New York City Tech Company Headshots
I was just minding my business editing when Pure Storage shot me an email. Although their HQ is in Mountain View, they were calling about their offices in New York. Apparently a large group of their staff was in town for a company event so they could get everyone in the same room for their headshots.
Their offices are in the MSG area, and have beautiful, sweeping views of lower Manhattan. When I say sweeping, I mean all around views- windows on every side with a clear view all the way down to the Statue of Liberty. I wish they had a balcony.
I set up in a conference room (which tends to be the norm), against a large white wall. It looked almost perfect until I noticed two bright orange lines running along the width of the wall- their company colors. I know they didn’t want a company branded shoot, just multi-purpose, not-so-traditional, tech company headshots for their staff, so I had to put up a white backdrop of my own. The only problem was, I didn’t bring one…. However, I had just flown in from San Francisco and was staying right around the corner. I managed to swipe a couple white sheets (on loan) from the hotel that I could put up over the wall.
Well, it worked, but not really…
Frankly put, the photos actually came out with a yellow hue. As a photog, I knew this was going to happen ahead of time, so it was a dumb call. Making matters worse, the sheet maintained some of it’s wrinkles, so there were shadows on the backdrop. Out of camera it looked okay, but once uploaded- an editing nightmare. It was a lesson of ‘what not to do’ if you’re taking pictures.
The photos themselves were great. These guys were awesome, and their party in the background filled the room with laughs and even a large gong sound every now and then. Cupcakes and champagne filled their commissary. Additionally, everyone was seriously fun to work with. In the end, I felt like I was each participant’s good friend.
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