One of my business goals for 2017 is to photograph FIVE headshots a month! Last year I averaged 2 per month, so this means really kicking my butt into high gear. I specialize in lifestyle headshots. But what does that mean? In terms of posing, lifestyle portrait sessions include a variety of full body and tightly cropped photographs as well as a mixture of candid/approachable and traditionalvposes. They also place the subject in the context of their life and work. Lifestyle sessions do more than show a professional in a blazer giving the camera their most capable expression. They give the individual context. Chefs are photographed in the kitchen. Photographers are captured with a camera in hand. Interior designers are shown straightening curtains and pillows to achieve the final perfect look. For businesses with a brand identity that is strongly tied to their location, they show place. An athlete is shown stretching with the flatirons in the background. An international firm is shown with a city skyline in the background. Are you getting the idea?
This being the case, beginning in January with winter headshots would be slightly challenging. However, I am in love with the final results.
There's a real mix here. There are two in-home sessions: one in a home office for a business coach slash podcaster and one in a kitchen for a dietitian cum food blogger. There is one in a Denver studio called Union27. There is also one in downtown Boulder on one of those rare sunny days in January! There's also a real variety in terms of professionals, as you'll see.
We'll start with Elizabeth, a woman of many talents. As a business coach, photographer, Wakaya Perfection ambassador, and owner of a vacation property in the Caribbean (not to mention mom, wife, and fur mama to the cutie pictured below, a Great Dane and a sweet black cat) Elizabeth needed variety in her headshots. With two sessions we achieved a mix of headshots that she could choose from to tailor her "About" page for each website she manages and each social media platform.
Next is recent Boston to Boulder transplant Kathryn. One of the sweetest souls you'll ever meet with real intelligence and a winning smile! The goal of Katie's in-home session was two-fold: to capture images for the One Hungry Bunny food blog and to nail a LinkedIn headshot that would land her a job in the natural foods marketing industry. Using her kitchen, her second story deck, and a grey wall in her dining room, I think we had a lot of success!
Finally, Janessa. A fierce female who recently relocated her family of 5 to Colorado Springs from Alaska. This woman is a powerhouse, establishing her wedding business faster than you can say "I do" and adapting to her new home in record time. In re-locating her business, she realized it was time for new headshots. We rented Union27 in Denver for headshots and spent our time listening to music, laughing, and of course - photographing these sweet headshots! Janess'a style is very film-inspired, and I endeavored to honor that in her headshot editing using my Mastin Fuji 400H Lightroom presets (with tweaks) so that they would fit seamlessly into her branding.
