I’ve heard this statement in conversation over the phone, as well as read it in countless e-mail correspondences with potential clients.

Although I completely understand that people often base their questions on what they think they need, that question affects my senses like long, pointy fingernails screeching across a chalkboard, completely undermining my experience, passion and love for what I do.

And, to a certain extent, I get it.

When you view my professional headshot gallery, you don’t see much involved - a plain, background, a tightly cropped face, and the top of their shoulders, that’s it

However, they don’t realize that visual simplicity is the goal, and in order to create it effectively, a lot of moving parts are in play, all at the same time.

Every professional headshot session aims to produce images with authentic, facial expressions that present your personality as confident, approachable and likable while eliminating any distracting elements.

In order to do that, there’s a variety of technical, physical and psychological considerations at play from shot-to-shot:

Technical - this involves camera settings, lighting and backdrop. You want the lighting to be clean, with minimal shadows, and the focus of the shot on the client’s eyes.

After several sessions, technical considerations become fairly automatic for the photographer, which is important because the other two factors are way more labor intensive and variable based on their client's’ appearance, personality and temperament.

Physical - photographers are constantly moving, turning and tweaking their clients faces, body posture and head angle to discover their most flattering angles.

This is why a successful, professional headshot session is a game of minutia - inch your nose a little here, drop your chin down a touch there, swing your shoulder over here, straighten your posture, rotate your head a little bit, etc.

It’s all about placing you in a position where your entire face and body supports your expression.

Psychological - this factor makes or breaks the entire professional headshot session, and is the most challenging. In order to get these amazing expressions, you must not only feel comfortable in your own skin, but, be comfortable with the photographer behind the camera.

Then, I have to inspire a wide range of expressions in you!

How do you feel about your professional headshot? 
Is it time to update?

Schedule a call with me here, and let’s see if we’re a good fit to work together.