It’s time to update your corporate portraits when… {Sydney corporate portrait photographer}

Posted in: business tips | commercial | corporate couture | personal branding

In a previous post about what makes a good profile pic, I listed the following as reasons you might need to have a new corporate portrait taken:

  • You are currently using a poorly taken selfie
  • You are currently using a photo of yourself cropped from a group pic
  • Your current photo is more than a few years old
  • You have had some major change to your appearance (e.g. lost or gained weight, significant change to your hair style or colour, you have started wearing glasses all the time)
  • You are targeting a different segment of your market
  • You are re-branding
  • You have a promotion or a campaign coming up where you will be needing a range of good images to use in a co-ordinated manner for social media, press releases and print campaign

Well, the lovely Julie Attwood was listening, apparently, and came in recently to update her professional images. Here’s her before and after.

We took the image on the left a few years ago. (You can read about that shoot here. It was a fun one!) Since then she’s not only significantly changed her hair colour, but her business has ‘changed colour’ too. Julie is a chartered accountant, but she is most definitely no longer ‘a suit’. Her business has been built around kitchen tables. Quite literally. You see, Julie’s business is mobile. She will visit you in your home to help you with your personal or business tax needs (or both), and she doesn’t mind whether you’re in your Sunday Best, or in your dressing gown and slippers.

Here she is in her own words:

Tell us what you do for work, Julie.
I’m a chartered accountant and registered tax agent.

Why did you start your business?
I started my business because I was frustrated with working for employers who I thought were doing a bad job, the theory being that if they can do it, then so can I, and probably better.  I’ve wanted to run my own business ever since high school, so the goal had been sitting there a very long time. I also wanted to be more flexible around my children.

What is it about your business that makes you different from other chartered accountants?
Being a mum, I understand what it’s like to be busy and juggling everything and so I go to see my clients for appointments when it suits them in their own house – I don’t judge how many years are outstanding, if their house is a mess, if there are kids running around being noisy. Nothing bothers me at all. I’ve been in meetings with clients in their pyjamas, toddlers toilet training beside me, babies being transitioned to solids and fed while we chat, dogs and cats on my lap (not all at once, but then again that wouldn’t bother me either).

What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day starts with coffee and checking emails and Facebook, then either dropping the kids to school, heading to a meeting or getting stuck into some work. I’m usually at home when the kids arrive home from school so I hang out with them and chat over afternoon tea before they head off for afternoon sports. In the evening after dinner I’m generally out seeing clients.

What do you like most about the work that you do?
Getting good results for clients – no one really likes paying taxes so if clients feel they aren’t paying any more than they should be then they’re happy.

If there were one piece of advice that you could give all of your clients, what would it be?
Wear the damn dress!* No seriously, I quote Ferris Bueller “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

*Julie is referring to our conversation at her first photo shoot about a very expensive silk dress. You can read that conversation here.

What’s one of the best things to  happen in your business life?
One of the best things to happen was getting a refund of over $50k for a client – she was a combination of speechless and in tears.

We’ve all had days when things have gone awry for us in business. What’s the worst thing that has happened to you in your work, and how did you ‘recover’ from it?
The worst thing to happen would be to actually make a mistake (I’m human, it happens) – after wanting to be violently ill and run away I contacted the client and was brutally honest and waited for the ranting response but they were totally fine.

What do you do in your down time?
I try and get through a book a month for the book club I attend, I also attend the kids sports (jujitsu and rugby league) and I watch UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) – hey I’m in a house of boys.

Dog or cat?
Both dog and cat – a rottie and a ragdoll but I also now have an eclectus parrot, to overcome my fear of birds. I adore them all and the cat and bird tend to hang out in my office when I’m home.

When I was a kid I used to collect…..
Biggles books – still do.

 

If you’re looking for a chartered accountant or tax agent who can come to you, then you might like to get in touch with Julie. You can find her on Facebook here.

And if you’re ready to update your own corporate portrait, or you’d like to book in for a full personal branding session, you can get in touch with Jen from vividity here.

 

 

Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me|Top of page
comment

Mini sessions at a micro price

Posted in: commercial | corporate couture | personal branding | special offers

Need a great portrait for your business, but don’t have the time for the luxury of a full shoot? Here’s your chance to grab yourself exactly what you need:

Call me today to book your corporate portrait petite session on either Thursday 28th or Friday 29th July 2016, and we’ll talk through all the details including what to do to get ready for your shoot and what to wear. Sessions all held in Pymble on Sydney’s north shore.

Who are these sessions for?

These sessions are perfect for anyone who:

  • needs a “quick in and out” and get on with your day
  • doesn’t want hair and makeup styling
  • needs a great shoot on a tight budget
  • only wants a handful of images
  • doesn’t need a lot of variety in their photos

Who are these sessions not for?

If you are looking for enough images to feed the great beast of social media for the next few months, or images of your products, or you want a mother and daughter shoot, or a fully styled and directed shoot with a concept to rival those of a Hollywood Blockbuster, then these are not the sessions for you. If you fall into this camp, give me a call and we can dream big together!

Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me|Top of page
comment

Should you wear glasses in your corporate portraits?

Posted in: commercial | corporate couture | personal branding | what to wear

Glasses can be tricky things to photograph well, and occasionally people will advise you to have your portrait taken without them. That’s OK if you sometimes go without them in your real life. If you always wear your specs, however, you probably should have them on for your corporate portrait. Below are some tips for getting great shots even with your glasses on.

