Fun With Profile Portraits

Self-portrait ranging from kind of 'normal' to way more fun

Even though I have been a professional photographer for over twenty years, and profile portraits are are not exactly rocket science, there is an art to portraiture, and many possible subtle and not-so-subtle variations on the theme of profile portraiture. As such, I never stop thinking about ways to refresh and renew the way I light and shoot them.

Another thing I'm always doing is weighing my clients' need and desire for professional (read conservative) vs. fun and artistic pictures. I have spent my whole career as a commercial, editorial, corporate and fine art photographer endeavouring to strike just the right balance. I must admit, though, that every time I see a slightly funky profile portrait online that's been enhanced by some filter or other treatment, or even just features an unusual composition or pose I am surprised, often delighted and often inspired. And also reminded how much fun it is to play with images, and how I would love to have been a painter, but I digress. Based on the popularity and ubiquity of Instagram-type filters, I'm obviously not the only one who likes to play with pictures, but usually I reserve that stuff for personal 'play' (note that I'm not even calling it personal "work").

Furthermore, I can't help hearing in the back of my mind the voice of a long ago mentor who thought of anything like textures and filters as gimmicks used mostly by unskilled, untalented photographer imposters. I did not agree, and I used to figure out all kinds of ways to manipulate photos by adding textures, etc. before the digital age. Today it's easier than ever to do.

I work with so many high level professionals I am used to, and respect and understand the tendency toward a certain conservativeness, but here, today, I'm going to throw out the challenge to portrait clients everywhere to consider having a bit more fun. Who do you notice stands out most in the "People you might know" in your LinkedIn feed? For me it's the people with the great portraits.

If we are putting our portraits out there to show the world who we are, is it unprofessional to appear to have a bit of a sense of fun and creativity? You don't have to go crazy, and yes, it's appropriate and a good idea, more often than not, to look more or less like you actually look. But a little creative license can go a long way to making your picture stand out and say a little something more about your personality.

So, in the name of creativity, I decided to make myself a new profile portrait and do a few things I wouldn't typically do with a business portrait. Just BTW, I shoot myself a lot when trying out new ideas, and I can tell you the more I do this the more sensitive I am to what it's like for my subjects/clients. 

Anyway, what did I do differently?

Well, first I indulged a recent personal obsession with recreating a particular, beautiful natural light that occurs in my studio only in certain kinds of weather at certain times of year. That light is no good to me professionally as I need it when I need it, and it's never really bright enough anyway. Of course, I have tried and true methods for great portrait lighting and lots of professional, manufactured lights and modifiers, but there is an elusive quality to natural light that many photographers have spent a lot of time throughout photographic history trying to simulate. Part of what's so great about this type of light is that it's directional but still incredibly flattering and forgiving, negating much of the need for retouching of, at least, lower resolution files -- my self-portrait samples here are not retouched at all (although, as always, if you needed these files at full resolution, they would definitely need retouching).  After some intensive previsualization, it actually took me very little time to perfect the set-up. And this is something I can do now for any in-studio client.

What else? 

- I used a new hand painted (by me) canvas backdrop with a subtle texture. Plain gray can be a bit boring. Unfortunately, this one's a bit unwieldy to take to on-site portrait shoots.

- I wore a sleeveless summer dress. Usually I recommend covered arms (the reasons for 
 which would be obvious to many of my clients) and non-seasonal wardrobe. 
  
- I love a sense of motion in a photograph, so I used a fan to blow a little 'wind' into my hair. 

- I posed a little less statically and a little more theatrically.

- And, I wore an absolute ton of black eyeliner and sparkly lip gloss which may have looked excessive and inappropriate in real life, but served the portrait perfectly -- something to note in terms of make-up for photography -- trust me, and your make-up artist.

And that's about it. There are so many possibilities! These are just a few, that worked for me. Call me if you're ready to do something a little different for your next profile pic! 

