In today’s world you are everywhere. Your face is popping up on your contacts’ mobile phones when they call you. Your profile picture is displaying to complete strangers who find you on Google+. Your Facebook page, no matter how tightly you control your privacy settings is displaying your profile picture to people who may be doing research on who you are, trying to glean information about you however they can. Your Linked In profile is being scrutinized by prospective employers, colleagues working with you on a project, vendors looking for leads and old high school friends. Your Twitter picture is displayed on Tweetdecks and other tweet stream aggregators on iPads, desktop computers and laptops. And that’s just your personal publishing empire. You may also have a photo up somewhere on your corporate website, it may be sent out to media with your bio or included in a magazine article about you, your team or your organization. Wherever you live, work and play, the image you use to show the world these days increasingly is the first thing people will see when they contact you. In many cases, if you have any online component to your business (and who doesn’t?) your profile image may be the ONLY image people have of you.
Yes, we judge the book by its cover
As humans, we highly value visual stimuli (our brains are wired for it) and by extension, no matter how appealing it is to our higher natures, your book is being judged by its cover. Given its importance in a hyper-connected, always online world, it is worth investing a small amount of time, effort and yes, money, in getting a professional portrait taken for the widespread use it will enjoy.
Your photographer as therapist
As a portrait photographer, I believe my role is to provide more than just an expertly taken photograph with proper lighting, editing and formatting for all online and print use. In order to really get your portrait right I need to understand what your business is and what you will be using the photos for (primarily). I need to know and understand who you are. And we need to get along well so that you feel good, confident, relaxed and at your best when I start shooting. A perfect portrait should look effortless, like all things done well, but it isn’t achieved without hard work, experience and a sincere commitment to the art form that it is.
Don’t worry, by happy
People across all industries and at all levels of professional development, whether the CEO of a multinational corporation, or an independent artist just starting out, carry around insecurities and hang-ups about the way they look. They worry their hair is too grey or too thin, their bodies too fat or too skinny, their skin too mottled or too wrinkled…Most people are skilled at hiding these concerns and most of the time, the pace of life is such that these anxieties are simply buried – but stand before a camera, a big white soft box and a clean white backdrop and suddenly, people begin to feel nervous. One of the most important parts of my job as a portrait photographer begins before I ever press the shutter button on my camera. My first job is to put you at ease and have you enjoy the photo session we are about to start. Once that happens, amazing photos always follow and you will be surprised, and happy, that all the things you worried about, don’t matter any more.
In a competitive world you’ve got to use everything you have to get ahead. Don’t let a poor quality profile picture stand in the way of your success. My goal as a portrait photographer, whether for corporate onsite portraits, personal or professional headshots is to deliver top quality images and impeccable customer focused service. Why settle for less? Please click on image below to visit my portfolio site.
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