Financial Advisor business headshots
Recently I was asked to create a new set of business headshots for local financial adviser Joe Wadsted – and of course was happy to oblige.
To make life easy for Joe I set up an impromptu studio at his home, using a simple plain grey background and just a couple of lights. I shot a couple of different lighting styles to give Joe a choice of “looks”. First of all a neutral look and then also a more contrasty style with more pronounced shadows.
As I usually do I got Joe to adopt a few different poses and we also shot some images with him smiling and others with a more neutral expression. Not everybody feels comfortable or looks at their best with a big grin in photographs. So I always do a mix so the client can choose the expression that they feel suits them best.
Shooting on a grey background
I’m sometimes asked why I tend to use a grey background rather than white for business headshots. There are a couple of reasons… Firstly, it works with any colour of clothing. If I use a white backdrop and the client decides to wear a white shirt, they can disappear into the background! Secondly, a grey background involves less light bouncing around which can be a problem if I’m shooting in a small office or living room. Thirdly it’s a nice neutral tone that works both in print and online. And lastly, it makes it easier to do a “cutout” if the client later decides they want their portrait on a different coloured background, or overlaid on a location photo.
Joe was happy with the grey background but I’ve included some modified versions of his photos below to show you how this works:





Get in touch if you’d like some new headshots for yourself or your colleagues!