Coming up next: How often should you get a new headshot?

kathryn@hollinrake.com
www.hollinrake.com

Tips for Preparing for your Business Portrait

It's picture day! Hopefully your portrait session is booked with a professional photographer who is great with people and knows how to elicit the best expressions from portrait subjects. That's his/her job, but here's what you can do to help ensure success before you get there:

If you are the one arranging the session, determine ahead of time and confirm with the photographer whether an environmental portrait (ie. in an office or other appropriate place), or plain (eg. white or gray), or other textured (eg. photographer's painted muslin) background will best serve your needs and plan accordingly. If it's an environmental portrait you're booking, it will generally work best if the location is attractive and has some space, depth and texture -- for example a large room with wood or coloured paneling, curtains and windows, as opposed to a small room, filled by a big round table and chairs, with four beige walls and a white board.

On the day, commit as much time as is required to ensure sure you have time to get to the session on time and to focus on the experience once you're there. You'll need time to switch gears and relax if you want a successful portrait.

Wear something that fits properly (women in particular: something with flattering lines and shape but not too tight or revealing), isn't dated or trendy and is appropriate to your position. This may mean a suit for you, or it may mean whatever you wear in your particular business environment. It's generally advisable to stick to predominantly solid, neutral colours, and mid-tones (ie. not white or black, although a white or contrasting shirt underneath a suit jacket is fine). If you are a guy, it's best to wear a plain (ie. solid, not striped or patterned) shirt because dress shirts very often wrinkle thanks to the tension created by the collar and the tie, and those wrinkles can only reasonably be retouched out on plain shirts.

If you are a woman, knits are fine but cardigans are generally not as they don't tend to hold their form well enough which makes them look sloppy. And keep in mind that the viewers of your portrait should be noticing your face, foremost, as opposed to your clothing or jewellery. 

If you have the ability to bring optional wardrobe, like a different jacket (different colour and/or lighter or darker) do so, and ideally bring the options neatly pressed on hangers. You never know how you and your wardrobe will look against whatever the background is and it might be handy to have a alternative in case tones or colours clash or the contrast between you and the backdrop is not optimal.

Still on the topic of wardrobe, find out if you are doing a head and shoulders, or torso, or full length shot ahead of time, so you can dress accordingly. If it's full length you may want to bring clothing on a hanger so pants, for example, aren't wrinkled from your wearing them in the car, at your desk, etc.

Find out if there will be a hair and make-up artist. If not, and if you are comfortable wearing make-up you may want to consider going to a make-up counter at a department store and/or hair salon before the shoot. We all have good and bad hair days, but it's important to like your hair (as much as that's possible) on picture day.

Ladies, bring at least powder and lipstick for touch-ups. We always bring our powder, but if you have one you like and wear anyway, it's worth bringing. And if you wear lipstick, make sure you've just applied it before walking in front of the camera.

If you have lunch right before your shoot brush your teeth before your session, or at least take a quick toothpick break.

And while you're at your session:

Listen to the photographer...don't overthink the process...just do what he or she tells you to do and submit and commit yourself to, and embrace, the process.

Smile, but don't keep smiling! Breathe! Let the photographer do her thing and smiles should happen. You want to look approachable, and studies have apparently shown that a smiling face is perceived as more trustworthy.

Don't assume there's retouching included and do request retouching if you have the chance. Hopefully at least a basic level of retouching has been negotiated and included with the session, but budgets and 'packages' vary. If it's not, you may want to take advantage of any opportunity to upgrade and get the touch-ups so you will not be limited to using your portrait really small (so viewers can't see any flaws).  

And finally, if you'd like someone else's input, here's a link to an article I like that beaks down "The Perfect Profile Photo":
https://photofeeler-blog.s3.amazonaws.com/perfect-photo-infographic.jpg

Hope that helps! Have a great portrait shoot!

kathryn@hollinrake.com
www.hollinrake.com

P.S. For examples of portraits I've done for some of my LinkedIn connections please see my LinkedIn profile and look for my 'project' titled Profile Portraits.

Selfies Vs. Professional Portraits

Top row my portraits, bottom row clients' selfies

I've blogged about these lovely clients before (on my other blog khollinrake.blogspot.com) but not on this makemepretty blog as here I'm focusing primarily on women. However, the more I see self-portraits in online profiles, the more I wanted to acknowledge and address this trend in comparison to what we professionals bring to the table. And yes, I can make men "pretty" too.

