A great headshot emphasizes your best qualities while minimizing the opposite. Even with the most symmetrical faces in mind, we all have a good side, and a better side. With a limited amount of time the challenge is how to quickly identify the best side as efficiently as possible during a a headshot photoshoot. An obvious thing to do is simply ask the client - they’ll often have a preferred side they default to when taking a selfie, for example. Another way to do this is to look at the part line of the hair. The part side is often - but not always - likely the best side to shoot for optimal jaw line, etc. This is because people tend to feel most comfortable showcasing their better side - hence the part line. However, what I’ve found is that there is often more to it. To get to the answer quickly I like to take a quick series of shots as I’m dialing in my lighting. First shot is head on - followed by side angles in a few different positions. This takes no more than a couple of minutes and we’re ready to shoot. Let’s put your best side forward.
Prep Guide: A quick mental hack for your next headshot photo session
I had a client recently tell me that she’d rather have her tooth pulled than take her photo. I tried to not laugh too loud because not that long ago I would have agreed with her sentiment about being in front of the camera. Especially for a headshot! There is an intensity to the “focus” of a headshot. That focus is on a concentrated area - upper torso, head and face - an area that intensifies body language and expression. Scary huh? I guess that is one way to look at it. A growth minded view is it’s a really awesome opportunity to convey so much subtle detail about who you truly are. To me that is exciting. If you’ve already decided that it's time to update your headshot - which - frankly - you should do relatively often - preparing for and taking the shot can benefit from a subtle but important mental shift. The trick I’ve found that works is to shift mindset from an emphasis on “this camera pointing at me” to “I’m in control of what is conveyed today”. We do this naturally throughout our day without even thinking about it. But as soon as that camera is upon us we can freeze and forget why we’re there. This mental jujitsu is where I like to work the most. Sure - we’ll adjust lighting, angles, expressions etc. AND Let’s work together on relaxing the mind and entering the play state. Before we even stand behind the camera we’ll relax the environment, talk goals, and get ourselves ready for a fun play experience. The things we often want to convey come naturally from the eyes and mouth. Wide eyes convey fear while smiling with the eyes (some call it squinching) convey calm, openness and control. A relaxed mouth also conveys a quiet confidence. It’s not all about the biggest smile - or putting on that photo face we all have. It's about finding the most natural state that conveys those subliminal signals about your true competence and warmth - highlighting your natural charisma. My job is to coach you into that state - and while some of my humor is goofy dad joke centric - to take you out of your self focus and into a play state.
The Cliffs. My first book cover photo.
After an incredible amount of research and application of her endless and amazing creativity, the wonderful author, J. Courtney Sullivan, has completed her latest novel, The Cliffs. I’m excited to have been the fortunate photographer she selected to take her back cover portrait; shown above. If you’ve never read any of Courtney’s books you simply must. She has a talent that one can only dream about. I wish her amazing success with this book and may she release many more as well-written and engrossing as this one. For me, this was a really fun project. Courtney was not big on the fanfare of a formal photoshoot. So we had to plan a more relaxed setting to make it work - and as it turns out a mutual friend hosted us (and others) for a summer afternoon getaway - where the opportunity presented itself for me to take a more natural shot in a relaxed setting.
Headshots and portraits can be taken in many different settings. Whilst there is often more control gained from lighting in a studio setting (for more formal headshots etc) leveraging the office, outdoors and other settings can present wonderful environmental spaces to take close up or even more full-body portraits.
Are you ready for the holiday card season?
I’m still recovering from all the activity of this past holiday season. It was so fun and as I’m sure you’d agree…exhausting. One of my favorite traditions is to send and receive holiday cards. While it can be a lot of work to plan and prepare during a hectic season - for my family it is an important opportunity to reconnect with dear friends close and near. Jazzing up your holiday card with a professional photo might seem like a lot of effort - but it’s really not - and… it’s worth it. There are lots of side benefits…for starters, we’ve created time capsules for both of our kids that they won’t open until they are teenagers. We purposefully add cards from each season to their capsules so that when they finally open their treasure troves in the years to come they can reflect on great moments over the years. So we want them to look good. Planning for your card doesn’t have to be a chore…nor does it have to wait until the last minute either. I typically experience (and welcome!) a big uptick in family photo demand in October/November. But remember, if you plan you can capture great and relevant photos at any event at any time of the year.
