on the job: executive portraits
Executive portraits are a huge part of the outward image for any leader, no matter what industry. Whether you are talking about higher ups at a huge, multinational corporation with thousands of employees or the CEO of a small business with only twenty or thirty employees, executive portraits are often the first impression of an institution’s leadership.
The value of executive portraits often gets overlooked for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s a busy schedule or reluctance to get in front of a camera, keeping your executive portraits current can be a hassle.
In the world we are in now — where images are shared more than ever — it’s imperative for any C-Suite or Cabinet level employee to have fresh, vibrant executive portraits to accurately portray to the world exactly who you are. That portrait from twenty years ago may look great (and youthful, sigh) but it’s probably not getting you the best results. It’s easy to lose people’s trust when they meet an executive person and realize their idea of that person was not accurate, or less than authentic.
But there’s no reason that executive portraits need to be a painful process! There are some simple steps that can maximize your time, comfort, and investment.
The best way to guarantee an excellent executive portrait — after selecting a quality photographer, of course — is to come up with a plan. For our time with Cheryl McConnell, PhD., the interim president at St. Joseph’s University, (pictured above) we knew we had a tight timeframe. So we planned a few setups in advance, to supply her and the university with a variety of portraits that would utilize different campus hotspots, different outfits, and different lighting. The shoot was quick and simple, but the end result was a set of diverse images that the University could use over the course of months or even years. (Scroll to the end to see some more from that shoot.)
That same week I also got to visit SJU’s neighbor to photograph the eighth president and chief executive officer of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Jay Feldstein. I knew we would have to work in to Dr. Feldstein’s busy schedule, so we utilized the same approach as we did for Dr. McConnell at Saint Joe’s, we planned ahead. We found a few locations, all close together (including several different studio backdrops!), and made a game plan for flowing from one place to the next to maximize the variety of images we could create in the window of time we had.
Check out some of the portraits of PCOM’s President Feldstein below.
If you’re reading this and reminded of your woefully out of date executive portraits, let’s talk! It is easier (and definitely less painful!) than you think.
