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Oh No! They're Asking For a Picture of Me!
You need a photo of
yourself for your web site, a conference brochure, a magazine article or a press kit. For
god's sake hire a professional photographer and don't try to save money by using
your cousin who likes to take pictures. What kind of picture will work? What should you
wear? What should you be shown doing? What will it cost?
According to widely published New York
photographer Susan Johann, the best picture is the one that captures the most personality.
The CEO might pick the photo in which he or she looks the handsomest or the youngest,
Johann says, but that's wrong. The photo to use is the one that captures the most
personality.
Don't put on a suit because you're
having your picture taken. Dress in a way appropriate to your situation, Johann advises.
"If I shoot a theatrical producer," she says, "he might be surrounded by a
pile of submitted scripts or on stage under a spotlight. I shot the president of a
fast-growing high-tech company looking into a crystal ball." An experienced
photographer will help you to relax in your office or his/her studio. Always ask the
photographer her concept for the shoot to be sure you are in agreement with it.
Executive portrait photographer Alan Veldenzer
notes that you need a different kind of photo for a web site than for a print medium. A
photo with perfect tones that could hang in a museum but couldn't reproduce well in a low
resolution online, won't work. No one will want to wait for your perfect photo to
download, so don't make it too large or complicated.
The photographer always should eliminate such
props as telephones, electronic equipment and cars. What looks high-tech today might not
in two years. Not showing a specific piece of equipment might improve the shelf-life of a
photo.
"I make the people I photograph active
participants in the process...we achieve the goal together," Veldenzer says. "I
talk with them about what they do. It lets me observe them. Actually pushing the button of
the shutter may be a very small part of the process. Getting to know the person is much
more important!"
I interviewed Texas Governor John Bush when he ran a stock investment company. I found out he'd danced on Broadway! I got him to do some dance steps and that turned out to be the portrait. He started to teach me some basic dance steps after I asked him about dancing. I gave him a circumstance he could control and that allowed him to relax. A professional photographer will come to your office or home, suggest an appropriate location or have you come to her studio. A shoot for an executive portrait will take anywhere from half an hour to half a day, and cost anywhere from $150 to $3,500, depending on how stellar the photographer. While you may not agree to having full make-up done, make sure the shine is powdered off your face (or your bald head.) Bring more than one shirt, dress, sweater, jacket, tie, scarf to allow for variety in the shoot. The photographer will shoot several rolls of film during a session. Later, you'll be shown an edited bunch of the best shots and helped to pick the ones to use, Johann notes. And of course, if the only thing you notice about photos of yourself is your baggy eyes or double chin, there's always PhotoShop.
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