When did “marketing yourself” become such a normal thing? In a world of putting your best foot forward, being seen in the best light and making the best impression possible, do you ever wonder what is real? It seems that so much is like that these days, especially in the virtual world. Online dating, online networking- the online world of social media can make your personality and goals a relative thing. Like somehow who you are and what you want is no longer a quality of your essence but more a factor of what you can communicate on a page, much like this one, using only words and pictures. But is it smart to create an avatar of yourself, a sort of sub reality that embodies winning concepts with no real substance to back it up? In both love and business it might be a more relaxed and dare I say authentic approach to simply...
Show & Tell: YOU in 5 words or less
Everyone keeps asking me, “What’s the secret to a great photo?” I tell them it’s lots of things. The location, the wardrobe, the lighting and angles of course. You need to feel comfortable and happy with yourself and the person taking the photo. But beyond all that, actually, the answer is even simpler. The secret to a great photo is individual. You have to ask yourself, “What do I want to say with this picture?” Do you remember that thing when we were kids, show and tell? That’s the main premise behind an online profile of any kind whether it is for LinkedIn or Match.com. The text is supposed to tell who you are and what you want and the picture is supposed to show it. So here is what I recommend before you get photos taken: make a list of your top words. If a friend, a colleague or family member were to describe...
Getting Naked
I have found that the best way to get natural photos of my clients is to help them to get naked. Its important to avoid the fake smile, the one I call “the mask”. It’s that pose we all snap into whenever anyone utters the phrase, “Say cheese!” This expression produces bad photos because it’s not the real you. My photography is different because I understand that comfort is the key to your best pictures. My process is simple and continues to garner the same results: real smiles from real people. The kind of smiles that we all give when someone we love says something that makes us happy. My goal is authenticity, to bring out the naked, honest you. But there are some simple things I suggest to all of my clients to make sure that they get their best photo possible from our shoot together. Here are my top 5 photo tips: Commit to...
Too Old for Pictures?
I was asked to do a radio interview the other day. Funny thing really- a radio interview of a photographer. But the topic was the importance of photos during a job search and I was brought in as the social media expert because of my specialization in online profile pictures. We talked about how the marketplace has changed as a result of social media profiles. In the dating world it’s clear that people with good pictures get more dates. And in the business world it’s clear that people with good pictures get more jobs. LinkedIn actually goes so far as to recommend a professional headshot, something that just a few years ago was still a concept reserved for actors and models. But the most interesting thing that came up was a conversation about age. Deb Monroe, the interviewer, was asking about what it takes to make people look good in photos, especially older clients. And...