 I'm sure their situation is similar to that of many potential professional portrait clients. When they  launched their website initially they knew they wanted to include images of their staff, physiotherapy being a very people oriented profession (as are many other businesses offering professional services). So not wanting to blow their budget on photography they got out their perfectly decent little digital point and shoot and took the pictures themselves. Eventually though, once they had the time and the means, they knew they wanted to match the quality of their (portrait) imagery to the quality of their business. They were kind enough to allow me to post the old and the new pics here to subject to the scrutiny of my viewers.

It's not my intention to criticize. But, these represent a great example of images that were "good enough" compared to images that are actually "good" (if I may say so myself). Maybe as a photographer I'm biased; the flaws inherent in many non-professional portraits really jump out at me. However, I have to believe that many viewers of people's profile pictures see the same things I do, even if they're not as sure of the specifics, or of how these subtle flaws impact their view of the companies and individuals represented.

Without getting into an entire photography lesson here, I'll just list a few differences that I think matter. First off, the selfies look as if they were made without quite enough thought about the background or environment (notice the crooked door frame). I've seen some "instructions for getting a great business selfie" and they tell you to find a plain wall, but I'd assert that in some cases an out of focus background with some stuff in it makes for a more interesting picture, and gives the viewer more of a sense of where the subjects actually are. At the very least they could have stood further away from their door and wall to avoid casting those distracting shadows behind their heads. The lighting is inconsistent (ie. the two portraits don't really look the same), and not really flattering in either snapshot. And the colour balance is also inconsistent, again impacting the portraits' ability to create or maintain the feeling of a purposeful and consistent brand. As for expression, the snapshots aren't terrible. The therapists look happy. But in our shots I'd suggest they look not only happy, but also professional.

If you feel it's your time for a portrait upgrade, please get in touch with me.

kathryn@hollinrake.com
www.hollinrake.com

10-ish Questions to Ask When Looking for a Business Portrait Photographer OR Why Pay More?

OR  Reasons Not To Cheap Out on Portrait Photography

 
by Kathryn (Kate) Hollinrake

You've been asked to submit a portrait of yourself for the internal directory of the company you work for, or for an upcoming speaking engagement, or you need one for your website, or for an online networking site, or you have to book a business portrait session for your boss. You don't know a photographer and if you do a Google search for, say, Toronto, you get over a million results. Finding a photographer can be a daunting proposition. Many of the people I work with, by virtue of their jobs in advertising, graphic design, corporate marketing and communications, publishing etc. know the value of good photography, but there's another sector who hail from unrelated backgrounds and have no experience in (through no fault of their own), or reason to understand, the buying of photography as the service and product that it is. The following is for this group. In this day of almost everyone having a pretty good camera and really anyone being able to call themselves a pro, and photography, increasingly, being perceived as a commodity, how do you differentiate between photographers who say they're professionals and those who actually are, and what difference does it make anyway? Most importantly, what is the difference between a good picture and and a bad one?

It would seem to me that there is some confusion regarding the answer to this question. Maybe people are just too busy. I'm not sure. If you've looked online at professional networking sites and corporate websites you will have seen the vast array of portraits that range from polished and professional, to professionally done but just not very good (poor lighting, strange colour shifts, awkward, uncomfortable poses and expressions) to amateur and downright inappropriate (think sunglasses on head, drink in hand, shoulder of fellow partier just not quite cropped out).

Who would you trust? O.K., I admit most people would crop out the beer bottle!

What constitutes a good profile portrait could be debated endlessly as the answer is subjective. But I would assert that you want to look professional  (to the extent that it's appropriate to your business), trustworthy, comfortable in your own skin, and approachable. Beyond that you want to exude your own personal style and vibe and create a positive first impression for potential colleagues, clients, and customers. 

Why pay more, or more importantly, why not pay less?

I recall over thirty years ago, I was starting out as a photographer, actually before I even went to photo school and I felt pretty good about my 'eye'. I thought I had pretty good skills from doing workshops, and offered to do free portraits for the budding actors with whom I was taking an acting class. I remember saying with confidence, "I can make anyone look good." Except I couldn't. Most of them turned out O.K. But, there was one guy who had been on a fast and looked kind of ill, with pasty, blotchy skin and had not a great disposition. He and his girlfriend were not impressed with the portrait I did of him and didn't want to pay the fee (which just covered the cost of film, processing and photo paper for the print). What an uncomfortable situation that was.

