The Power of Color in Corporate Photography
Covered in this post—
Psychology and Theory Behind Color
Putting Color to Work as a Branding Tool
The Impact of Color Schemes in Corporate Portraits
Color Grading: Post-Processing for Perfect Color Balance
When it comes to representing your company, there may be no stronger visual element than color. Corporate photography and videography are key ways through which many businesses choose to express their brand identity and showcase their company culture or products in an evocative and compelling manner. However, the role of color is often underestimated.
That’s why it’s essential to carefully consider the interplay of colors within your corporate photography and video content — it can dramatically influence how your message and brand are perceived. Deliberate and artful use of color can shape the overall mood, elicit emotive responses, and visually communicate key themes that resonate with your target audience. It’s a nuanced but transformative tool in a corporate photographer or videographer's toolkit.
The Psychology and Theory Behind Color
To harness the power of color for your brand, it helps to understand a bit of color theory. The psychology of color has long been studied in marketing, design, art, and more — examining how different hues appeal to emotions and intuition in the human brain.
For instance, blue tones are often connected with trust, tranquility, and dependability — making them popular among banks and technology companies. Meanwhile, warmer reds, oranges, and yellows can energize and evoke feelings like passion, joy, and optimism. Cool greens and natural tones relate to balance, growth, and environmentalism. Even neutral tones like black, white, and gray project sleek professionalism and timelessness when used intentionally.
Leveraging these intrinsic psychological associations, corporate photography and videography can integrate symbolic colors as a compelling visual shorthand. Imagery ties directly into branding initiatives targeting specific personality traits and values your company wants to be known for in the minds of customers and clients.
Putting Color to Work as a Branding Tool
When developing your corporate photography style and strategy, put as much thought into your color palette as any other branding choice. Whether aiming for a mood of energizing vibrancy, professional refinement, simple elegance, or inventive playfulness — infuse every image with colors capable of conveying your vision.
For example, the software giant Salesforce sticks to bright blues and whites in homage to its logo and energetic culture of trailblazing innovation. Even something as mundane as an annual report becomes a chance to reinforce their brand identity with splashes of empowering blue. Corporate photography has ripple effects when it comes to consistency and recognition.
When planning any branding photoshoot, consider what feelings or themes your company wants to be known for. Search for analogies in the color wheel that can strengthen the associations. Perhaps forest greens would suit an eco-friendly organization, while maroons and golds lend a luxury hotel gravitas and sophistication. Think outside the box of obvious connections and choose hues that symbolically communicate at a deeper level.
Of course, not every company has the leeway to overhaul the color scheme of their logo and branding at a whim. In many cases, the options are more or less predetermined. But that shouldn’t stop you from telling a compelling visual story and creatively working within established guidelines.
The Impact of Color Schemes in Corporate Portraits
While company events, culture videos, and product imagery benefit enormously from strategic color theming, arguably one of the most immediate tie-ins with branding can be found in corporate portraiture. Whether individual headshots of a sales team or full-length photographs of the executive board — people pictures present a powerful mechanism to literally display your colors.
Professional company attire styled with brand-consistent colors can keep the team looking sharp but also reinforce shared identity. When portraits will be displayed internally around headquarters or externally in marketing assets or annual reports, consider color-coordinating the subjects’ wardrobe palette to your brand style guide. Uniformity in front-facing colors while allowing for variation of style, cut, or accessorizing maintains enough professional individualism without straying too far.
Make use of backgrounds and environmental factors around your subjects during a photoshoot. Neutral backdrops allow the subjects’ vibrant clothing hues to take center stage, while textural walls, landscape greenery, or subtly colored studio panels add a boosting accent. When it comes to headshot framing, strictly frame the subject around the eyes and shoulders. Think through how backgrounds can accentuate and draw out certain hues in clothing and add a fresh dimension to corporate portraits.
Color Grading: Post-Processing for Perfect Color Balance
As important as nailing that ideal color combination during your corporate photoshoot or filming may be, the ability to artfully enhance images in post-production is invaluable too. Thanks to digital editing software like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, the possibilities are endless for subtly fine-tuning colors and tones after the fact.
This customized color grading ability can salvage lackluster images hampered by poor lighting conditions or rescue a stylistic misfire that fails to resonate. Corporate photographers, like Mark Campbell Productions, well-versed in color correction techniques can balance exposures even in mixed indoor and outdoor scenarios that traditionally create uneven contrasts between subjects. They can also edit together a unified color profile across group photos taken during separate sessions. Post-processing solves all manner of problems.
Vibrant Event Photography Through Creative Color Use
Corporate events offer a particularly prime opportunity to develop captivating content, drive online buzz, and portray what your company culture is all about through creative photography and videography. Conferences, award ceremonies, trade shows, galas — the vibrant sights and happenings at such gatherings provide plenty of artistic inspiration to capture shareable social media gems.
When hosting an outdoor picnic for employees on a sunny afternoon, vibrant reds and oranges in decorations, food spreads, and entertainment enliven the colorful setting. A company 5K charity race allows participants to sport lightweight windbreakers bearing bright branding. Festive holiday parties can feature wintry blues, silvers, and crisp white trimmings, setting an invigorating atmosphere. Through every unique occasion and season, apply color themes to deepen the sensory experience for attendees while also elevating the resulting photographs.
Consider what colors naturally suit the venue site and time of year whenever conceptualizing events. How can decor elements be designed to further draw out those existing visuals — whether lush green garden foliage or the warm amber glow of rustic indoor restaurant lighting? Design color stories around the emotions and activities you want to be reflected most at each gathering. Photographs will turn out infinitely more dynamic when encompassing an experiential color journey from start to finish.
Overcoming Challenges Around Color Consistency
For all its potential benefits, however, wielding the nuances of color harmonies and contrasts for optimal effect poses plenty of practical challenges in the field. Photographers encounter hurdles like intense venue spot lighting wrecking white balance and improper camera settings muddying true pigment translations. Realization takes top-tier talent.
That’s where the corporate event pros at Mark Campbell Productions come in — masters of vibrant lighting design, post-production color correction, and capturing those perfect emotionally resounding moments that spotlight the essence of your company culture.
Contact Mark Campbell Productions today for a custom quote, where we brainstorm the artistic potential for your next corporate milestone.