Before your session, plan your journey the night before and leave early to ensure you are relaxed and stress free. Being in front of a professional camera and all of those lights is daunting for most of us. So the more relaxed you are the quicker we will be able to get through the session. Abstain from late nights days before your session to ensure you are well rested and feel your best to help you relax during your session which will transpire in the final results. During those days leading to your session, drink lots of water to hydrate your skin. Also try to steam and look after your skin and lips. Avoid fake tan or having a photo session immediately after a prolonged time under the sun or just returning from a holiday after spending time in the sun. Your session is one of the most important investment you can make for your career, so you want to present yourself exactly as people would see you in person.

I photograph my headshot session on plain white, black or grey background. We will decide your preference before your session. I crop my headshot horizontally to allow your face to occupy most of the real estate of the frame to allow your expression to be the only thing that people can see.

If you wish to be photographed vertically, I will do so for you. The downside of a vertical orientation is that you will have a lot more of your body in the frame making you look larger than you are. I do crop in camera slightly on the top of head because there is no information on the top of your head to be conveyed to the people looking at your photograph. I do make allowance to leave enough space over the head in few images during the session as well. Should you wish to be photographed strictly vertically, please advise me prior to your session.

All of my sessions are conducted tethered to my laptop and connected to a large monitor via an HDMI cable. This enables us to review your images in real time. Though I have great eyes for what makes a good headshot as I coach you through the process, it is your responsibility to let me know during these reviews if there is something you would like me to improve on. I can change course of make adjustments during the session easily. I do not offer re-shoot policy because I trust that I will be more than able to create your best headshot to date as my work is well known for its as I am always able to get through to my clients through my coaching. However I am not in control of how others (spouses, friends, colleagues, etc…) will react to your photographs once you leave my studio.

People tend to worry too much about what they should be wearing when coming for their session. Being physically and mentally in the best condition for your headshot session is more important than what you wear.

I would advise you to bring as many outfits you enjoy wearing to the shoot so we can have options to choose from. If you don’t love your outfits or you are not comfortable wearing them, then I would not want to photograph you in them so don’t bring them. Bring mostly tops because I crop tight around the head and the bottom part of your body does not get shown. For the ladies who have dresses they like to wear, by all means bring them. For a commercial headshot in general, I always advise neutral colours or the traditional business wear colours such blue, grey, olive and so on. The flash light we use during your session will cast any bright coloured outfit you are wearing back onto your skin thus degrading your skin tone. However if your style is all about bright colours, then bring them and we will work around it.

Avoid garments with wild prints and patterns. Also stay away from over sized or baggy top as they will tend to make you larger that you really are.

Gentlemen, outfits such as business shirts, T-shirts, jumpers and layered look such as T-shirt with open shirt are acceptable if you work in a casual environment. Bring a sport coat or a suit jacket with dress shirts and a variety of ties for the corporate look.

I strongly recommend not using large, colourful jewellery in your headshots because they are major distractions and pull eyes away from your face and expression.

Ladies take time to consider your undergarments for example don't wear a black brassiere under a white shirt. If your session is on location, make sure that you iron your clothes and pack neatly. Wearing a singlet or camisole under your top will help changing outfits comfortably if there is no change room nearby.

Just in case you are not happy about what you currently have in your wardrobe, go treat yourself with a little bit of shopping and have fun doing so before your session.

For clients that want to wear make-up I strongly encourage and recommend my Make Up & Hair Artist. She does apply your make up using products that are better suited for studio lighting. Should you wish to apply your own make up, it will have to be a natural look with nothing heavy around the eyes (eye shadows, eyeliners). Don’t groom your eye brows by threading or heavy plucking a couple of days or so before your session. Don’t apply heavy long wearing mascara as they are difficult to get excess off. Allow a couple of weeks to a month after such grooming before your session to promote a more natural look. If you have any allergies to cosmetics, please let us know before your session. My Make Up Artist will be on hand throughout your session to help make small adjustments as we move along your session.

If you are opting for my Make Up Artist, please come to the studio with a clean face. If there are some specific products you love, please bring them along and my Make Up Artist will be able to work with them.

Hairstyles are more of a personal thing and you know how you would like your hair to be. You should come to the studio with your hair looking as you would on a good hair day. My Make Up & Hair Stylist will be able to refine your hair style during the make up session. Should you require a change of style during your session such going from straight to curly, please let us know way before your session in order for us to cater for time accordingly. I strongly encourage that you bring a hair clip/pony tail holder if you have long hair.

I do not recommend or encourage use of make up on my male clients unless that is a look you want. I encourage a little bit of clear lip balm to prevent chapped dry lips. I do have blotting paper on hand for my men should they have oily and shiny skin. Come as you like. If you have facial hair, feel free to come to your session as such. Bring your shaving kit if you would like some clean shaven look.

After your session I will review the images again making sure that I did not miss any awesome ones or cull some we already selected early during our session previews to give you a strong gallery. I will then make some minor tweaks to the exposure, tone, colour and minor spot removal of prominent visual blemishes.

I will prepare a watermarked proofing gallery with password protection for you to review the images again at your own leisure. From the proofing gallery, you are to choose up to 15 images that I will deliver in low resolution for your online usage with unlimited license. Should you decide to select some image(s) for a full retouching (ie: full skin retouching, bags under the eyes, take care of fly away hair, add volume to hair, adjustment of clothing, remove scars etc..). There will be an additional charge of $75 per image. The additional imges will be delivered in a 4 x 5 format for you to print and also in a square format web ready for your online use with unlimited license along with the others you selected.

I recommend that your headshots should be updated every 2 years or sooner if you make a drastic change in appearance. I do offer a $50 discount off my current rates to all of my returning clients off the total spent for their session.