Stories
11 days late! Little baby Jaxton had us all on edge waiting for his arrival with tips and tricks pouring into Christine like eating eggplant, and walking and every other idea you could think of. I was so excited to photograph their first family portrait as a group of 4. We all starting cooing over newborn sneezes and yawns, but first big brother had to give me a lesson in legos!
Congratulations you guys! Thank you for inviting me into your home and letting me be Jaxtons' first photographer.
By definition:"A head shot or headshot is a photograph of someone's face. Many head shots are promotional pictures of actors, models, authors, or other famous individuals." I have specialized in (children's) head shots for the last 4 years. So, what makes a great head shot, you ask? Well, you might as well ask what makes a great photo. But, here are some pointers:
1. Connection. Eye contact is KEY. You want to be able to look at the image and feel the person is looking you in the eye. If your subject isn’t intrigued then neither will the person viewing photograph.
2. Simple backdrop. We are here to see the person in the photo, not where you took the photo. If the backdrop is visible then it should support the subject and not be distracting.
3. Clothing. Simple solid colors are always best. Also, try to avoid solid white – it can be distracting. The eye tends to go toward the brightest part of the image and you don’t want that to be the shirt your subject is wearing. Also, minimal jewelry and makeup. BUT- if your client insists on wearing white and patterns pull yourself together and MAKE IT WORK. After all, you are a professional.
4. Vertical: In my experience, comp cards are generally vertical. If you take a horizontal shot, make sure you pull back enough to where it can be cropped vertical. There is nothing worse than having your client love the (horizontal) shot you took only to hear they can’t use it because it can’t be cropped vertical.
5. Posing: Head shot means just that. Pose from the shoulders up and fill the frame. Don’t “cut off” the top of the head. Proper facial expressions can also affect posing. Change up expressions!
But, most importantly, you need a good photographer! You have to have fun and feel comfortable during a head shot session or it will reflect in the photo that is primarily, well, your face. Head shots are about capturing your personality, so make sure you bring it to your session.
It's a MUST. A job is a job. It doesn't matter if it is photography or sitting at an office desk. It's still a job. And yes, while photography may seem like a super cool job (well, it really is) but there are certain photography jobs I would rather not do. Yep, you read right. There are certain photography tasks I would rather not do. Why? Because they don't ignite the passion I have for photography. They don't inspire me. They don't challenge me. It's the same as an "office desk job". I'm sure you joined the company because they had some really awesome things to say, but there are those mundane tasks that every job has that you would rather not do too! But, we still do these jobs with a smile on our face and to the best of our ability because it comes down to this- WE GOT BILLS TO PAY!
This is why I give my self personal assignments. You might find me at a tattoo shop photographing. You might find me in the Chattahoochee River photographing. You might even find me at a desk working on an extensive restoration project. Projects that I can do to practice techniques, to try new things, to "see what happens if"… To break the "rules".
Doing personal projects like this allows me to bring new ideas to all shoots. It allows me to bring my personality to the shoot.
How do I come up with personal projects? I might be on Pinterest for an hour (don't act like you're not on for long amounts of time too!) browsing around and see something that strikes me and an idea develops from that. Or I might be at the grocery store and see an interesting person and ask them to "model" for me on a shoot. Or someone might approach me with a shoot idea. Ideas come from everywhere! Movies, other people, magazines, the internet, my Mom.
It doesn't matter where the idea comes from. What matters is that the idea is executed- good or bad.
The important thing is to stay creative.
