager who wanted to look like a tough guy. HIM: "I'm not a smiley guy. I don't smile." ME: "Yeah, you do. The company wants people to know that business is good." HIM: "Yeah, okay, I see what you mean... how's this?" He had a Hollywood-quality smile, just had to get him to use it!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks J.L.

[@totylow]

You are waaaaay too professional Karl, i admire you so much. Big fan here from Argentina.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks Oni.

[@Minotaurus007]

The most shocking eye opener to me was offering only one (!) image per subject based on their selection! Indeed that would reduce retouching and selection time a lot and harddisk space as well. Never thought of this, shooting hundreds of frames with different outfits, resulting it many keepers. And the subjects want them all... 🙂

[@lukasvandewiel860]

But I really like Karl's opening point: the subject is not the client. The subject does not get to decide on anything. The member of the corporation who pays you decides.

[@sklegacyfilms1700]

I am doing my 1st internship and my task is to do a company excecatives photoshoot this is helpful.

[@PabloContrerasFotoviajante]

Amazing video Karl! As usual. I do a lot of corporate portraits every year, and the human/ psychological factor is really something you need to handle very well! Showing confidence, without being arrogant or a dictator. But of course, the technical factors have to be chosen wisely. Thanks for the content!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks Pablo.

[@deepdesire6967]

He is very clear with his ideas..

[@brpons]

The main and the plain ! Very clear, thanks. You should add a pricing section, it’s very important to cover the whole topic.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks. Pricing is covered for members on our website.

[@AntonioMBrown]

THANK YOU

[@erwinhenkes933]

Great job, Karl, very useful, very clear. Thanks a lot!

[@smalltalk.productions9977]

Thanks for the effort and sharing. I am an appreciative subscriber. Stay well. Thumbs up.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Much appreciated!

[@masoudameli]

Absolutely perfect tips and nicely explained. You really are the Master, Thank you Karl.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

I appreciate that!

[@fotisstrongylos5291]

You are a great Teacher and Photographer!!!

[@elkirysh]

This video is pure gold!! Thankss!!!!!!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johnmoritz299]

Muchas gracias por tener la opción de traducción al español! Gracias, Gracias, Gracias!

[@saminterrante]

This video is packed with great information! Thanks for all the great insight. You nailed everything!

[@brooklynslowe]

Really informative! Thank you

[@richardwintle1020]

Lots of great tips here - thanks, Karl.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@diaafakheredden4449]

thanks for valued tips and notes

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Most welcome!

[@philpell9002]

Top tips! Thanks Karl!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

No worries!

[@stephenwoodburn2970]

Great tutorial on how to shoot business portraits, Karl. I have been soaking in tons of information on karltayloreducation.com, but had not yet watched the videos on this subject. Thanks for doing what you do. You are a great educator.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you Stephen, you went to the right place! We keep our best stuff for KTE :)

[@marvingeronimo]

A master teacher.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you.

[@marvingeronimo]

@@VisualEducationStudio No, Thank you. You have been instrumental in my photography progress, I owe you a lot. Next year I will join your school.

[@marinagrosling5623]

Thank you for usefull information

[@victormultanen1981]

as always, the tutorial is very useful and entertaining. Thank you for sharing.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

My pleasure!

[@juancarlosgarcia1579]

Gracias por tener la opción de traducción al español 🙌🏻

[@lornanjanja6837]

Once again. I am so impressed by your delivery(started the free course. You know, the illustrations are very helpful in understanding the basics of photography). This got me thinking, how far I would have gone if I had you as my mathematics teacher😂. We always shoot on manual mode. Right? Great lessons on here. Thank you once again for taking the time to help us improve our photography!🙏🏿

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks Lorna, yes 90% of the time manual mode. There are some occasions where aperture priority or shutter priority can be useful too.

[@juanlujano4895]

Great tips!

[@andrewwong927]

Great advice. Thank you so much Karl~!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

My pleasure!

[@MichaelMRoth]

Sehr cool, danke!

[@mrpokerlove]

your amazing mr karl

[@nexuses1]

I'm going to use my para 133 next week for the first time on a business portrait. Will be my first time using it professionally and to be honest I wasn't really sure people used para's for business portraits. I do have a fairly good idea how I want to light the subject, but was a bit disappointed in the amount of hashtags on instagram there were of headshot photographers.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Keep it in the soft light position, that is the lamp head further out, not in. It's my favourite people modifier.

[@nexuses1]

@@VisualEducationStudioWill let you know how it turns out

[@petermiller6829]

Thanks Karl!

[@shawkeen_admi]

Invaluable as always. Thank you

[@VisualEducationStudio]

My pleasure!

