A little tough love advice on prepping for your business portraits.

Your business portrait is coming up! I know you're excited, because you're shooting with me!

I've got a little advice for advance prepping for your portrait.  It might be a little tough to take, but I've got your best interests at heart, so take a listen.

My tough love advice:

Fix the hair coming out of the wrong places.  This one's a little touchy to talk about, do this at home--take a good look in the mirror.  Noses, ears, chins.  Trust me, it happens to the best of us and there's a simple fix for all of it.  Just snip and pluck.

Wrinkly clothing.  It's so great that you bought a new dress shirt for your shoot, but make sure to take it out of it's folded state and get it pressed.  You've got your favorite blouse, make sure that it's been cleaned and pressed before your shoot.   Wrinkles definitely counteract the look of "I'm good at what I do", unless of course, you're the creative type where wrinkles say, "I'm good at what I do".

Ties.  Men, pick a power tie.  Stay away from flesh colored ties.  Just trust me on this one.

Get your hair done in advance and have your hair styled the day of your portrait.  If you don't like your roots or grey showing, get your roots or grey done.  Go one better, invest in having your hair styled the day of your shoot.  Then make it worthwhile and plan to go out--to lunch, to dinner, with your partner, with your friends!

Invest in makeup.  I've shot business portraits with a makeup artist present and I've shot them without.  A makeup artist uses photo ready products to reduce shine and enhance your features. They can even contour your face, to make the most of your features.  They use the right products to enhance your look in front of the camera.  But perhaps more importantly, I've seen what a makeup artist can do for my subject's demeanor.  They feel powerful, more beautiful or handsome.  They walk into the shoot differently.  Colleagues oooh and ahhhhh over them.  At the very least, make an appointment in advance at your favorite makeup counter and learn how to apply products and the best makeup for your shoot.  You'll feel so much more confident walking into our shoot.

Have you got other questions about how you can get ready for your business portrait?  I've written this, this, this and this on getting ready.  Still have more questions?  Give me a shout!  I'm happy to help!

See you soon!

8 Tips for Choosing The Right Clothing for Your Corporate Portrait

Some days, it's hard enough to figure out what to wear to hit the grocery store, let alone work!  On the day of your corporate portrait?  Now what?! I've written other posts here  and here giving advice on getting ready for your portrait. We already know how important your headshot is--LinkedIn research shows that profiles with photos are reviewed 7x more than those without photos--so it goes without saying that choosing the right outfit can definitely make or break your image!

Here are my 8 favorite in-depth tips for clothing selections:

1. Funny enough, what you wear everyday to the office may not be the best clothing for your corporate portrait.  Consider how you'd like to be perceived--think about the job you have now and the job you'd like to have in the future.  Clothing can tell us a lot about a person--when you think of a doctor wearing a white coat, do you think it signifies a higher education and level of professionalism over the doctor in jeans?  Unfortunately, judging the book by the cover still exists. Start prepping ahead of time so that your outfit will be clean and pressed and ready on the day of your appointment.


2. It's best to choose modern, but not cutting edge fashion.  Cutting edge fashion becomes yesterday's outfit quickly and on the other hand, if your clothing is outdated, you could be perceived as being outdated in your thinking or abilities, probably not what you are looking for!

3. It's important to wear clothing that is correctly sized.  Clothing that is too large can give the appearance of being sloppy, while clothing that is too tight may give the appearance of being unkempt or conversely, too sexy.  For women, watch that your neckline isn't too revealing.

4. Make sure your clothing is pressed and clean and tailored for YOUR body.  Long sleeves of blouses, shirts and jackets should be at the appropriate length for your arms.  

5. This sounds a little goofy, but try to choose clothing that doesn't poof when you sit or move.

6.  Wear appropriate undergarments and make sure they aren't going to show.  I know you've probably heard this before, but the right undergarments can definitely make you appear taller and slimmer!  

7. A well fitting, fitted blazer can be like magic, hiding a tummy, creating a waist and slimming arms.

8.  Wear something (that's appropriate!) that you feel smokin' in!  Chances are you've gotten compliments while wearing it before and it stands to reason it fits well (just make sure it's clean and pressed!)  You'll feel like a million and we'll create an image that shows you to be confident, competent and approachable!