Thirty years later, hundreds of professional portraits, including presidents of companies and a few celebrities and other notable individuals I look back and think, wow, I knew so little, but that didn't bother anyone until I took a truly sub-standard picture. I said I was a photographer and they believed me, and if it hadn't been for that one guy I would have got through that first professional portrait shooting experience fairly unscathed. However, having been 'scathed' I sure intended never to let that happen again. I honestly didn't know at the time what I could have done to have made that guy look better. (Now we have Photoshop, but that wouldn't have helped his expression.) I didn't do a paid portrait again for a long, long time.

You can pay from very little (as low as $100 or close to) to a lot ($1000 and up) for an individual  portrait these days. So what are you getting for the money? Obviously there are varying costs commensurate with the complexity of a shoot...for example duration and location of the shoot, photo assistants, hair and make-up, wardrobe, etc., but independent of those, why would you pay more?

More story telling: some years ago a client of mine moved from one large corporation to another, so I asked if she'd like me to do executive portraits for her new company. She showed me the work they had been getting from the photographer they usually called. He was clearly using a quantity over quality business model. The clients got several 'retouched' frames from their portrait shoot for (to me) a shockingly low rate. Shocking at least until I saw the pictures. They showed very clearly that there was not a lot of attention to detail happening during the photo sessions, and very little sensitivity regarding what the subjects might think about how they look in a photo. And the retouching was incomplete and mediocre. (Forgive me for sounding harsh.) Basically they were just not good pictures (the client even admitted that the subjects were not all that happy), but until I came along and specifically asked them to switch to me, they were apparently not unhappy enough to change photographers. Why not?

I cannot tell you how many times I have greeted my corporate portrait subject to be told that they have hated their corporate photo forever, are not photogenic, hate having their picture taken, and sometimes feel they have never had a good picture of themselves. For reasons I can easily imagine (super busy schedules, no opportunity to opine on choice of photographer, reluctance to spend more, no time or inclination to reshoot, etc.) they have just been been putting up with a product (or products) they really don't like.

If you are willing to believe the premise that portraiture is the responsibility of the photographer, do you want to trust the results to the cheapest, fastest guy, or to the person who charges more because they take a little more time and bring more to the table? As an analogy, would you choose a hairdresser based on cost alone, or even cost and speed? If part of the reason they were cheaper was that they could do your hair cut in ten minutes would that give you a feeling of trust and confidence that they would do a great job? Or, if you do want to commoditize photography, let's look at shoes. If you are 'dressing for success' you may not need to wear Christian Louboutin shoes to the office, but you're not going to wear the cheapest shoes you can find either. Likely, you will need something in between that looks really good, but is not the most expensive option. So in terms of photography, not an Annie Leibovitz high cost, high production value Vogue-worthy shot, but not a snapshot from a point and shoot, either. 

If your portrait is going to be your representation online, on your website, or in newsletters, internal communications within your company…etc. do you want to know that you are going to look your best or do you want a picture that is not great, and succeeds mostly in that it is identifiable as you?  If that picture is going to be your face to the world for the next (up to) two to three years what's it worth to you to like the picture?  And what do you want it to say, by association, about you…"you're awesome!", or "you're O.K."? What does a bad photo say about the person who has chosen it as his or her avatar? To me it suggests a certain lack of personal awareness, attention to detail, and professionalism.

Some clients have no question at all regarding price. Others who are perhaps just not used to the cost of professional photography have a hard time imagining why they should pay some photographers more than others. Understandable. I get it. And unfortunately, it's really not until they've had the experience of working with a true professional that they 'get it.' Again, these days there are many, many "photographers" to chose from. Interestingly, a colleague pointed out to me recently that it has even become less and less common to hear people differentiate themselves as amateur or pro photographers…everyone, now, is a "photographer". How do you know if a photographer is going to show up with a point and shoot and one light, or no light at all because they 'only use available light' (possibly not a good sign)? If their camera stops working do they have a back-up? If their light stops working do they have a replacement just in case? I've had clients question cost before a shoot, but never after.

