Denise Maxwell: Corporate portraiture
A multi-genre photographer across portraiture, weddings, fashion and sports, Denise hosts workshops on helping photographers learn how to price their work. Visit www.Lensi.co.uk and Instagram: @lensi_photography See the ‘Courses’ section of her site for more about Denise’s courses on earning a living from photography, including pricing for profit.
As a jobbing photographer, you go where the commissions are, and this is what Denise says pulls her into so many different genres of photography. Having this diversity of work is one of the best business lessons she’s learned. ‘The lockdowns during Covid showed that we need to have diversity in our portfolio,’ she explains. ‘I have friends who shoot event photography and because they focused only on one genre, which at the time had no commissions coming in, they were forced to get other jobs. However, I was able to keep my other work going.’
While others were forced to wait out the pandemic, Denise was able to find work shooting a project on allotments for
a local authority. She was also able to find commissions shooting architectural images of a council’s renovations and new buildings.
Denise urges anyone planning to earn money with their camera to find ways to build a portfolio of work in multiple genres. This means investing your time when on holiday, for instance, to get architectural shots, or going to photograph local football matches. You can then start pitching for work in a broader range of industries.
‘One of my biggest categories of work this year has been branding portraiture,’ she says. ‘With companies there is a trend for a more relaxed, lifestyle type of feel to their brand. I’m finding
that people no longer want the stereotypical portrait with folded arms in dark suits. They want more lifestyle imagery: beautiful homes, more relaxed environments. They want images that people can relate to.’
Another trend Denise sees in what her clients want is more inclusivity. In corporate portraiture, clients want their images to include people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and abilities. She recalls the ‘Make Money Equal’ campaign that she shot for Starling Bank, which sought to dispel some of the common trends in finance imagery that portray women as infantile or not very savvy with money. Diversity was hugely important to that campaign, and Denise won the work partly because of her efforts over the years to include diverse groups of people in her images.
The other major trend she sees is companies and individuals wanting imagery that people can relate to – scenes that people can see themselves in. Clients want to look approachable, while others – particularly banks – want more family orientated imagery: granddads with granddaughters, generations coming together.
‘More and more, companies are looking to stand out from the rest,’ she says. ‘If ten solicitors’ firms all have the same formal imagery, none will stand out. People want personality. With everyone making so many decisions on the internet these days, imagery becomes an important way to stand out and people now want to seem approachable.’
To price her portraiture, Denise offers different packages based on whether it’s a single person or a business with lots of people. For example, a 45-minute package costs £295 and a two-hour package is £450. If a company wants its whole team photographed, the package ranges from £1,200 to £1,600.
‘These rates work for me, but you might need to price yourself differently. The key is to work out your costs, such as a studio or equipment hire. These rates cover my costs.’