And Now for Something a Little Bit Different

Every so often I have a client come to me saying they want something a bit different for their headshot. They may be an actor or a biotech executive or someone who just wants an image that stands out a bit more. The possibilities are endless, allowing both of us to explore our creative juices.

So where do we start? First, by understanding where/how the images are potentially going to be used – a website, a marketing piece, their IMDB listing, social media sites, etc. And what is the purpose of the image(s) – what aspect of their brand, marketing, positioning, etc. do they want to highlight?

Based on this, I create a mood board which is a collection of images with different looks/styles. Some are my own work, some are from other photographers. The idea is to start to narrow down the mood, looks, styles that resonate with the client.  Do they want something with a lot of energy or more subdued/thoughtful? What colors resonate with them/their brand? Is the lighting more dramatic or energetic? And what wardrobe does the client have that will work with the various options?

The mood board collection also helps us narrow down the pose, angles, and type of shot – ie, how much of the body is showing, is the person sitting or standing, sitting at a table or just on a chair, stool?

At the end of the mood board review, we have good starting points for the shoot itself, were we can experiment and try different things. Shooting tethered, where the camera is connected to a computer, which is connected to a monitor, allows us both to view the images immediately and see what’s working and what we want to change. It also helps us quickly decide if the look we’re trying is worth tweaking or should we move on to a different look. 

Getting the shots to look as good as possible “in camera” gives us the most flexibility and quality when the images are processed. While tools like Photoshop provide virtually unlimited capabilities, starting with a solid image to start with often yields results that don’t look processed, even thought they are. Because of the nature of camera sensors, virtually any image can benefit from some amount of editing/post processing.

Below are some examples of images created with clients who wanted something a bit different – each has a different energy, mood, and evokes a different emotional reaction. The process in the studio was very collaborative, which is one the of the things I love about this type of photography. We both contribute, have ideas about what to try and we feed off of each other – and often we create looks that are quite different from the mood board – and that’s OK. The goal is to create something that engages the viewer in a positive, impactful way that the client loves.