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No one wants to admit it, but taking headshots for your company’s website can be a drag. That’s why GumCo, a branding agency based in Utah, recently commissioned Salt Lake City photographer Brandon Flint to help them “spice up” their employee portraits. The end result? A hilarious and well-executed series of portraits with tons of personality.
GumCo President/CEO Steve Driggs had worked with Brandon before, when he photographed him for a feature in AdWeek. After bumping into Brandon in an airport, Steve and GumCo’s creative director, Phil Smallwood, approached him to photograph their concept: shoot portraits that look normal when they are tightly cropped, but reveal to show a quirky scene in the full image.
The tricky part of this series was to make sure that every shot was unique, but that they still felt and looked cohesive when you put them together. We had a barbershop, a warehouse, two outdoor locations and a museum. They were all very different, and that was the biggest challenge—just making sure they looked like they belonged together.
Brandon collaborated with GumCo’s team to scout out the perfect locations—places that were interesting and would make for a good “reveal.” He kept the lighting to a minimum so they were more mobile—all the photos were all done with one light and/or available light.
The thought while we were putting it all together was that we wanted people to think ‘oh that looks like a pretty straight-forward portrait’ then get a little chuckle when they saw the entire image and scene. They didn’t want anything over the top, just unexpected. I think it worked well.
The agency was thrilled with the final images, and the photos have been a good conversation starter for Brandon during portfolio reviews.
I learned how to let go a little and just work with what you can find. That was the fun part I think, bringing a few props, and then utilizing what we could find at the location … I really enjoyed creating these and doing something different. It’s great to work with creative people like everyone at GumCo and go into things with a solid creative concept and plan. It was a good time. I was glad to be a part of the project.
To see more of Brandon’s work, visit brandonflint.com.