I'm a geek

OK, full disclosure, I’m a bit of a geek. Prior to starting my headshot business, I spent many years in high technology, selling/marketing/managing teams for mission critical tools for chip/systems design. So when Hyannisport Research (HPR) in Needham, MA wanted to update headshots for their team, I was intrigued. I already was aware that equity, options, and futures traders used the fastest systems available as speed and security of transactions can mean millions of dollars. And when I read that HPR had developed a hardware system that outperformed existing systems by over 100X my geeky brain was eager to learn more.

I’m always interested in learning more about whoever steps in front of my camera, even if we only have a very limited amount of time. It’s fun, interesting, and it helps build rapport and reduces the tension most people feel having their picture taken. Helping people feel more relaxed and confident is very important to great looking headshots. We scheduled the sessions over 3 days so no one would feel rushed – and we had to leave enough time for us to discuss a bit about their hardware (using cool sounding things like FPGA’s!) – and the standing joke about how real engineers design hardware you can feel/touch/see vs. those software guys where their design is just bits somewhere in a cloud, which is who knows where…always an entertaining discussion (and it helped me “break the ice” as we shot)! But I digress…

In my limited time there, it was clear to me they’re on to something – not just from a technology point of view, but also in terms of culture/vibe. They’re designing some serious stuff, yet there was a positive, comfortable, and confident energy you could feel from everyone working there. And they all did great in front of the camera!