Time For a Professional Headshot

With the world’s ever more digital presence, a professional headshot I not just nice to have, it is a necessity. Investing in a professional headshot is an investment in yourself, which is an investment your personal brand. Think about how many places your headshot will go. It will have far reaching implications in today’s social media, digital landscape.

To truly invest in yourself and your brand, you need a professional headshot. A professional photographer can help make you look your best. Proper posing, proper background and proper lighting can all add up to creating your personal brand.

Professional photographers can advise on clothes and color for you. My personal recommendation is based upon on what your career is. Be cognizant your normal career work environment and choose clothing appropriate. If you are a doctor or a nurse, wear your lab coat. If you are a river rafting guide, then you should wear what you might wear when guiding your clients. Business people should wear business attire, suits and ties for me and proper business attire for women. In general, solids are much better than overly busy patterns. For men, crisp white shirts and a nice pop of color with the tie are perfect. Talk with your photographer and come up with a plan for your outfit.

You may still be wondering why? Or maybe how often should I update my headshot?

My recommendation is every 18 months, 24 months at the latest. We all are getting older so we constantly look different. Have you ever seen a headshot of someone and then met them in person? Was it obvious they had their photo from years ago?  A current headshot gives your viewer a true representation of who you are.

Getting a good headshot can also help people you met briefly a reminder of who you are or who they are. It can be a visual trigger, making it easier to say yes to connect on a social network.

A good headshot portrays your personality, can make you more approachable or shows your seriousness. Yours should portray who you are. Smile or serious, the choice is yours and should show how you want others to look at you.

A proper headshot shows your professionalism. This may make it easier for you to gain new clients, new contacts, and investors or make a good first impression when looking for that new job on LinkedIn.

Speaking of LinkedIn, what is the first thing people see when they look at your profile? Your photo!

A good headshot can help you stand out from the crowd. This is a key in today’s world.

Find a photographer you are comfortable with and work with your photographer to create the best headshot for you. Then, schedule the proper amount of time to have your headshot taken. I know from experience, if you are rushed, your photographer will feel rushed. I personally would like to spend about an hour just in the photography side with each and every person, especially if I have just met that person. I want to be able to connect to whomever I am photographing. A new client should get more of my time, so I can connect with him or her. When my client is comfortable with me and I am comfortable with the client that is when I can get the true personality into the headshot. Time is often an issue, but investing that time will be well worth it in the long run.

You don’t need to be a top executive anymore. Everyone professional needs one. I encourage you to find a professional photographer to help you create yours. Please let me know if I can help you create yours.

Brand Awareness and Marketing with Photography in the Digital Age

Today, I commented on the Oakland Raiders twitter feed about David Carr practicing. Nothing unusual about a QB getting ready for the next game. What I did, is blast the Raiders for the photo they used. See below.

My statement was about the photo itself and the poor quality of the image. This has nothing to do with the fans, believe me, I heard a lot from the Raider fans. They are as passionate about their team as anyone. For that I give those fans much respect. Those same passionate fans deserve better than this crappy cell phone photo. I know the Raiders have a team photographer. So why would the Raiders not use their team photographer for this tweet. They said "We endeavor to provide immediate updates from the field and inform fans of newsworthy moments."

Makes sense, and I agree with them completely on this matter. However, if the news is this important, wouldn't it be in the best interest of the Raiders, the NFL and their fans to get the best possible image of this newsworthy event? I think so.

In this day and age of instant information, high speed networks and the ability of photographers to transmit images quickly, it should not be a problem to take the 10 or 15 minutes necessary to get a much better quality image out. Quicker does not always mean better, in fact, it rarely does.

The Raiders and the NFL should know better, after all it is their product. Brand awareness is key in the digital age. Even with an NFL team.

So take the necessary time to get it right.

Devaluation of Photography

Have you ever heard the phrase: "It's just a photo"?
   I do...all the time. It's just a part of the devaluation of photography and photographers. Now that cameras are everywhere, it's an epidemic of poor images filtering into the mainstream consciousness. Where images that are "good enough" are used in place of hiring the trained professionals to create the proper images.
  I must send out two or three quotes a week and I always hear the same thing. "Why is it so much?  It's just a photo."
  As a commercial photographer it is not "just a photograph". It is the key to my clients brand and image. Good photography can separate brands in an ever more knowledgeable consumer base. The proper photograph has the power to make a brand or a product. The top companies in the world seem to understand and they hire the best photographers(or animators) to make their product/brand stand apart. That is not to say everyone has their budget, but with a little research and a little knowledge even a small company can increase their brand awareness with better photography.
  Look at it this way, if Uncle Jim is willing to take a photo of your Wine Bottle in his basement with some lights he purchased at his local Menard's and using his Rebel for $100.
  Then, your local professional photographer is willing to photograph that same Wine Bottle in a studio setting, make a proper clipping path, correct lighting, and high quality Canon 1DX for $200.
  Which would you rather have?

I can remember years ago, when I was photographing weddings, I could command a nice day rate for proper wedding photos. Now, not that I want to shoot weddings, I could not even get half of what I use to. This is all do to : "I have a friend who can take photos." or "My uncle has a nice camera."
I really feel for professional wedding photographers, brutal business these days. I actually had someone who told me she would just have all her friends take photos on their iPhone.
Really, your wedding and you are going to have iPhone photos...ok, good luck with that.

New Digital Creation

I haven't been doing a whole lot of my own personal photography lately. I did however find some time to create a new digital piece. This came about as I was reading a sports story and for some reason this came to mind. I do have some photography ideas I am working on, but not likely to start on them until next year. fortunately, that's only a month or so away. Until then, just chillin.

Maternity Special

Book your maternity session for January or February 2013 and get your image creation fee for only $20.13 and savings of $204.87. All sessions must be completed by February 28, 2013. Valid effective dates of this program are November 30, 2012 through February 14, 2013. No other discounts apply, offer limited to one per person or family. Session will be in studio only sessions, on location sessions will require an additional travel fee. Sessions are available on a 1st come 1st serve basis, and available dates are limited. Please email me if you have questions:  todd@toddtaulman.com

Comfy Casual

I was able to shoot a long awaited set today, with a local girl; Christy Mack. Started off a bit rough for her, as her car lost a tire on the way over. But like a true pro, she stuck it out and we were able to complete the shoot as scheduled. Here is a sample from the shoot.
Rarely with me, do I find that the images turn out exactly as I had thought of them in my head, but I do think that these today were right on to my original idea. So a big thanks to Christy for sticking it out and making the shoot a complete success.

Ah Hockey......

I was able to photograph one of my favorites sports on April 9th down in Florida...hockey. This was the 1st time I had the chance to photograph a hockey game. I love this sport, the speed, the power and the athletes today are just very impressive. I am looking forward to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here's one of my shots from the game. I will post more on my website this coming weekend.
Todd Taulman Photography Portfolio