Corporate portrait photography is, in my opinion, a highly active process. A photographer who knows what she is doing will take the subject in hand and guide and direct that subject to show up in the portrait as the best visual iteration of him- or herself possible. It is not up to the subject to make this happen. It is up to the photographer. If you are a professional model the photographer is going to expect you to perform accordingly (and how much direction they offer will depend on the shoot), but as someone whose job is not posing for cameras it should be one hundred percent the other way around. If you can buy into this concept then how important is the skill of the photographer and what is that worth to you?

Moment of cold, hard, truth (Kevin O'Leary whose book cover I shot can use this phrase without alienating his audience so I hope I can, too...): I have adjusted my pricing repeatedly in an effort to stay competitive in an increasingly competitive market, but as the market for photography continues in its race to the bottom, there has to be some recognition of what's being sacrificed. I'm not the cheapest and I never will be, because at some point it becomes impossible to claim truthfully to be conducting oneself and producing at a professional level.

A final thought: Good photography (of any subject matter) is an art. And yes, daunting as this may seem, you can't just believe a photographer is going to do a good job because he/she says so. It will serve you to do a few things to make sure you know what you're getting. Remember the old addage: there are three things buyers of services/products typically want: they want what they're buying to be cheap, fast and good, but you can't have all three, so if it's cheap and fast it won't be good, etc. All corporate portraits are not the same. Do you want to risk having to book a redo with another photographer if the first one doesn't work out? I can tell you that thirty years after telling those clients I could make anyone look good, now, I really can, but it took a lot of practice. When you choose a portrait photographer, choose a true professional, who brings talent, a practiced eye, technical knowledge and skill to the process. You'll be able to tell when you look at their website and see samples and testimonials and ask a few questions. And remember to ask whether retouching is included and to what extent. If you hire the right person, not only will you look good if you're the subject, you'll look good to everyone who knows you were the one who hired that photographer. 

If you'd like me to help make you look good e-mail me at kathryn@hollinrake.com.
www.hollinrake.com. 
www.makemepretty.photography

Portrait of a Busy Mother

L-R: Joanna's selfie from home, selfie in the studio, and final studio portrait (same backdrop as the selfie!)

Joanna is a super busy mother of two very active daughters. She takes her job as a stay-at-home mum very seriously and manages to take care of her family in a way I can only dream of doing. Jo used to be a busy professional photographer like me, but unlike me, she didn't use herself as a subject, I think, probably ever. As such, she fits into the category of one of my favourite groups of portrait subjects: people who hate having their pictures taken. Why are they one of my favourites? Because there's nothing more gratifying than making someone who doesn't think they're going to look good look really good, and having that person who is dreading the whole experience tell me they actually had fun, and they love their picture.

Like many people these days Jo had a potential profile picture she was somewhat happy with: she had gotten all dressed up for a special occasion and snapped a selfie in the bathroom mirror. In the spirit of my idea to compare selfies with professional portraits she then did another selfie on set in my studio but using no flash (her phone camera wasn't connected my studio flash/lights). Both pictures reflect some typical issues encountered with cell phone selfie portraits. In the first one, particularly, you can see the distortion resulting from having one's face too close to a wide angle lens. At least in this one there was some light so the camera shake is not too bad, but the second one, shot at a 1/17 of a second shutter speed, is noticeably blurry. In both cases, the backgrounds are  distracting, in the first case because it's just not a pretty background, and in both cases because they're too much in focus. My studio backdrop was designed to be lit properly and thrown out of focus to work. And of course there's the issue of pose and expression, the limitations of trying to control and produce those most effectively while shooting yourself with your phone being obvious.

Joanna had a couple of specific requirements, one of which was not to show her arms. I think this is a pretty typical concern for women over twenty who don't have personal trainers and time to work on their  muscle tone for hours every week. So we had to make sure she chose wardrobe that provided coverage but not bulk. The first two outfits added bulk and weight and just weren't flattering in a photo:

L-R: 1st and 2nd wardrobe options tried vs. a final frame with the "right" wardrobe

A brief note about the background: I am a big fan of a bit of texture that just hints at some kind of place (rather than a plain paper backdrop), so when we don't shoot on location (at an office, in a home, or wherever), we have lots of different ways of creating something unidentifiable, and unobtrusive, but aesthetically pleasing. This background was a combination of a custom designed  banner stand backdrop, a sheer curtain and a glass wall.

