Virtual and On-Location Photography

  How did you feel that last time you posted a new professional headshot? I'm guessing pretty good. What I've noticed on social media is when a client posts a new headshot the comments like these start to explode.                                                        Love it Gorgeous Wow You're so pretty Very professional... You look younger than ever Fabulous as always only more so... Awesome So handsome. Keep up the good work. You're looking good... Who took that photo? I want to look like you. When I read the comments and see clients' social media likes it's an endorphin rush. There are so many reasons why you'll want to update your headshot.  It will attract new viewers. Have you ever bought a book twice because the cover was changed? You get the idea. An updated headshot will keep you in front of clients and prosp...

                                                           📸   Capturing holiday memories is going to be a little different this year …  They'll probably be laid-back but can be magical if you plan for how to adapt.  Part of the mix for capturing your holiday memories can still include professional (or not so selfies) portraits.  A  virtual photoshoot  is an option if you don't want to leave your home. Your remote family members can also have a virtual photoshoot wherever they are to capture this same moment in time for everyone.   Whether you hire a photographer or take the DIY route you can adapt these to virtual or in-person photoshoots.  ✌  Here are some tips for taking your holiday photos. 🗓 Plan your wardrobe.  It makes such a difference to coordinate colors...

This is going to be short and sweet. PUT A HEADSHOT ON YOUR LINKED IN ACCOUNT!!!  Do I sound like I'm screaming? Sorry - I am. I'm a little edgy right now. Hope you understand. Do you follow or trust anyone on LinkedIn who won't post a current headshot on their account? Next worse thing to no headshot is posting a 20 year old photo but that's a different argument. Once you have a proper headshot how about filling in all the blue space? It's prime advertising space. Even just a logo is better than blue. I like blue but not on a LinkedIn Cover Image. Use these dimensions from the LinkedIn help page when you want to update your LinkedIn photos.  TAB MODULE MINIMUM IMAGE SIZE RECOMMENDED IMAGE SIZE Page Logo Image 300 (w) x 300 (h) pixels 300 (w) x 300 (h) pixels Page Cover Image 1192 (w) x 220 (h) pixels 1584 (w) x 396(h) pixels You may not be thinking about headshots, advertising, your job, your future - it's understandable. When you do decide to...

I think a lot about headshots. I think about what's best in a headshot and can come up with a dozen ideas that suit me but maybe not you. What it boils down to is that your headshots reflect your personality, supports your story ~ all while it projects your brand. We live in a visual world. Professional photography has never been as important as it is right now when communicating with prospects and influencing your market. You are the literal face of your business and you want your prospects and clients to know who you are. Building a robust library of photos is key to maintaining a fresh portfolio of flexible visual assets. It is useful to have more than one headshot taken during a session. That provides flexibility for when and where to post your photo. It's an opportunity to always have something new to post and update your followers and clients on social media, place on  business cards, press releases, brochures, announcements and more. Decide what works best f...

Everyone is photogenic but I hear so many people think that they aren't because they believe they have never taken a good photo. And maybe they haven't. With the standard in today's world of selfies and point and shoots it's impossible for most people to show off their best features. There's a lot that goes into being photogenic and what you see in photos of celebrities isn't always who they are off camera. “Even I don't wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.”  Cindy Crawford Cindy is being modest, but all professional photos have some retouching done without compromising who the person is in the photo. Photoshop is designed for that. So much of what changes an individual's look (the photogenic factor) in photographs is lighting and angles. Angles are affected by professional posing, camera and lighting placement. Then there's an inner glow that I can't explain but it's like a light switch.  Ugly? Never. Photogenic? Always. Wan...

