How to take corporate training images: ©Al Macphee/MiraclePR
When Cartwright Coffee asked me to take some pictures to help market their barista training services, I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to blog about how to take quality corporate training images. The training was held at Below Decks, a harbourside restaurant on Beacon Quay, Paignton.
Here are my top tips:
Don’t be distractive – it’s a learning environment!
You don’t want to be distractive to the trainer or their students, so work with natural light where possible. If you’re getting in the way and setting your flash off, the students are going to start watching you instead of paying attention to the trainer. It’s going to disrupt their learning. It’s the same when taking theatre pictures: if you walk boldly across the stage or up the aisle, people are going to be watching you and taking their eyes of the performance. Shoot from behind the students to avoid this.
“Work with natural light where possible. If you’re getting in the way and setting your flash off, the students are going to start watching you instead of paying attention to the trainer.”
Think about how many corporate training images you actually need
If you’re taking corporate training images for a step-by-step guide, you could take 200 images, but it’s better to take 20 good ones that actually tell the ‘story’. Break down the training session into sections based on the topics being taught. For example, maintaining an espresso machine was one topic area, pouring milk was another.
If you’re only providing a small selection of pictures, as for the purpose of this blog post, you might only need two or three images. In that case, observe and wait to spot pictures that would make the most visual impact. Would that be a cloth wiping down a steam wand or milk being poured to make some nice barista art? You may need to stage these photographs afterwards, because you might want to control the background, or the subject may even need to alter their technique. For example, baristas don’t pour milk in the way it’s shown here, but this was a better technique for visual purposes.
Aim for undateable corporate training images
The more people that are in a shot, the more dateable that shot becomes. Looking at these images, Cartwright Coffee and Below Decks could still use them in ten years time. But if we had employees in the background listening, and they then leave the company, it could become awkward for them to use those images. With lots of people in the background, you also increase the odds of people saying, “I don’t like the way I look in that one,” etc.
Control your background – but be patient
As always, check your background, moving and tidying anything, like folders that shouldn’t be there. If the premises is open for service, as it was in this case, you will need to be diplomatic about employees and customers getting in your way. If there is someone dotting around in the background, getting in the way, keep an eye out, and wait for them to move. If they don’t, and you see that as a particularly good image, then set it up afterwards.
Have a burning photography question you would like Al to write about in his next blog post? Email info@miraclepr.com with your request.