[@nerudaad]

Excellent points. Thank you

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Very welcome

[@pravalchauhan545]

Thank you so much sir you really opened my eyes about business portraits

[@vishweshwarkandalgaonkar4620]

Nice education for us and thanks for sharing

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you.

[@grenaclana]

You’re absolutely the best

[@janosjulianes3006]

Thx. Very useful 👍

[@catcattekat]

Very well explained, how about a video on the group photography

[@brotherweitalk]

great content! pro!

[@anthonyfong4922]

Thank you. Your videos are excellent

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad you like them!

[@Prakashkadam196]

Great tips and explanations, thanks u sir

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Always welcome

[@rockj8197]

Any tips on how to get an evenly lit grey background? A gradient grey is fairly easy but I'm having trouble getting it evenly lit. Especially in a smaller space. Thanks!

[@13thelly]

Thank you Sir Karl

[@VisualEducationStudio]

You're welcome

[@SeanFisher]

Thanks for posting! I'll check out your online classes.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Awesome, thank you!

[@crcjchacon]

Excellent video! Cheers mate 😁

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Many thanks!

[@michaelbyz23]

Thank you Karl!!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Cheers

[@nileshkumarghoghari6967]

absolutely amezing

[@johnleighdesigns]

awesome recap and reminds me to re-visit these tutes on membership site - i re joined recenty and done absolutely nothing so far!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Great to hear! Look forward to seeing you on the site again soon

[@Mike_Mandigo]

Great tips and video. Than you!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@44isabelita]

On point as always! Great explanations, nice and useful tips. Big fan of your videos :)

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Great to hear!

[@DJFIDEL804]

AWESOME VIDEO, I just want to know check if it is not important to have a chronological planner to know who you are shooting in order to place the photos in the right format for the client?

[@darcy65]

nice overview Karl

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you

[@shinajvlog]

Excellent class

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Many thanks

[@hawg427]

Very useful video.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad it was helpful!

[@StiffyToffeePudding]

Great Tutorial from Phil Collins!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ogonyereugookoroigbo7445]

Highly educative

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks

[@anewcareerinanewtown]

Excellent point about shooting for the company and not what the individual likes. This also applies to design in that design represents the company (and the brand) not the individual. Not many photographers understand that the brand includes the style of photography used.

[@BlackEagle352]

Thank you Karl for the tips, company photos are one of my most awkward shoots, ngl.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

No worries!

[@markboultonphotography7577]

Great thank you Karl

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks

[@Photocatchthemoment]

Brilliant - it is exactly as you are saying!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks

[@grnmtnskier]

Karl - Outstanding summary of your approach to taking business portraits-thank you! Do you have a preference regarding whether clients are standing or sitting for their headshots?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks and that's a good question, I generally prefer standing if it's just a head shot as it slims the body and you can keep the shoulders in a better shape (for guys hands in trouser pockets to do this). But if you want to include the enviroment/workspace - wider than a head shot then sitting gives you lots of options for occlusion, props etc.

[@grnmtnskier]

@@VisualEducationStudio Thanks for taking the time to answer my question Karl - appreciate it!

[@BiotikaAnti]

such a good and well scripted video

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Cheers

[@ScottRadfordChisholm]

Great tips and explanations, thanks mate. ;)

[@VisualEducationStudio]

No worries!

[@jonnyelpoiss7]

What about a 135mm with a full frame? A lot of the greatest portrait lenses are in that range. Would you recommand it?

[@SamuelPfleumerSami]

Thank you for this great video. I take a lot of business portraits so it‘s allways nice to compare my workflow with others. How long do you keep the raw files? Once you get a lot of clients it gets impossible to keep all the files. I tend to delete them after two years.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks. I process the selected ones and keep those tiffs and then dump the RAWs within a couple of months.

[@AdrianBacon]

This is good information.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Glad you think so!

[@AnujithRajasekharan]

Thank you sir 😊

[@VisualEducationStudio]

You're welcome Anujith

[@lise-annedore8935]

Very informative and confidently delivered video. Thank you Karl! I'm wondering what backgrounds and light modifiers did you use when you first started doing on location business headshots at the beginning of your career? Was it a slow or quick progession to what you use presently? Thank you for your feedback! 🙂

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thank you. When I first started in commercial photography some 25 years ago I was using Elinchrom lights, I took a bank loan to start my business at the time which included the purchase of some 101 packs, Mono heads, softboxes, grids, beauty dish and all the usual start up studio stuff. The lighting setups then remain very similar to many of the ones spoken about or shown here, except now I'm using broncolor lighting brand. You can learn more on my website.

[@lise-annedore8935]

@@VisualEducationStudioYou're welcome. Thank you! Speedy reply! Excellent. Good lighting is good lighting. I'll definitely continue to check out your website. Ps....About 4 mos ago I purchased a Elinchrom kit (2 R 400 d-lites plus softboxes. I'm excited.

