Oregon Metal Services Branding Photography and Headshots

October 31, 2024

In September I had the pleasure of spending a day on location creating updated business branding photography and professional headshots for Oregon Metal Services. They're a Portland, Oregon manufacturing company that specializes in flat-rolled steel and other metal services. This photoshoot had a wide variety of subject matter, including both staff portraits and also photos of the facilities and operations.

Heavy Metal

I was struck by the sheer scale of their operations. On the floor, there were countless metal coils, many of which weighed over forty thousand pounds a piece!

This was my first photo shoot where I had to wear a hard hat. Needless to say, I was extremely careful while walking around the shop floor, and I also had a tour guide.

There were a number of opportunities to capture workers on the shop floor. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Laser Cutting Services

Additionally, at their laser cutting operation, I was able to photograph a laser in action while it was doing an automated task. This machine kind of freaked me out and was reminding me of Terminator 2 for some reason.

Outdoor Branding Photography of the Building

Lucky for me, it was a perfect September day outside. The leaves were changing, and the sun was giving the photos a nice cheerful look.

Professional Headshots and Environmental Portraits at OMS

I also spent a portion of the day creating corporate headshots of the staff. Everyone was very welcoming and easy to work with. It may have helped that it was both Friday and donut day at the office! Always a bit easier to get people to smile in that case.

This was my setup for the professional headshots. I told myself no donuts until I completed the photoshoot, so you can see the subtle look of desperation on my face:

There was a moment to create some environmental portraits while in the office. I set up a gelled flash to mimic the office lighting (camera left) in order to draw more attention to the subject:

You can see how much difference the light made in comparison to the ambient light only. Notice the lack of detail and dimension on the subject without the flash:

Conclusion

This branding photography photoshoot for Oregon Metal Services had it all: facilities photos, headshots, heavy machinery, and lasers! It's a good example of the variety I can offer as a photographer for both small and larger businesses in order to revamp their visuals. Overall, the day was quite memorable for me!

-Chris

Oregon Metal Services is located on 7227 N. Leadbetter Rd. Portland, OR 97203, and also has a secondary location a couple miles away that offers laser cutting services.