My sisters were my first models. Ever since I picked up the camera in high school, they have been there for me to photograph and to experiment. The days of us just shooting for fun and experimentation seem long gone though. With all of us busy and getting older with more responsibilities, we don’t have time to shoot just for fun anymore.
My sister lives in New York for the last 6 years and with her visiting only a few times a year, I hadn’t made a point to do some updated portraits of her. Luckily for both of us the opportunity arose a few months ago when she came to visit for my birthday and asked me to take some new headshots for her revamped website.
Of course I happily obliged and what turned out to be a headshot session turned into a full on portrait shoot.
We started with headshots in the white outfit, then she changed to something she would wear everyday. Those I decided to shoot with a very “lifestyle” vibe. More full body, but like she was just hanging at home. We were joking and I told her “you know you look like a famous author or designer with these shots.”
My objective with ALL of my sessions is for the subject to come through. For their own uniqueness and style to translate. I always aim for friendly, confident and trustworthy. Those are (for me) the most important feelings to come across when shooting a headshot. Especially for someone’s website and bio photo. You want their audience to trust them in whatever it is they do best.
My sister who is a kick ass makeup and hair stylist in New York City needed a bio photo not only to translate her talent but her approach to beauty as well.
With both the headshots and portraits, I think we achieved both.
If I saw these photos, I would definitely trust my face in her hands! You can see how flawless she looks! I barely edited these photos because her makeup and skin was perfect.
Good lighting of course helps tremendously too. 🙂
In post production, I decided to desaturate a few, added some light coloring to others, and a couple just felt right in black and white. Depending on the vibe and pose, I usually know what I want to go with pretty quickly.
After shooting her headshots we went toward a very fashion forward vibe.
These are some of my favorite photos I have taken in a while. I think you can see a range of her personality here.
From, very soft and friendly to intense and direct.
With different clothing, lighting and hair, every shoot can go from one feeling to the next in a matter of minutes.
All it takes is a great synergy between the subject and photographer; Which we had in abundance that day !
And with some assistance from my friend and her boyfriend, the shoot was more successful than we were hoping.
She loves the headshots and she said the portraits were “an unexpected surprise.”
It is really nice to have a friend or family member that can bring out the best in you and make you feel beautiful isn’t it ?
I’m glad we both know we can do that for each other.