I can't wait to see you!

Featuring: Jamie Nammany, President-Elect ASID/OC

I had the pleasure of photographing Jamie Nammany of Interior Matters last week upon my return from the UK.  Jamie is the President-Elect of the American Society of Interior Designers Orange County.  We had chosen to photograph her in her beautiful home because as its designer, she loved it's design elements and colors.  As a client, it's the ultimate in comfort when being photographed.  As a photographer, making my clients feel at ease results in better images and there is nowhere more comfortable than their own home!

As she showed me around and we discussed areas we could use, I felt like I was touring a gorgeous design house, but one that felt so much more comfortable.  We choose three areas to work in, but I knew the minute I took my first test shot, what would be my favorite.

My favorite spot was a small corner in her dining room, with window light coming from both the side and the front of her, brightening her eyes and naturally softening her face.  I knew that the wall color would become a little darker and would enhance the richness of her blouse color and the minute I took this image, I knew we had a winner.  I also knew that the drapes might be distracting for the final image.  I always try to get as close to my finished image as possible in camera, but sometimes a little help is necessary in processing.  In photoshop I extended the canvas to remove the drapes and created this: a much stronger, cleaner image of Jamie.  (You might also notice a little smoothing of her blouse on her shoulder to look a little neater).  (on a side note: I really like creating a little fun in photoshop like this GIF, but what I don't like is the banding it added to my image (insert frown face here) so I've included the image as well)  

 I love how rich and elegant yet friendly this image feels--just like Jamie.  Congratulations Jamie, on your upcoming Presidency!

If you'd like to see more of Jamie's gorgeous interiors, click here.

Featuring: Citizen Relations UK--Corporate Editorial Portraits on Location

I'm beyond excited to share my shoot with the global PR firm Citizen Relations UK team.

When the dates were confirmed for me to fly over the pond, I arranged for my family to join me and for us to travel first to Paris and then a week later to London for my shoot. The day before the shoot, we took the Eurostar from Paris to London and got settled in our hotel. A definite benefit to hitting Paris first was the ability to arrive in London, jet lag far behind, ready to shoot.

I arrived at the UK office early to take a look around to find my spot. Although I knew HOW I would be shooting to maintain the consistent look I'd established so far, what I didn't know was WHERE I would be shooting.  All of the Citizen offices have had lovely large windows and lots of white walls and ceilings to bounce light around and happily, the London office was no exception.  I choose several spots near each other that gave me flexibility to work as the light moved through the day.  The sun came and went throughout the day, as might be expected in London and I met and photographed some pretty exceptional Citizens.  Brilliant.

Here's a peek!

This is Immy.  Gorgeous!

This is Lily--I wish I'd had time to take her out and shoot on the streets of London--we had so much fun!

Nadia--those eyes!

Mark is the Managing Director of the UK office by day and farmer by night.  Sort of like Superman!

Tom, British GQ called wondering if you are available for the cover.

Is this you?

Quick: what's your headshot look like?

Is this your headshot?  

Or is it a selfie?  

Did you crop it out of a group photograph from a party?  

Is it more than 5 years old?  

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, perhaps you may want to consider updating your headshot!

These days, that image of yours is always ON and out there--on LinkedIn, company websites, company directories, social networking sites and it's often the first thing that a potential client or employer will see---their very first impression of you. You never know WHO is looking at your profile or even WHEN.  Don't YOU like to see what people look like and feel like you can connect to them?  And don't forget that your headshot not only represents you, but by association, the company that you work for as well.  So, whether you are a business professional, a creative or someone looking for a job: is your headshot the best representation of you?

When you have an important meeting, you take care to present yourself well, right?  That picture of yours is always out there, representing.

If you're like me and don't like having your portrait taken, don't use that as an excuse!  A good photographer should talk you right through the session.  You shouldn't feel rushed and your photographer should have the skills to bring out the best in you.  Your portrait should reflect you, your business, be friendly and feel approachable.  You know, approachable is the new cool.

So if this sounds like you, give me a call or drop me a line--we'll get your image representing YOU!