Make sure your glasses are clean

Bring along your cleaning cloths and/or lens cleaning solutions to your photo shoot, and give your spectacles a good clean just before you step onto ‘set’ for your shoot. Portrait photographers usually work hard to make sure your eyes shine in your photos, and dirt and smudges on your glasses will detract from that. Scratches to your lenses and frames look less than professional, too, so bring along your ‘best’ pair of specs.

Make sure your glasses are up to date

You probably put a lot of thought into the styling of your clothes and hair for your photo shoot, but what about your glasses? Make sure the style of your glasses is up to date and suits your face. If you can, bring along more than one pair so that you and your photographer can decide together which ones will photograph the best.

Avoid glare and reflections

Glare and reflections on your glasses obscure your eyes, which is where we usually want people to look first in a photo of you. Your photographer should be able to work with their light sources well enough to photograph you without glare or reflections, but if you are having a friend or colleague photograph you, here are a couple of things to try:

  • Move into full shade and reduce the overall amount of light
  • Turn your head away from the camera, and look ‘out of frame’ of the photo. (This will help with the glare and reflections, and will also give you a more ‘arty’ feel to your portrait, which may or may not be appropriate for you depending on the end use for your images.)
  • Tilt you head down slightly. (This will in effect ‘move’ the glare or reflection from being directly in front of your eye to being more on your glasses frame. Be careful that you don’t create a double chin in the process, though!)

Avoid transition lenses

I know transition lenses offer great protection for your eyes, but they are a nightmare for photographers! If you can, bring a pair of glasses that are not transition lenses. If you only have transition lenses, then your photographer may want to take to identical photos of you, one with and one without your glasses on. Then the two images can be made into a composite image in post production so that you can have your glasses on and still be able to see your eyes.

Try some shots just holding your glasses

Some of my clients prefer to have their glasses in shot, but not actually be wearing them. Here’s an example.

And remember: Your glasses can be a statement of your personal taste and style, so they should be incorporated into at least some of your photos.

Need to book your own professional photography session? Click here to get the ball rolling for your own shoot at my Sydney photography studio.

 

Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me|Top of page
comment

What makes a good profile pic?

Posted in: business tips | commercial | corporate couture | personal branding

Profile pics. I’m sure you’ve seen some doozies in your time: The “no-shirt-check-out-my-abs” style, the “I’ve cropped out my ex-boyfriend” style, the “I really don’t like the way I look, so I will make myself teeny-tiny in a landscape” ones, and my all time favourite (not!), the “I’ll pull a goofy face and point to the right so that it looks like I’m pointing to my name” shot.

Blergh!

So what does make a good profile pic?

Just like in one of my previous posts (on product photography), I’m going to answer that by saying “It depends”.

In truth, there is some room to move on what makes the “right” profile pic for you. A personal trainer, dance teacher or yoga instructor can probably get away with wearing lycra in their profile pic, but what would you think about a financial planner whose profile picture was a shot of them in sportswear in the gym? If you are a lawyer, and you want a profile pic for LinkedIn or other professional circles, then you probably will want something pretty straight laced, that makes you look competent and professional. If, however, you are wanting to attract recently separated women into your practice and you are planning an advertising campaign across Facebook, other social media sites, and local newspapers, then you will probably do better with a photo that still makes you look professional and competent, but is a little softer and more approachable.

Here’s Jen, who has several strings to her bow, so we created a range of different looks for her.

 

And an “I’m an accountant, but don’t you dare make me look like one” approach for this lady (who also happens to be called Jenny).

 

A conservative look for Camille, who works at a high level in the fields of finance, law, and policy

 

And one quiet, and one playful look for Kayte, who you may know better as Mrs Woog. If you’ve read her blog, you’ll understand the need for both!

How often should a profile pic be updated?

Most people don’t update their profile picture(s) often enough….but then you knew I’d say that. What else would you expect from a portrait photographer? A lot of people can get away with using the same shot for a couple of years. If you’ve been really clever about your choice of clothing and the style of the shot such that they’re pretty ‘timeless’, then you may be able to stretch its use out a little longer. For most of us, though, our looks change considerably in that time. And the older you are, the more the aging process speeds up, the more frequently you need to update your photos. Debra Sinclair of Liquid Mango Consulting recommends having professional portraits taken “at least every 18 months to 2 years”, and social media strategist Paula Agius of Social Cocktails says that if she had enough flattering images of herself, she would update them with every new season, or even as frequently as once per month.

Why so frequently?

She says, “What’s great about updating your profile picture is that notifications of this update are pushed out to your network by most of the social platforms and [these] are weighted with higher importance to other competing content”. So updating your profile pic can in fact be part of your social media strategy. How simple is that?

Bettina Deda of BD Colour Design uses this very strategy in her business. She says, “I update my profile [picture] depending on milestones or interesting projects in the business, or if I have published a new book.”

Clever, don’t you think?

In summary, here are some reasons you should consider having a professional portrait taken for your business
  • You are currently using a poorly taken selfie
  • You are currently using a photo of yourself cropped from a group pic
  • Your current photo is more than a few years old
  • You have had some major change to your appearance (e.g. lost or gained weight, significant change to your hair style or colour, you have started wearing glasses all the time)
  • You are targeting a different segment of your market
  • You are re-branding
  • You have a promotion or a campaign coming up where you will be needing a range of good images to use in a co-ordinated manner for social media, press releases and print campaigns

 

You may also want to read this related post on how to crop your profile pic. And if you’re ready to get down to business with updating your online image, then click here to get started.

 

Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me|Top of page
comment

It’s time to update your corporate portraits when… {Sydney corporate portrait photographer} » vividity blog - […] a previous post about what makes a good profile pic, I listed the following as reasons you might need to have a new corporate portrait […]

S E A R C H
C A T E G O R I E S
A R C H I V E S