photo sessions
And I mean this as a serious question. Do you think they are important?
I can tell you what I think — and my opinion is based not on the fact that taking these photographs are part of what I do for a living — but more of a life-long observation about how our society functions.
(yeah. I’m about to go serious. brace yourselves! ::grin::)
So. Many of us have had the experience of being thin and beautiful and then maybe not so much. Have you noticed how differently you are treated simply based on appearances? Or…what if you leave the house looking ratty vs. all amazing and cute. Difference?
And yeah. I can also see that looking good impacts your attitude and the way you carry yourself and all that inner beauty stuff. But I am simply observing that appearances have impact. On everyone.
So do I think headshots are important? Yup. With the economy being what it is, with people competing for jobs in ever greater numbers…with judgment about your business being made in an instant on the internet…have you looked at your bounce rate lately? That tells you something. Important.
Images are CRITICAL. CRITICAL.
They tell someone a lot about you in a glance…things like…do you look approachable? likeable? happy? intelligent?
Are the images professional (nods to self ::grin::)? And within that word professional there are many many different levels. If you are presenting yourself to the world…why in heaven’s name would you put up blah images? What does that say to others about how you view yourself?
And I am not by any stretch giving you a Tammy Swales “hire me” plug. All I’m doing is expressing what I think about the importance of images. We are a visual society. We’re impatient. We don’t wait or ponder or get wishy washy much anymore. We’re decisive and make snap decisions.
Trust me. If an interviewer or recruiter or Broadway show director is faced with a pile of 500 resumes with images attached…do you think they’re going to read every single one? Nope. Betcha that they flip through the images first. Is it right? Nope. Is it real? Yup.
A good photographer, an experienced photographer both understands this dynamic — but works with the client to make sure they are being presented in the best possible … um if you’ll pardon the pun… light. Your personality and self are what’s important. Getting that into a photograph is a major MAJOR skill. It’s not the camera people. Trust me.
So I ask you…how do you want the world to see yourself?!
Four humans and four dogs?!
An absolute riot!!!
The Darlings were such an inspiring, close-knit family and a hands-down hilarious group. They along with their four furry friends had me laughing so hard I was almost crying the entire time I was shooting.
4 humans + 4 dogs officially = an incredibly fun family shoot!
And….and a great deal of teamwork to get everyone looking at the camera at once.
Thing is – I’ve learned this from Lulu – when you’re a dog the simplest things are sometimes the most thrilling things in the world…
GRASS!!!! OMG!!!! EVERYONE’S SITTING ON THE GRASS!!!!! OMG!!!!!
It’s so exciting.
But after much running around, calling, cooing, cajoling and otherwise convincing we finally got everyone to look…
Well…
…almost. 
9.03.2010
hot damn those photos are stunning. and you make wonderful points. I’m linking to this!