Bank of Texas recently hosted a fun marketing event and part of the enticements included a head shot refreshment. It was a great opportunity for me to meet new people and help them update their business images.  I enjoyed seeing people from so many different industries and I included a few of the images at the bottom.

It’s funny that I heard the same thing with almost everyone who came in, “I hate having my picture taken!”, “It’s been so many years since I had my head shot done”, or “I am not photogenic at all!”. Believe me, probably 90% of my clients feel the same way (me included). It may be that you are shy so have a hard time showing off your personality in front of a camera. It could be that you struggle liking something about your body (your hair, your teeth, your chin, etc). This is where I come in as a professional photographer. I try right from the start to put you at ease. Some people come right out and tell me immediately what they do or do not like about their pictures and with others I can glean the information from talking with you a bit.  In either case, it helps me offer suggestions about poses and little tricks I’ve learned to capture honest, relaxed images.

For studio sessions, I shoot with my camera connected to my laptop and we can see the images as they are captured. It’s all digital, so we can shoot away until we get the image. This really helps ensure that you are going to LOVE your head shot because you get to select it before you leave.

Here are a couple of things we do at my studio head shot sessions:

1.  Shoot, break to review, shoot, break to review…
   • Sometimes people need this first bit of shooting time to get comfortable. It’s not an everyday event so you may need to ease into it to relax with me, the camera, and the lights.
   • The break gives your face and mind a rest. It’s hard work being a model!
   • While we review, I like to hear what you like about the images (your hair, expressions, poses). I point out little differences between the photos and we can tag any favorites as we review them. We can also pull up your favorite images side by side to compare them.
   • If we haven’t found your image yet the review(s) help us to know what we should change or focus on when we start shooting again.
2. Capture images from all perspectives–left, right, head on.
   • This can make a huge difference for people. Depending on hair parts, facial structure and even clothing, people usually have a definite preference when they review their images.
   • I’ll have you do this organically as we are shooting so that we can capture natural shots instead of still posed shots that look more forced.
3.  Capture images at eye level and also slightly above.
   • Shooting slightly above can help improve posture and elongate necks. I find this is really helpful for men especially if they are wearing suits with ties or buttoned collared shirts.
4.  I’ll have you shift your weight from left to right foot or front foot to back foot while we are shooting.
   • This also helps with posture and gives us opportunities to change the way your arms or hands are posed.
5. We may try a couple of runs where we start with no smile and keep shooting as you make your smile bigger (or vice versa). People tend to end up laughing somewhere in there and we find really natural looks.
6. For ladies, especially those with longer hair, we capture images with your hair different ways (all in front, one side in front, all in back). It does make a difference and ladies almost always have a preference in the end. How will you know if you don’t shoot it though?

Once we have found your image or images, we’ll quickly discuss the final crop dimensions you need and I’ll ask you to let me know about anything in particular that needs to be retouched. I perform retouching on all my final images for clients. Every image benefits from some adjustments. My goal is not to provide a glamour shot where your skin texture has been smoothed to the point of plastic, your teeth are unnaturally white, or you’ve been slimmed down by 30 pounds. The image should look like your best self, convey your personality, and be appropriate for your industry or usage.  All that being said, sometimes, life does get in the way of your session and you may show up with acne, an injury, bug bites, unruly hair, or your make-up/grooming just isn’t working for you that day.  You could also have a permanent feature like a scar or a mole that you would love to hide. All of these things can be corrected in Photoshop and are included with my service.

Are you in need of a fresh head shot? I’d love to help! Sessions can be captured in my home studio or as I did for Bank of Texas, I can bring the studio to you. Studio sessions at your workplace make it convenient for your whole group or company to capture new head shots all at one time.