I love the results from this recent executive portrait photo-shoot. So does my client – Emily Gepner.

Being a professional people photographer, I often make portraits for top executives whose careers and whose companies were unknown to me before the photo-shoot. And I see a glimpse into the fascinating world of people like Emily Gepner. As a high-level executive for AECOM, Emily spans the globe coordinating complex projects in human infrastructure. It’s easier to ask what AECOM does not do rather than what projects it manages. As one of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies of 2015, AECOM made 19 Billion in the first half of 2015.

Emily’s financial wizardry together with her global network of top professionals “develop innovative solutions to the planet’s most complex challenges.” During the portrait photo-session, she mentioned world projects in transportation, healthcare, nuclear power-plants and city structures like sports stadia. Emily’s traveling schedule was so jammed that landing a day for a professional photo-shoot was tough. We finally settled on a Saturday afternoon.

Executive portrait head-shot of Emily Gepner looks like it was done in studio, it was actually a location photo-shoot. The blue background was a frosted glass room divider.

AECOM is in the process of moving their office in the Denver Tech Center area so we worked in their old site. When I arrived, make-up artist Kalyja Rain was already at work as I scouted various locations for the business head-shot portraits. We shot indoor executive portraits and we worked outside as the sun began to set. Now, looking at these portraits of Emily, anyone can see that she’s a delightful attractive executive. But accolades go out to Kalyja Rain who stepped in and did a wonderful job with make up. And Emily liked the results so much that we did a family portrait session a few weeks later.

Perusing the website of AECOM, I have to say, it’s one of the finest corporate websites I’ve seen. Their design and professional photography choices are impeccable and clean. And even a first time visitor can see that this company makes brilliant choices. I have to throw it out there that I’d be honored to do more photography for AECOM. I’m hoping that they’ll commission me for exciting architectural, industrial and people photography photo-shoots. A two week long photo-shoot in an exotic warm weather location during the month of February would prompt me lower my photography day rate from $8k to just 4k (plus expenses of course).

My idea to shoot between the chairs in the boardroom paid off with this uncommon portrait.