Here's what Joanna had to say:

"Just wanted to thank you for the beautiful portrait! My husband and the girls 

love them and so do I. Now I have something to look back on that will remind me 

that once I did look younger!"

And this was before she even saw the retouched shots.

Coming up, a short post about two male clients I helped "look pretty" after they used selfies in their initial website design.

To see my website please click on this link: hollinrake.com.
And e-mail me at kathryn@hollinrake.com

Diane: Professional Portrait in a "Barn"

Diane Before and After Wardrobe, Posing and Retouching

As the date for the official launch of her new business, and accompanying new website approaches, Diane, an equine health professional, has been building a house. So over the past few months while she has been toiling away in dusty work clothes, neglecting her hair and nails (understandably!) and pretty much foregoing wearing any make-up, she has started to forget the lovely face she used to see in the mirror. Furthermore, thanks to being in a somewhat transitory situation for some time, she has not been able to follow her usual diet and has slipped a bit away from her ideal weight. It being a few years since her last professional portrait she was in need of an update that would feature her current look, but she was not feeling beautiful. Her usual boisterous confidence somewhat temporarily compromised she arrived at the studio not totally sure what we would be able to pull off. 

I had thought that the perfect backdrop for Diane's portrait would be a barn wall, since she works with horses, but it wasn't going to work for us to have to actually go to a barn. Fortunately I had, not long ago, repainted one of my hand painted backdrops to look somewhat reminiscent of a post and beam barn wall. Having shot in barns a few times I knew exactly what feel I wanted for the lighting...I wanted to emulate a flare of late day sun coming in from an out-of-frame entrance and reflecting off the warm stall walls. Very soft, warm and flattering.

Not surprisingly the second Diane started putting on her make-up she was well on her way back to confidence. She had brought a selection of tops of the type she might wear on the job the times she isn't required to wear full scrubs. We liked the light blue in theory, for a hit of colour, but decided it was actually kind of distracting 'on film' (again, we're shooting digitally, so really we mean on the computer monitor, but that doesn't sound right!). The brown sleeveless option she brought turned out to interact much more successfully with the tones of her skin, her hair and the background.

Next, the pose. Regardless of one's figure, poses can be very flattering, or not, slimming or really not. And it's not as if the pose needs to be stiff or formal or restricted to one position...it's more a matter of movement within a loose set of parameters that enhance rather than detract from the natural ability of the person to look 'optimal.'

The one additional  adjustment we made to the lighting before shooting the final files was to take some light away from under Diane's chin, which helped create separation between her face and neck. This as well as the pose angled away from the main light served to emphasize and define Diane's jawline.

Final Selected Frame Before and After Retouching

Once we had a bunch of winning frames it was just a matter of choosing a favourite and touching it up. (In fact, I picked one, and Diane chose a couple of others she felt would be appropriate for different pages on her new site.) Retouching needed to be subtle because it would be particularly inappropriate for someone who works with animals, in rural/outdoor environments, and needs clients to trust her completely to appear at all unrealistic or inauthentic in her profile pictures.

So, all I did was:

- close her sexy top a bit. We couldn't get the fabric 'V' to sit straight during shooting so I digitally composited a fix in retouching,

- slenderize her body, and arms ever so slightly. Her torso area showing behind her arm may be cropped out of the final, anyway, but to give her the flexibility of using a less tight crop I just digitally 'repositioned' that area,

- brighten the light side of the face a bit more,

- remove some of the frizz around the edges of her hair. It's hard to do this just the right amount so that it doesn't look fake and 'cut out', but hair frizz and fly aways are distracting in photos and really show up in backlit situations, so I pretty much always advocate tidying up in retouching,

- subtly whiten her already white teeth, particularly in between the teeth where stains can form over time (visible in the high res file),

- subtly whiten eyes and remove visible blood vessels,

- subtly lighten/smoothen under eye areas,

- very subtly smoothen skin, particularly the slightly rough arm skin and neck wrinkles (visible in the high res file) and add subtle highlights onto arms. Importantly, make sure to leave texture in skin,

- emphasize/add to the sunlight 'flaring' in from outside, so the highlights in the hair and on the arm make visual sense.