It's not your camera, it's what you photograph that counts. I've been thinking about what we should all consider when we're planning and taking photos. Here are a few tips that may help in your photography journey. Pick a waterproof case if you're going to be near or in water. Nothing more disappointing than watching your camera flutter to the bottom of the pool, bathtub, lake and anywhere there is water. Leave free space on your digital card for plenty of photos. Newer digital technology built into the casual users camera allow high resolution photos that may take up a lot of space on the card. Even a mobile phone can run out of space. Either have a second card backup or delete those redundant selfies. That will  guarantee you don't run out of digital 'film' right at the most important time in your vacation, family gathering etc. Change your perspective. Move the camera up and down, move you or your subject to the left and right. The photos wi...

The holiday are upon us. It's 114 degrees outside in Arizona so most people aren't thinking about Halloween which is 71 days, Thanksgiving 99 days away or the winter holidays. Family Portrait Portfolio These tips will help you to plan the photoshoot so you're ready when you set an appointment with your photographer. Plan your wardrobe. It make such a difference to coordinate colors and styles. Maybe you want red for Christmas, green for St Patricks day, gold and silver for New Years. Use your imagine and fit the palette to your theme. Find a fun or interesting location that will say something about who you and your mates are in the photo. A baseball field, the Love sculpture in Scottsdale, Wrigley Mansion in Phoenix, the bridge in Tempe and one of the many beautiful mountain areas surrounding the valley. Plan the photoshoot during the day at a time where everyone has eaten (you don't want low blood sugar to ruin the event) especially the kids.  ...

😓😢🙈🚂 I typically start out an article or post with as much an upbeat tone as possible. This email, however, has an entirely different tone.   A l ittle glum but useful.   Never, ever, ever stand or have your photo subject stand on railroad tracks. Most of the time the train will be way past you before you ever hear it. You know what that means! It's happened more that just a few times that the client or photographer have been killed as a result of getting that 'fabulous' shot down the middle of the tracks. Seniors particularly like this setting.   Same concept as in 1 above. Don't stand in the middle of the street. You do not have right of way just because you're doing something like taking a perspective photo of the Empire State building.   Stop texting when you're walking. It's just plain rude and selfish to think that others have to watch out for you rather than you watching out where you're going. PS I know this because I've done it....

If you wear glasses most of the time, you will probably want to wear them in your headshot photo. If you’d like photographs without your glasses, just let your photographer know.  To eliminate glare or reflections: Tip One: Bring empty frames or remove the lenses from your glasses. Tip Two: Tilt your head slightly down or away from the camera.  Tip Three: Have lights off to the side or anywhere they are not right in front of the person, I generally use two lights off to the sides so I can get even fill for business headshots. It may take a few shots before the lights are in the right position. Tiny adjustments make all the difference. Of course you can always just not wear your glasses! ;-) Many people choose to have their makeup done professionally for their headshots. It’s a good idea! A professional makeup artist will know how to make you look your best for the camera. If you’re doing your makeup yourself, keep it natural. In either case if ...

Figuring out what to wear is only the first step in preparing for your headshot session. You’ll also want to pay special attention to your hair and nails. I can’t stress enough the importance of well-groomed hair in your headshot. Bad hair can ruin your whole session! Tip One: Don’t style your hair in an unusual way. You want to look like you normally look. Ladies: Play it safe and go to the hairdresser for color and cut a week before the session. Then have your hair done the day of the shoot. Guys: go to the barber a day or two before the session. Tip Two: Remember the importance of your hands they will be part of your portrait. Whether you choose to do your nails yourself or have them manicured, keep them clean. Ladies: If you wear nail polish use coordinating colors. Frankly it's best to keep them a neutral or no color polish so they don't clash with your clothes or distract from your face. Guys: Buffing your nails will make them shine and show that y...

It may go without saying, I'll say it anyway, that your clothing choice is important. That doesn’t mean that picking clothing is easy though! I have some tips that will make the process of deciding what to wear easy and help you ensure that you look your very best. Tip One: When choosing what to wear for you professional headshots, it’s best to avoid complex patterns like stripes or checks. Horizontal lines can be difficult to look at in a photo and mixing patterns can make the photo feel busy. Vertical lines can have a slimming effect but should be minimal. It’s best to opt for solid colors whenever possible. This will not only give the headshot a more classic look but will be more visually pleasing several years from now when styles and trends have changed. Tip Two: Men Choosing what to wear is often pretty simple. For a corporate headshot, a business suit is almost always a good choice. If you want a more casual look, you can forgo the blazer and wear a white shirt with...

