Las Vegas executive portrait photography is at the center of my portrait work, and some of the strongest examples of it are the executive portraits I have made at Wynn Las Vegas. These are on location portraits for a company that needs a photograph ready for a website, a press page, and the rooms where leadership is actually seen.

A lot of time and energy goes into these shots before the executive ever walks in. I scout and test the locations first, and I look for the setting that tells the story of the person in the frame.

The work is not only a row of executives against the same finished interior. I also look for variety, including portraits made in the settings that belong to the work itself.

Once the background and the scene are confirmed, I build the lighting, from a parabolic to a six foot octabox, and I keep it soft. There is lighting in the background as well. We may add architectural lighting to enhance the scene.

The set is built, ready, and tested before the executive arrives. Then they come in for 15 to 20 minutes, do a quick review, and they are in and out.

At Wynn, hair and makeup is always on set. They never skip it, and it shows in every final. Good hair and makeup is not about an over caked look. It is about polish and finish. The artist takes the shine off the skin, tames the flyaway hairs, and adjusts clothing and necklaces so everything sits right, right down to taking lint off a jacket and cleaning eyeglasses in those last minutes.

For men, that can mean brushing the eyebrows, plucking a stray nose hair if needed, a quick pass with clippers to trim nose or ear hair, and taking the shine off the skin. For women, it means finding the right lipstick, eye shadow, and contouring for the light I have built. These are leaders who are polished every day, and even the most polished professionals benefit from a specialist’s eye for those final finishing details. In a 15 to 20 minute window, that level of finish is what lets the portrait hold up at the highest level.

From the lighting team to the background, to the scout, to hair and makeup, to wardrobe, every part of these shoots is curated and produced at the highest level.

Post production for Wynn is typically a higher level of finishing. The standard I work to is the slightly better version of you: skin softening, blemish removal, eye whitening, teeth whitening, and flyaway hair removal.

I light these sessions with Profoto and Chimera softboxes, and I photograph them with Sony cameras and G Master series lenses.

This is the kind of Las Vegas executive portrait photography I do when the window is short and the photograph still has to hold up everywhere the company will use it. You can see more of my corporate photography and portrait work.

Studio J Inc. has been creating photography for 26 years in Las Vegas and around the world. If you have any questions about this project, or about a similar upcoming project, please don’t hesitate to contact Eric Jamison.