That's about it! Diane's happy, so I'm happy. Now, onto the other frames she has requested. I can't wait to see how they fit into her new site design!

Back into the Workforce Business Portrait

Tracy "Before" and "After"

Ten years ago Tracy stepped away from her career in finance to dedicate herself to her growing family. Now that the demands on her time are changing with all three kids in school, she is rev'd about getting back into the workforce and relaunching her business self. 

When we're shooting in studio I always suggest clients bring some wardrobe choices, because often what we think looks good in life does not look as good in a photograph for various reasons. Tracy was a rock star in the wardrobe department bringing four jackets, nine tops(!) and a dress, all pressed and on hangers (perfect!). As, again, is often the case, she really wasn't sure what might work best for her portrait, and since she's been out of the business world for a while she had fewer specifically business oriented clothes to choose from than she used to. 

I wasn't sure the leather jacket was the way to go, so we tried three outfit variations, and ultimately decided that the leather jacket really did look most flattering. It also made Tracy feel most like herself. We did change the top underneath, though, to one with less distracting detail. That top was actually a dress which Tracy told me she almost didn't bring figuring she wouldn't need a dress for a portrait shoot. Thank goodness she did. It's good to remember that you can often "cheat" in photography; the same way something looks good in life but not on film, something might look great on film and not work at all in life. Regarding wardrobe, and jewellery, for that matter, if you're not sure, bring it anyway. Always better to have too much to choose from than nothing that really works!

Three wardrobe variations we thought might work, that didn't

While Tracy was focused on bringing wardrobe options to chose from, to her dismay she forgot her tinted moisturizer. She's a minimal make-up kind of person, and she has great skin so it wasn't a disaster, nothing a little retouching couldn't fix, and it was, truly, a little retouching. What else did we do? Tracy was wearing eyeliner but had applied it very subtly, so I just added to it (using her liner which she'd brought with her), to make it darker and thicker. At first she felt it looked a bit heavy, but looking at her photo she agreed it worked really well to emphasize and energize her eyes. The magic of eyeliner!

Tracy had also, the day before the shoot, visited her trusted hair salon Fiorio where stylist Chrissy (her usual stylist Phillipe being away) updated her look for her personal relaunch. Trying out a new stylist right before a photo shoot can be risky, but in this case it worked out really well! As always, there were a few hairs to style back into place once she was seated. Untamable flyaways were retouched out later.

Because I know Tracy and she had time, we played around with the lighting I had set up prior to her arrival just in case it looked better from the opposite side. It didn't, so back it went to the initial set-up. This meant, though, that we shot a bit more than we would usually need to, wrapping up after about 110 frames. 

With regard to the "before" photo at the beginning of this post, a comment: I had thought we were pretty much ready to go but realized something was missing...more accurately, it wasn't that something was missing, it was that there was too much light making the face look kind of flat and washed out. I prefer more modelling on the face (ie. light and shadow to create shape and depth) so I blocked the light reflecting into the right side of Tracy's face (left of photo), and voila.

A note regarding the background: in studio a common choice is between seamless paper (solid colour), or a painted backdrop (if not a more elaborate set). There are lots of very dated looking mottled backgrounds out there...we've all seen them...you know the look: kind of dark and speckled. Even some of those can still work if you light them well and throw them out of focus enough. I do like to have some kind of hint of texture in the backgrounds I use for corporate portraits, so when it's practical I use custom painted backdrops which I paint myself because I have not found many commercially produced textured backgrounds I like.

Finally here, an alternative shot captured just before we wrapped, featuring a slightly brighter expression and less formal and conservative look, with a light filter applied to further brighten and soften:

Now when Tracy's potential new employers see her LinkedIn profile, website, etc., she will have the added advantage of looking (in her profile picture) like the polished, professional, confident, friendly business woman she is.

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