The Tighes
This photo was taken in the early fall after the birth of their 3rd child. We purposefully included the warm colors of the holidays (the red) on the baby and neutral tones elsewhere to contrast the gold and green colors of the card in time for Christmas.
The Maxwells
The Maxwells took advantage of the warm colors of September to schedule a family shoot. The color scheme they chose reflected fall but was also appropriate for a fun and engaging holiday season card that reflects their personality.
A new arrival!
I am the lucky documentarian of this family’s growth over the past few years. I've had the opportunity to capture welcome home shots for both older brothers. So the introduction of Baby A to their comfy south shore home was a big deal for the boys and their parents. They were so excited and full of energy!
In shoots like these one needs to come prepared and ready for a limited amount of focus. Even if you’re planning to spend 2-4 hours with a family you’ve really only got a short window to harness the energy of young kids. These two were a dream for about 45 minutes and real troopers there after as we coaxed them into smiling. It was such a fun shoot - one where we as a group managed to pull off some very good photographs.
Photoshoots can be quite stressful for parents. You’re probably operating on limited sleep - and maybe your kids are too - and you’ve got to organize your crew for what can be a decent investment. So here are some of my tips to prepare for the event.
Get some rest if at all possible
Pick simple and uniform colors
If at home - think ahead for the best lighting - time of day and rooms - natural light makes such a huge impact on the quality of photos
Find yourself a photographer who is willing to be flexible. If you’ve not slept, the kids haven’t slept - maybe its best to postpone a few days.
If you have specific ideas in mind be prepared to share them with your photographer proactively - what images come to mind? Remember this is your memory - trust your photographer but don’t hold back if you have specific images in mind. Be prepared to describe them so your photographer can experiment with you.
Have an experimental mindset - it may take a few tries to get the right shots, lighting, mood etc. Its often good to slow things down and enable everyone to regroup.
Most of all - have fun - easier said than done but its so valuable to have the right mindset on photoshoot day. There’s simply no guarantee that everyone and everything will go as planned. But that’s why I’m here.
My job as the photographer is to bring a calming structure to helping you achieve your photo goals. You’re hiring experience and quality. To that end I like to come prepared, flexible in terms of approach and experience to help you to achieve a great memories. I find its really important to engage the kids where they are and find opportunities to capture them at their best through a fun and engaging approach. Heck if I have to roll around the floor so be it! :). At a point or two through this shoot things definitely got a bit unwieldy with a 3 week old, a 2 year old and a 3 year old. But we made it happen. It was so fun - and the results were fantastic.
Sunset, rain, and moments
I love Airstream camping with my kids and with that comes regular exposure to the outdoors at dusk. On a recent trip to western Mass (there are some awesome campsites in range of North Adams btw), I found myself at the pond a stone’s throw from our camping location right at the golden hour with my little maniacs. It had just rained and the light was beautiful. Opportunistically, I had my Leica monochrome camera with me and was able to snap a really fun shot of my youngest daughter who was willing, as ever, to deliver one of her cheeky poses for me, this time with one of her favorite things - a delicious apple. It turned out to be a great pic - and the experience just reminds me - over staging a shot (ie., over-preparing either background, pose, hair, makeup, etc) can often distract from the essence of the memory. That’s not to say that all staged photos are bad - they are a necessity of photography and often quite artful. But to me, when it comes to family - the photos that truly hold value over time are the dynamic-in-the-moment ones - where everyone is truly living their experience. That’s why I try to carry a camera with me wherever we go and quietly scan for background, lighting, action, or moment. You never know when it’s going to pop.
Executive Time
I had a lot of fun shooting this photo. We took a few different poses but frankly had little time to get the best shot of Justin. He had said a few times that most of previous his portraits (before me) hadn’t been the best. So we had a high standard to achieve and yet we nailed it. This was an environmental shot taken by a window in a hotel in downtown Boston. A beautiful setting - we had the perfect natural lighting to compliment our goal of getting a shot that conveyed the competence and warmth of the leader that Justin really is.
We can take headshots and portraits in many different settings - doesn’t always have to be with a backdrop and a bunch of lights. As you can see from this shot the natural light falling on the background also creates a clean and yet interesting background feeling that draws us in closer to his presence in the frame.