How often have you taken a pic and at least someones's single eyeball is the only thing that shows up in the photo. Or you can see two eyes peeking out under the arm pit of someone who should be in the back row. Ha, happens all the time. Try these tips: Arrange short people in front! Little kids in front of them. It's OK to sit on the ground or front row chairs depending on how many you have in the group so you can get everyone in the photo. This sounds like a duh head slapper but people aren't always aware of if can or cannot be seen in the photos. Next time you're doing a group photo make this announcement... "If you can't see the camera, the camera can't see you!" ...then wait for everyone to reassemble themselves.  You'll get better group photos this way. Have fun at your next party. I hope this little tidbit is helpful.  If you enjoy my articles, I’d love to hear what you liked best. Please feel free to pass these tips on...

You may never need to know these things but for every budding photographer who has a smartphone and may transition to a point and shoot here's the  lowdown on some technical terms and what they mean.  At a minimum the next time you have a portrait taken by a professional photographer you can impress them with your knowledge of the terminology!  Definitions: Aperture Aperture (opening)  Think of the lens as a window—large windows or wide angles let in more light, while small windows let in less light. A wide open aperture will let more light into the image for a brighter photo, while a smaller aperture lets in less light. Aperture is measured in f-stops; a small f-stop like f/1.8 is a wide opening, a large f-stop like f/22 is a very narrow one. Aperture is one of three camera settings that determine an image’s exposure, or how light or dark it is. Aperture also affects how much of the image is in focus—wide apertures result in that cr...

This photo tip is a little advanced. I want to talk about clothing color balance which is a subtle detail that is often overlooked particularly in bestie selfies. When you take a photo of the family or friends think about where they should be placed in the group pose. A good start is placing people by height (remember the tip - "if you can't see the camera, it can't see you").   Next consider what they're wearing. Placement of color, tones, light/dark and patterned clothes can kill or enhance the photo. I did the Red Carpet photos in this blog for the Leukemia Man and Woman of the year. Observe how I placed people to balance the colors and heights. It won't always work to be this detailed, after all you want to have fun when you're using your smartphone to take pics. Take a few second when you're getting ready to take the shot. You'll be amazed at how this will improve your photos. Enjoy! If you enjoy the articles, I’d love to hear what...

Composition is one of the most important aspects of photography and also, probably one of the most taken for granted. How you frame your subject and compose your shot ultimately determines how memorable and interesting it is. A lot of times, we see something that we want to take a picture of and take 15 images of the exact same thing from the exact same spot. Moving a few feet to the right or to the left, getting higher and getting lower can totally change an image and give you a series of unique and interesting images instead of dozens that are almost identical. Changing your perspective can also help eliminate distracting background elements like cars and other people. It’s important to pay attention to the whole scene. Nothing ruins a portrait faster than a lamp post or street sign coming out of the top of your subjects head! A few steps to the right or left or getting a little higher or lower is all you have to do to get rid of distracting background elements. Try This:...

  15 Quick  Tips for Better Professional Headshots Headshots are typically the first impression a prospect has of you and your brand. The images are used on business cards, websites and literature or brochures that may be in use for several years. You’ll be seeing that photo a lot and it’s important that it be the best professional representation of you possible. There are so many ways to maximize your headshot but there's no room for every point here.  You'll get better results if you integrate a few of the following tips.  Do them all and you're a super star. Drink water and get plenty of rest at least 48 hours before the photoshoot. Avoid alcohol during that same 48 hours. It can actually impact skin tone and circles under your eyes. Stay away from light colors though pastels are OK if they don't blend with your skin. White can be too bright and glare in the final photo. Darker shades are most flattering but black can lack detail. Wea...