[@osamap8]

Thank you so much..

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Welcome!

[@kenmwesh]

thank you..this was helpful

[@VisualEducationStudio]

You're welcome!

[@StachR34]

Thank you Karl! :)

[@VisualEducationStudio]

My pleasure!

[@GrandEpicPhotos]

Thank you Sir, this information came at the right time. I jus have one question; What’s the most important thing when I approach a business to offer them my photography services for professional headshots?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Be firm, be polite, be professional

[@GrandEpicPhotos]

Karl Taylor Thank you Sir for the advise and the videos. They are very informative and always on point, and I highly appreciate your support🤝

[@MexinPL]

I just started taking such portraits, great advises, Thank again Karl!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

My pleasure!

[@AKSTUDIOUSA]

Hey Karl, thank you so much for an amazing educational videos. Question; what If a client asks me to give them all the images I shot and they will choose the image they want in their confined space and I don't know when will they get back to me.

[@VisualEducationStudio]

I would say know. You can give them a choice of maybe 3 per person and then you take it from there. One thing that photographers often make the mistake is in thinking the client knows more about photography than they do and somehow should be able to dictate how things are done. You don't tell your dentist how to do their job do you?

[@AKSTUDIOUSA]

@@VisualEducationStudio Thank you so much Karl, How about at the end of our final work the client wants all the raw images converted to jpeg on a USB should I give them? By the way I'm a proud Kalr Taylor education member. Thank you Karl.

[@chantalmarson9135]

Hi there Karl Very useful tips on headshots here! I wanted to know where you bought your trolley from in the background. Im looking for one for my studio so I can tether easily to my laptop thank you. Chantal

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Thanks what time in the video do you see the trolley please as I have a couple of different ones?

[@chantalmarson9135]

It's in the right hand corner at 0.37 seconds in ... while you are talking in the studio thank you 😊

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Search for catering trolleys, they are basically the same as medical and studio trolleys but less expensive. I found this one online from a catering supply store in the UK.

[@chantalmarson9135]

thank you that's wonderful @@VisualEducationStudio

[@UniversalPhotographyServices]

Thank You...

[@karthibarani4662]

Thank u so much sir for this wonderful video. Since I'm a beginner to buy cannon M50. Can u pls suggest your opinion abt this camera, whether it is good to take photography or u can suggest any entry level in cannon.. your suggestion will b great useful for my career sir..

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Hi Sorry I can't comment on cameras that I don't know or haven't used.

[@karthibarani4662]

@@VisualEducationStudio Its k.. Thank u r reply.

[@rafail.tsilopoulos]

very good tutorial, i have a question you said you deliver 4000 px tiff and 2500px jpeg, do you crop the images? at what aspect ratio do you deliver them? thx

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Hi you should really deliver the size that the customer wants, this is just an average. I either crop the images to that size or leave them in their original crop and just resize them. The ratio of my camera is 4x3 so I retain that shape.

[@rafail.tsilopoulos]

@@VisualEducationStudio great thank you very much!

[@missnars87]

Hi Karl! This is a bit unusual but I need to take 1 headshot of myself with no makeup and ensure the photo reflects as accurately as possible my skin tone for an analysis. what class would you recommend so I can figure out what settings I need etc to achieve this?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Hi if it's for analysis then I'd consider this as a soft version but then repeat it with a standard reflector for a harder light version that showed texture too - karltayloreducation.com/class/studio-lighting-setups-portraits-two-light-setup-26/

[@rainbluephotographystudio4283]

Hi, Karl. Do you think posing table is essential investment for business portrait, I am working in studio. Thanks a lot!

[@VisualEducationStudio]

I don't really know i'm afraid as I've never used one.

[@xufeng3892]

Great

[@davidmilisock5200]

Karl, just great stuff, I'm learning so much from you, as a hobbyists I need to archive your stuff until I have time to practice your instructions. I hope the up and coming young pros are listening to you. The lessons can knock off a year or two from the curve of bleeding money during startup to putting profits in the bank! Thank you. An opinion if you don't mind. I was at the garden shop shooting while waiting on my wife, we give the man quite a few dollars a year so I figured it would be fine and he didn't mind. He liked what I showed him but was a bit miffed that I would not do photography for him. My position is that I'm not a professional photographer and I'm uncomfortable taking bread off a man's table. I don't do brain surgery or erect bridges either, I'm not qualified. Am I in the wrong here?

[@VisualEducationStudio]

Hi David, thanks and no I don't think you are wrong at all.

[@davidmilisock5200]

@@VisualEducationStudio Thanks for the reply, I'm enjoying learning from you and having fun with photography, as a HOBBY! It's nice to have people appreciate my work but it's better sending them to a pro for their work and sending the pros to you to get better. 😀