Someone said, “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” 

That is true, but yet many people don’t do anything about it.  How many times have you looked at a web site or business card that had someones portrait on it, met them in person and said, “wow!”  That isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Here are some examples of strong, well executed head shots (in my opinion).

Harder to execute.  Two people on black dressed in black. It is the two “kicker lights” that make this work!

I have to give a special shout out to my good friend Will Crockett that taught me this particular skill many years ago.  There is just no substitute for great lights, an accurate meter and the knowledge of how to make them work for you.

It is the separation light that makes all the difference in this one too

These examples aren’t saying that they have to be on black, in fact most of mine aren’t.  These are the most time consuming to pull off, and I believe some of the strongest images.  I also understand that black doesn’t work for everybody. 

Sometimes a company has their own preferences so they all look a part of the same team.  I think Realtors and auto dealer sales people are possibly the worst offenders of continuity in their look!  They spends thousands of dollars on, their vehicles and promotional freebies.  But, when you see all their associates in one ad, their image can be several years or several decades old…and on a rainbow of different backgrounds!  I have suggested they consider buying their own background, keeping it for their next batch of new associates.

I was at my dentist and noticed that in their framed staff portraits, I had never seen many of them.  That’s because they no longer worked there.  I offered to come in, set up and photograph all of them in a few hours.  As I carried all the gear in, they were surprised by how much “stuff” it took to do some simple portraits. (Only if you want to do them well)  The reward is a portrait that anyone would be proud to display, not simply a staff head shot!

Beautiful image, done for my Dentist office!

My friend Jamie needed a shot for his Crush Drum endorsement

Most busy executives are far too busy to take time out of their day to drive to a studio and have a session done.  That’s why it makes sense to set aside a day and have your staff photographed at your location.  Scheduling is done on your time and each session can be done in as little as 15 minutes per person!

This was photographed on location, not in my studio

Our good friend Kevin Cook photographed in a conference room at Manheim Auto Auction

Feel free to drop me an email at [email protected] and schedule a session for yourself or your company.