The Portraits/Personal Branding add-on extends your session and opens up a wide range of options. While a headshot is just your head and shoulders, portraits/personal branding options will require us to do some planning and a discussion of your goals together. If you need a basic portrait (as pictured above and below) then this is pretty basic and the questionnaire you will receive after selecting this option in the quote should be enough to produce what you need. However, personal branding is a more in-depth process.

A personal branding plan starts with the same questionnaire so I have a starting place when we talk. I will want to learn about your business mission, your ideal clients, the process your clients go through before hiring you, learning about your brand colors, clothing plans (and I can help you source these if needed), props, story boarding your clients' journey with images, and more will be planned in-depth. Special personal branding multi-image packages are available.

The Portrait/Personal Branding add-on checkbox is found in the emailed quote, after you book your date on the booking page. The booking page has a short video that explains the process.

I work with a professional hair and makeup artist who will come to the studio on the day of your session. She knows what looks best in front of the camera. She is not in-studio every day, so PLEASE ALLOW UP TO 2 WEEKS ADVANCE BOOKING to coordinate calendar with makeup artist. Currently Sunday/Monday is best. I keep these days clear in the booking process, so book a date closest to the day you would like to come and I'll be in touch.

Your images are usually delivered in four days. If you need one or more photos retouched and delivered as soon as possible, a rush fee will ensure it can be delivered by the next day. This can discussed at your session if you are not sure if you need it at the time of booking.

Headshot and personal branding sessions take place in my studio. This eliminates concerns about weather and uncontrolled lighting situations.

However, if you want your headshots or personal branding made elsewhere, we'll pack up our equipment and go to your preferred location.

There is a fee because any time expensive equipment leaves the studio, long experience shows that there is a risk of theft and/or damage. (4 cameras and several strobe lights have met their demise in on-location shoots over the years.)

Most people have experienced a bad headshot session. You leave feeling like "I must not be photogenic."

For 99% of people, a camera produces stress and dread. A photo session is like the boogyman for most professionals - the necessary evil.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

The truth is: it is the photographer's job to coach you.

If you aren't getting sufficient coaching from the photographer then you will look awkward and uncomfortable. Posing in front of a camera is not a skill you've spent years honing and your photographer should be able to bridge that gap for you with coaching.

It takes experience and skill to coach and guide professionals into looking natural in photos.

Face coaching is actually pretty simple. It entails: 1. seeing what your face is doing vs. what you think it's doing, and 2. helping you get it to do what you want through detailed instruction and coaching from me.

Remember: No-one feels photogenic when they arrive in the studio; but my face coaching will help relieve the pressure you feel in front of the camera. You will not be left standing there feeling awkward!

A.K.A. "I want my wife/husband to help me choose my images."

Occasionally someone comes into the studio and feels like they can't choose the right image and wants help from their spouse. I don't recommend this. You don't want your professional images to look the same as your intimate life. Your professional image is not supposed to appeal to your spouse. Your headshots/personal branding images are supposed to grow your business and bring you more clients/business. If you want images that look like "the real you" then I recommend getting family-oriented portraits or personal portraits that you can hang in your home.

A professional headshot is an image that makes you appear 1. confident, 2. competent, 3. approachable. There is definite room for subtleties like being kind, good-humored, strong, and other undercurrents but you don't want to look the way your spouse sees you.

Years of experience studying faces gives me an edge. I understand the subtleties of expression. By the end of your session I also understand your range, your strengths and weaknesses. I can spot the great images and the not-so-good. I won't pressure you, but I also won't let you choose bad images.

In addition, sometimes you can't see past the fixable flaws in an image, or know what can be done with retouching. Choosing together allows me to hear your concerns about an image and give active feedback on what can and cannot be retouched. I will be there to remind you that expression is the most important quality in an image -- not the way your hair looks, or a visible blemish, or hair on your shirt, etc. (See retouching examples in next section.)

We don't start taking photos immediately when you walk in. We take a look at the clothes you brought, I show you the components of a good headshot, and as the session progresses I take time to show you your growth on the studio monitor. This ensures that the session is constantly moving toward producing the best images. The three hours also includes the time we spend narrowing down all the images to the final choices.

This actually hasn't happened here yet! We are very careful about your time and believe that it would be a great inconvenience for you to be in this situation. If you are the first person to experience this, you do not need to purchase any images and we will schedule you to come back for another session with no additional fees. We do everything we can to avoid dissatisfaction on your part.