Executive Headshots & Lifestyle Photography | San Diego

Last month, I had the opportunity to photograph executives for a major biotech company here in San Diego. For the headshots, we took a fairly “complete-yet-lean” production approach — I brought a photo assistant and makeup artist, and handled both the digital tech and shooting roles myself.

The Headshot Setup

For the headshots, we opted for a primarily natural light approach, with a small strobe positioned about ten feet back to create some edge detail on the subject’s left cheek and shoulder. It’s a subtle addition, but it adds just enough separation from the background while remaining inconspicuous. That edge light complemented and augmented the existing sun, which came from the same direction. The main front light sources were simply bounce off the surrounding buildings — which turned out to be quite strong and flattering for executive portrait work.

The thinking behind the backgrounds was to create a subtle hint of structure and glass while maintaining the casual vibe of an outdoor headshot. We originally planned to shoot indoors, but structurally the room felt a bit too rigid and constraining. Stepping just outside the doors gave us the best of both worlds — some architectural context, with extreme lens blur to obscure anything distracting. It’s a great approach for keeping corporate headshots feeling polished without coming across as overly formal.

Business Lifestyle Photography Approach

For the business lifestyle photography, we went with ceiling-bounced strobes to mimic the natural light in the room while giving us strategic control over how faces were lit. We also needed to add enough power to balance the bright outdoor light coming through the windows — without it, we’d be fighting heavy silhouettes in the background. That balance took some higher-powered strobes to pull off cleanly.

The key with conference room shots is to be nimble — find a few great angles, then repeat, repeat, repeat until you’ve captured the right set of natural expressions mid-conversation. It’s more challenging than you’d think, with plenty of outtakes along the way.

Editing and Retouching Style

As always, my retouching approach stays subtle. First I take everything through Capture One Pro for basic color and contrast work, warming skin tones and crushing the blacks a bit. Next is Adobe Photoshop. I rely on frequency separation to preserve as much skin texture as possible, along with dodge and burn and some targeted healing for minor blemishes. My goal with portrait retouching is for the final image to look as natural and unmanipulated as possible — because the best corporate headshots shouldn’t look heavily edited.

If you’re looking for executive headshots or corporate photography for your San Diego business, I’d love to hear about your project. Get in touch here.