A distinctive difference
I admit I had to look up what an “arbitrage” company actually did when I first spoke with Kim Hoyt, who owns Bingham Arbitrage Rebate Services, Inc. I’m also embarrassed to admit I was skeptical about this branding session… until I met the people who worked there. They were fun, interesting and a pleasure to spend time with! I know, I was painfully biased. I’m sorry—I’m just not a numbers person. So, once again I learned to: “never judge a book by its cover.”
Like most companies, Bingham ARS has the challenge of presenting itself to its current and future clients in a genuine and transparent manner. A lot of times, there’s a disconnect between who a company is and who their clients perceive them to be. Photo branding sessions are a great time to tackle this disconnect and balance the scales with a more favorable and accurate visual portrayal. In Bingham’s case, we wanted to give distinguish them by giving a “face” to their brand.
Our shoot location was perfect: their office building in a historic part of Richmond—was oozing with personality. (The purple front door was my personal favorite.) The ½ day session consisted of three components: headshots, team shots and some branding shots.
1 | Headshots
For the headshots, I set up a custom painted, gray backdrop and lights in a filing/storage room in the adjacent building. This way everyone could come see me at their convenience. This is always a favorite time for me: I get to meet everyone individually and spend some one-on-one time with them. This setup also worked well because we needed pause the headshots to quickly jump into the group shots as one team member needed to leave early.
2 | Team Shots
The group shots were done on three sides of the building—and we got 3 totally different looks! With a gorgeous, ginormous magnolia tree shading the front of the building, the front porch shot shows off the historic part of their office building, which used to be a residence. On the side of the building, we captured the team with a mural in the background. Richmond is known for its colorful murals—one source claims over 150 murals can be found in RVA! And the final group shot was taken at the rear of the building. The backside of the building has been renovated: removing the back exterior wall and replacing it with a wall of windows to let in natural light and open up the narrow interior. It’s an interesting and eclectic building—a reflection of the people who work there.
Front of the building
Side of the building
Back of the building
3 | Branding Shots
These were done mostly in Kim’s office. We wanted to capture her in her typical work setting to give the feeling of approach-ability and friendliness. It was also a gorgeous space to shoot in: with stain glass windows and an original fireplace, it had plenty of personality.
I can’t wait for them to update their website with the new imagery—adding life and vitality to their site. I know its going to set them apart from competition with distinction and credibility. So their future clients can see how truly remarkable they really are!
Here's some of the shots from their branding session:
