We can all benefit from a solid headshot.

“Just one or two images in black and white,” Carla said moments before confessing she really dislikes her picture taken. Carla works for a company that specializes in custom tailored clothing for men oozing with panache and style. I promised her I’d put her in the best light possible, noting her poise and elegance.

Which meant I needed to do my homework.

Carla contacted me in need of an updated headshot for her J. Hilburn website. We began brainstorming the type of look she was going after… similar to the clothing line she represents… clean, natural, lifestyle, bright. Inspiration boards are great when you have a stylist, beautiful location, a lighting crew, and a large budget to work with. No wonder Pinterest has elevated tap water budgets to champagne taste. Therein rests my creative challenge. I wanted to create an image that reflected her personal style, her business acumen, and the J. Hilburn brand:

I admit, I was nervous before the shoot. She was too, I could tell. The tricky thing about headshots: no one really likes them. A headshot session can take 3 minutes. Or just 39 seconds. Or 3 hours (or so I’ve heard from horror stories). At the end of the shoot, the client has to like the final set of images. After all, the headshot represents a face they should wear with pride. That’s where trust and old-fashioned people skills come into play. And small talk.

Drawing Lines and a Greener Bottom Line

“You shoot much fashion?” she asked.

“I’m a photographer,” I re-directed the question. “While I specialize in weddings, I draw inspiration from fashion.”

I shared with her images from a few recent tests shoots slated for the said category including The Impossible Dream, floral headdresses, to a test shoot in the Everglades. Little shoots can build to bigger things.

A corporate headshot isn’t an avant guard fashion shoot. You also have to know where to draw the lines. It’s about setting a person at ease, instilling in them a sense of confidence, and putting them in the best light to sell their wares. To get a good headshot means doing what we all hated in 2nd grade: look into the camera, follow directions, and say cheese. But it doesn’t have to be.

A solid headshot has the power to instill confidence (think: positive therapy) in the subject far longer than the actual sitting. That gain in self-esteem is priceless. And I can imagine has a direct impact for a greener bottom line.

The Perfect Niche Tool

To understand the eye of a fashion photographer, you have to understand: their gear and techniques, along with constraints like budget, time, and equipment. Much of fashion today is rooted in techniques from the mid-eighties (shooting with medium format gear, waist level, on a set). And an excuse to use my trusty Mamiya 80mm f/1.9, a highly specialized lens used for its rendering of shallow depth of field on medium format. There’s a certain ‘look’ I like.

My good friend Kevin Von Qualen turned me on to this lens, and I’m glad I had it as a back-up since the 80mm LS was in the shop for a leaf shutter repair. Whew!

The Final Images

We walked away with images that brought a smile to our face. A simple setup using a 6’ black negative fill reflector to help define shadows which becomes even more important to get a clean black and white headshot like this:

Click here to view the rest of the images.

All this from the 9th grader picked on for wearing dorky jeans with a shirt tucked in.

Interested in an updated headshot to help put your best foot forward? Contact RJ to check availability.