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This seems like a pretty dry topic, and I’ll provide some basic tips in a bit, but I’d like to start with a suggestion that might not seem so obvious: Prepare to have fun.

What? Fun? Headshots? Isn’t there a formula or something? Well, sort of, but as much as lighting and clothing matter, what really makes a portrait is active involvement on the part of the subject, and if it’s not there, the photographer can’t Photoshop it in. Even when the goal is a business-like demeanor, if you’re having fun doing it, it shows up in your eyes and the relaxed appearance of your face in a way that presents you as someone who’s accessible, self-assured, and interesting to talk to.

Think of your portrait session not as a trip to the dentist, but as play time where you can invent, like an actor, the character you want to present. That character may or may not be who you feel you really are. You might be a party animal who wants to look “respectable”. Or, you might be a shy person who wants to look like a leader. It’s up to you. The key thing is to realize that your mental image of yourself doesn’t encompass all the versions of you who actually show up in all the various moments of your life and that you can choose whichever version you want to show. Have fun with it, and your portraits will really look alive.

As for the rest, here are a few practical nuts & bolts tips.

Clothing -

Choose clothing that matches the character you’re playing. A bit of color can help, even if your character is conservative. For clothing that is close to your face or next to your skin, choose tones that are somewhat, but not radically, lighter or darker than your skin tone. No white shirts on anybody, and no black shirts on light-skinned folks. Avoid wearing white as an outer garment, as this will vanish against a white background and glare against a black one. Keep patterns simple and subtle unless you’re going for a “wild” look. Avoid clothing with large blocks of text on it. Wear shoes in which you can stand and move comfortably - tippy stilettos may make it hard to relax, especially if you’re on soft carpet.

Makeup -

Makeup looks different to a camera than to the naked eye. Bright colors may appear stronger in a photo, so if you wear makeup, tone it down just a bit compared to your target look. If you’re using foundation or powder, keep it subtle and pay particular attention to taming bright spots on your nose, cheeks and forehead. Even without anything else, blotting paper and a little powder can make a huge difference. Your photographer will try to minimize bright spots by using soft lighting, but shiny skin is one of the biggest technical challenges.

Useful things to bring - 

• Blotting paper and/or powder for last-minute shine reduction
• Comb or brush for tidying hair
• Lint brush or roller for clothing
• Outer layers (e.g. sweaters, jackets, shawls)
• Alternative neckties
• Cloth to clean your glasses

That’s it. Let’s play!

What prompted me to write this article was a computer meltdown of my own while I was on a month-long trip. The prospect of being without my computer and all the information & photos therein for weeks was too terrible to contemplate. Now, many of you have probably lost the occasional document or photo or email, but in my case it was the entire drive in my laptop that just…stopped. No signs of life. No recovering the data with a utility. Silence. It was a 4-year-old SSD that decided it had done enough work, thank you very much, and was ready for The Long Sleep.

If it had held the only copy of my data, I’d have been toast. And, even though I had backups at home, they were thousands of miles away. Fortunately, I had created a digital doctor kit that had everything I needed to get back up and running as if nothing had happened. Here’s how you can create a digital doctor kit of your own that can stop Armageddon and fit in your pocket. I use a Mac, so I’ll describe the tools for Macs, but the concepts apply equally to Windows PCs.

What's in the digital doctor kit

A portable drive containing:

1. An up-to-date mirror-image copy (“clone”) of your “boot” drive (the one your computer uses to start up),
2. An incremental backup of changes to your data over time,
3. Software utilities for repairing damaged data on a drive, and
4. Installers for your operating system and mission-critical applications.

AIDS Memorial Day 2015 in Almaty, KazakhstanAIDS Memorial Day 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan

AIDS Memorial Day 2015 in Almaty, KazakhstanAIDS Memorial Day 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan

AIDS Memorial Day 2015 in Almaty, KazakhstanAIDS Memorial Day 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Jacques documented for USAID its supported Dialogue on HIV and TB Project commemoration of International Memorial Day of People Who Died from AIDS in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The challenge was to capture the spirit of the event without photographing any of the attendees, as privacy around the issue of HIV remains very sensitive.

You can see USAID's article here.

Word Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen congratulates a challenger at a First Move chess event held by America's Foundation for Chess, an organization that promotes chess in schools as a way of developing critical thinking skills.

[updated 2015-09-08]

Let’s face it - copyrights are not what you think about on weekends. It’s an obscure topic that most people, even some photographers, don’t consider until it’s time to draft a contract. In this article, I’ll briefly outline the basic issues and options so that you, as a photo buyer, can be sure that you’re getting what you need and not paying for things you don’t.

