Strategize Your Virtual Portrait Sessions
Even though it’s a laptop and a zoom link…
…strategize your virtual portrait session beforehand.
To say that capturing candid speaker portraits through a laptop screen is weird would be quite an understatement.
Regardless, it’s necessary and valuable for my clients right now. And, it also involves time and money, so maximizing their investment is paramount.
That’s why strategy calls are still a primary piece of the process.
Prior to my session with Todd, a speaker, author and educator, we scheduled a call to go over what he was looking to accomplish with his virtual portrait session.
After hearing about how he wanted compelling image content that would be leveraged for his website and social presence, we devised a plan for the types of images he would find most valuable, and created a list of goals for the session:
GOAL #1 - Full-screen sized images only
Once we decided that slides or him interacting with other participants wasn’t essential, we planned to shoot the entire session in SPEAKER VIEW.
GOAL #2 - Speaking + Portraits
We broke down his session into 50% delivering a talk and 50% portraits.
Even though there wasn’t an audience, the photos where he spoke would still serve the valuable purpose of showing him translating his stage work to the screen.
While the Speaking shots are key, he also needed portraits where he wasn’t talking. He needed a collection of photos that he could use to visually punctuate the sentiment of every story he wants to share with his audience.
First, we planned on a couple tighter-framed headshots that would work specifically for his website.
Next, I told him I would play with composition, angles and framing that offered him a variety of portraits that he could use for social media posts. These images could work as-is, or he could incorporate text and his logo into the negative spaces of the frames.
GOAL #3 - Make eye contact with audience during Speaking photos
I stressed to him the importance of speaking while looking directly into the camera.
In most of the meetings I’ve captured live, the presenters look at the other participants on the screen and NOT the camera. Although for the speaker, it feels like they’re connecting directly with audience members, the experience on the other end says otherwise. It appears as though they are looking at someone else.
I wanted to make sure Todd steered clear of that issue.
GOAL #4 - Visual variety
When I capture live presentations and meetings, I’m only working with whatever the client is wearing and the location in which they’re presenting.
In Todd’s case, we were working independent of an actual talk, which meant we had the freedom to work in some additional elements.
As a result, we were able to work in several wardrobe changes, add in props (poster board with drawings + his book), and play with virtual backgrounds.
GOAL #5 - Variety of expressions
Regardless whether these photos are captured in person or through a laptop screen, it’s essential that the expressions on Todd’s face span the entire emotional spectrum, from vulnerable and pensive to confident and joyous.
I made it clear that I would be throwing some words at him to keep his guard down and not focused on the fact that being in front of a camera through a laptop screen is a weird and unnatural experience.
So, after all that strategy and prep, here’s how the session turned out:
After Todd viewed the photos, he was kind enough to share his thoughts about the process and the results:
“When I decided a few months ago that I was going to have a new website built, and realized that I would be needing a variety of high-quality photos of myself in action, the very first person I thought of was John DeMato.
I had seen the terrific work he had done for a number of friends and colleagues of mine – as well as for some of the biggest heavy-hitters in the public speaking industry here in NY – and I was sold. And then the pandemic came…and the entire world moved online. So, now what? Innovator that he is, John came up with the brilliant and inspired idea of doing VIRTUAL portrait photos!
Since I was now in need of pictures that would represent my shift to delivering my “VisuaLeadership” keynotes, webinars, training programs, and coaching services online, this solution was just what the doctor ordered.
So, we went ahead and did the photoshoot last week via Zoom, and it went AMAZING – and I now have a beautiful selection of photos for me and my website designer to choose from! You may be thinking, What makes John so special? Couldn’t anyone with a camera do this? Um…definitely not! DeMato is more than a headshot-taker…he is a portrait artist. And – most important to me (as my specialty is visual thinking and visual communication), he is far more than a photographer…he is a visual storyteller.
And, to top it all off – beyond his technical and aesthetic skills and sensibilities – he is an all-around great guy who – with passion, empathy, patience, and humor – immediately put me (an extreme introvert) totally at ease so as to get the most – and the best out of me. And I couldn’t be more satisfied with the results!
Based on this wonderful experience, I can vouch for the fact that DeMato – even under the most challenging conditions – doesn’t just meet his clients’ expectations – he far exceeds them; and the value he offers is, in a word, priceless.”
Thank you Todd for such kind words - it truly was a magical session, :)
So, how about you?
Are you in the same boat as Todd? Need some image content that will help position you as a virtual presenter that can deliver magic through a screen?
I’m here to help.
For more information on how I can help, you can check it out here.