"When you invest in good photography, you invest in your future success"......Brad Feinknoph

I have never heard it put so well, your personal investment in yourself should be the best investment you make. Having produced thousands of images over my career I have always tried to give my clients a broad choice of images to select from. Head shots are no different. I generally will have a conversational meeting with my clients to see what they are looking for. What is the final use of the image to be and what attitude should we portray. This is critical to the success of the session. To look away from producing just a "picture" helps create an authenticity that many people want, but don't know how to achieve.

This is what makes the creation of the image hard....how do you do it. It's just not a matter of sitting down, smiling, and whamo it is created. The lighting is important in terms of how to define the attitude of the face. The expression is monumental in creating the attitude of the moment, creating a first impression for the viewer. The relationship of the individual to the camera/photographer, is it a comfortable situation. It must be and it takes some time to get there.

Although generally only one image will be selected I shoot until I'm content knowing I have several to choose from. This doesn't mean hundreds will be taken, it means that through years of experience, I will know when to quit. Very seldom do my clients see all of the images I take. There's no reason to muddy the water with unacceptable  images, show only the best. It is always blatantly obvious which one work and which ones don't.

I am always intrigued by images I see posted here and there by "professionals". The lighting is flat with no modeling to the planes of the face. This always leads to a subtraction of expression. It makes me almost ask "why bother"? The investment that was trying to be made missed the mark. This does not mean that there should or must be dynamic/hard lighting for a head shot or portrait. I'm saying that there needs to be definition to the planes of the face for a successful image. That is what creates a successful head shot and investment in yourself and your future success.