When you hire a photographer, one of the things you’re paying for - along with production expenses, shoot fees, postproduction time, and sometimes equipment rental - is a set of rights to use the photos. There are two basic approaches here: buy the images outright (a “buyout”) or pay just for rights to use the images in specific ways (“licensing”).

I look forward to working with them again at their upcoming "Naked Negotiating" event on September 13 at the Hilton Stamford Hotel.

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- Steve

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First, consult on timing with your photography provider as soon as you have a rough schedule of the event. This way you can discuss how best to allocate coverage time and exactly what kind of shots you need in each situation. An experienced event photographer can help you anticipate where scheduling bottlenecks are likely to occur and suggest ways to avoid them. In addition, you'll have the opportunity to arrange for additional photographers if there is simply too much going on for one photographer to cover well.

Second, allow enough time for each subject. Our rule of thumb is a minimum of 15 minutes in each room for a single subject. This is because it takes time to cover a speaker from several angles, get wide shots, close-up shots, room shots and audience reaction shots, and make enough photos to ensure that the speaker's eyes are open and mouth is closed. It also helps to wait for gestures to add some visual excitement. This can't be done by just walking in and taking a few shots from the back of the room. Plus, if the lighting in a session room is dim or unflattering (e.g. most hotel conference rooms), it may be necessary for the photographer to set up a small additional flash at the side of the room to supplement the flash on the camera. This helps by lighting the room evenly and preventing unflattering dark shadows under people's eyes. It takes a minute or two and makes a huge difference.

Third, consider hiring additional photographers for peak times. If you only need photos of one speaker in each of three simultaneous one-hour sessions, and if the rooms are close to each other, a single photographer may be able to cover it. However, If you've got multiple simultaneous panel discussions and you need photos of each panelist speaking, a photographer will probably need to stay in one room for the entire session. In this case, you may want additional photographers to ensure adequate coverage of each session.

We know that budgets are tight and extra coverage is not always an option. Consulting with your photography provider in advance enables him or her to ensure that you'll get the coverage you need and quality you'll be happy with.

Since 2008 the Direct Marketing Association has hired Happening Photos to document many of their events. This summer I photographed their annual New York Nonprofit conference at the Grand Hyatt New York. More than 600 fundraising and marketing professionals were on hand to exchange ideas and generate creative fundraising solutions. You can view more of our photos from this event in our recent work gallery.

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by Steve

Here's how I adapted my technique to the space to get the lighting I wanted. First, the main light had diffusion material on the front, so I was able to position it right up close, within 3' of the subject. This helped to minimize the amount of light bouncing all over the room and landing where I didn't want it. Second, I positioned the subject close to a white wall so some of the main light would bounce back and fill in the shadows. Third, as there was no space to position the hair light above him and I couldn't bounce it off the ceiling without also lighting up the backdrop, I tucked it between him and the wall and aimed it at a point on the wall above and behind his head so the light would create a gentle rimlight on his head and shoulder. Finally, I used a relatively wide lens aperture so that I could position him close to the backdrop and still have the backdrop somewhat out of focus.

And voilà. One of the things I like about working on location is that every job presents new challenges, and coming up with the right solutions is oh so satisfying.

by Jacques

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This is the first of our planned quarterly updates. We'd like to tell you about our recent work, our new referral incentive program, and our online service expansion.

Thanks for coming back! This year started out with a bang for us, with several multi-day conferences, a couple of new industry-leading clients, and stepped-up demand from familiar ones. We've maintained a customer loyalty ratio of over 95%, with almost all of last year's clients coming back to us again this year, and a couple more coming back after a recession-induced hiatus. This is great news because it indicates that 1) our clients are happy with our work, and 2) economic conditions have improved. 

Now you can get us for free! We're implementing a new referral incentive program to reward you for helping us make new friends. When you refer a new client to us, we will give them a 10% discount on the first job, and we will credit your account with the same amount, to be applied to future work we do for you. For example, if a new client you've introduced hires us for $5,000 of conference coverage, we'll give them a $500 discount and give you $500 of free work the next time you need us. We love our work, and if you can help us do more of it, we'd like to return the favor.

Client galleries are now searchable! Last year we massively upgraded our website in order to offer you a whole suite of new online services, including searchable photo galleries of unlimited size, online print ordering, and customized galleries for event guests. This has worked really well for some of our nonprofit clients' fundraisers, as it allows guests to view photos and order souvenir prints online and frees staff from the burden of fielding requests. Another added value for our clients is the ability to locate specific photos by typing the name of an event, session, location, or individual in the search field.

Our "recent work" gallery beckons! As part of our ongoing effort to make our website more informative and useful, we've added a "recent work" gallery which features our favorite photos from each of several recent projects. We hope you'll drop in to see what we're up to, comment on specific galleries or photos, and leave feedback in our guestbook.

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