I met Bonnie through my networking group at the end of July. Before I’d even finished introducing myself she was on board and handing me a referral slip, and then promptly telling me she hates all photos of her. It’s an interesting mix, that. She’s handing me a referral slip before even seeing evidence of my work and also telling me she’ll hate the results. How exactly does one process that? And how was I going to give her a natural headshot that not only served the purpose of her hypnotherapy business, but also fulfilled my own goal of giving her photos that she not only won’t hate but actually like?

Natural headshots are something I embrace – gone are the days of a cold, corporate headshot in which a photographer just plugs in a new subject, clicks, repeats, and delivers images without any personality. Bonnie’s a practitioner in a natural field, so for her I wanted to create an even more natural scene. We started in my home studio but I didn’t feel like I was pulling out of her exactly what I wanted to see – her. So I suggested we head out to her property out in Helvetia with a red barn and woods. The way she spoke about her home told me a lot about her. And the very first frame I took at her house confirmed my guesses. She’s most comfortable in her own environment. She pulls energy from her woods, and that’s exactly where the best photos from her shoot came. I love photographing in the studio, controlling the light just so and shaping it around you. But my primary goal is a full and well-rounded set of images.

Seeing Bonnie in the studio a week later trying to narrow the images down was all the reward I needed. She came in and fully expected to dislike every last image. She started filtering through the images, apologizing for her pickiness. I of course reminded her that’s her job, to be picky about herself. We all are! So she went from 30 to 12, 12 to 8 and then started really having trouble going from 8 to 3 for her three headshots. She did in the end, but it took time. And at one point, during that time, she laughed at herself. She really thought it would be easy to pick a few and forget about the rest. I exceeded her expectations. And for that, I’ll keep on.

Sara is one of my very dear friends and these portraits are a gift to her in helping her celebrate a new take on life. You see, she’s spent the last several years in a ton of pain. She has adult hip dysplasia and after three major, in-bed-for-weeks surgeries she’s finally starting to feel like a bit more of a normal person again. She hasn’t been capable of her previous level of activity in quite some time and as you might expect, felt quite sluggish in her life of non-activity. And given her recent changes, there’s never been a better time for modern glamour photos in Portland while visiting us last month!

These days, she’s still in a bit of nerve pain. And she probably always will be. But she can take her dog on mile long walks around the hills of San Francisco and enjoy it. And she can go out dancing and enjoying the single life again, something she hasn’t done in quite some time. And for the first time in several years, it’s not bone pain. It’s a whole new world for her out there and I couldn’t be more excited to see what she does next.

Meet Mekala, owner of Tie That Binds. She’s been the wedding industry’s go-to invitation and paper goods designer for quite a few years and I first worked with her on a wedding several years ago! By coincidence, we both ended up in Portland, Oregon and have kept in touch. I’m thrilled she asked me to help her with the visual side of creating a business profile with a combination Portland headshot session and studio profile of her little brick loft.

Mekala’s business marketing photos in Portland showcase a few things I love. First of all, her studio is so lovely! She’s styled it perfectly and it’s a great fit for her growing business. Coincidently, her own branding fits in closely with the branding on this site and reminds me how great minds think alike. And she’s a great success story as well, so it’s fun to be a part of her profile. She’s so creative as well – I watched her create bunting out of paper scraps from an old invitation suite while I walked around photographing little parts of the studio.

Is your business behind on their visual profile? Do you think your customer base would benefit from seeing a snippet of your business life? Maybe they’d appreciate a peek into how much fun you and your employees have while working hard for them? Ask about my business profile and headshot package!

Celia came to me with a request for very natural looking images she could use in marketing her business. She’s an acupuncturist and herbalist and loved the look she saw here, but didn’t want to be too made up since she has a very natural business. In addition, since she works with a lot of female clients and female issues, she asked if we could show off her own budding belly for her expanding family, of which I was happy to include for her!

We started with a lace and floral top, fitting with the herbal work she does. From there she changed into a maxi gown that she claimed made her look pregnant. I’m always nervous when I hear those words because as women, we often feel like we look different than we actually do. But she came out of the restroom and did the glowing pregnancy claim some serious justice. I noticed it the minute we started shooting – she just came alive in that dress and knew she looked great! This is my favorite part of any session, when my subject comes alive in front of the lens with confidence.

But in the end, even with a goal of natural photos, we both ended up loving the drama of the black. Funny, that. I’d say the black on black images have a very contemporary edge to them, very modern business headshots.