Having a wide up area is helpful for Environmental Background Headshots. The team at Portland International Jetport (PWM) had plenty of room and happened to be due for a headshot update.
Busy schedules are a given in their industry, so we opted to have me set up for 2 partial days, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, so their staff could stop in when they had a spare few minutes. Thankfully, I had company with Stephanie from Flawless Pros Onsite Hair and Makeup being brought in as well. She made the experience even better for all involved.
So I know the background doesn’t look like an airport, but this was the best location that was out of the way of passengers and is one of the main areas as you enter security. We couldn’t go through security, so this was really the only place to set up. They didn’t need it to look like an airport, as the headshots were going to be used internally and on the website, which was for the airport. Taking the use of the headshots into consideration is part of finding suitable locations for an environmental background.
One of the challenging things was accounting for the light in the background changing at different times of day. There was a break in the windows that allowed for a pillar of shadow where I set up my lights and had people stand. As the day progressed, it moved further and further back, so I had to keep moving my setup to avoid the direct sun on my subjects. While the large windows can have great light, it can also be something to take into account, and why I like to do a site visit of spaces I am not familiar with, so I can be ready for things like this.
While a clean, solid color background works for most scenarios for headshots, a more dynamic background can really show off the space and give a little more depth to the images. This discussion is part of every corporate headshot job before the shoot actually takes place. It is important to me to be aligned with what the clients are looking for and need, and to offer my skills to meet that.
