Why is it worth investing in a professional portrait?

You can only make a first impression once, not only in a face-to-face meeting, but also in the online world.

How you present yourself builds your personal brand, and not just when you post a resume, prepare a profile on linked-in, or present yourself as a business on the web, or reach out to voters on a billboard.

In today's online age full of influencers, more and more people are realizing this fact. Nowadays, many times we only see ourselves online, and it's photos that help us gain trust.

High quality, clean and professional photography not only represents you but also your company.

A portrait is like your logo, and that's why you should take the care and time you put into finding the right photographer.

A portrait photographer should not only be proficient in technique, lighting, but also a skilled psychologist who can put you at ease and coach you to the desired expression.

Yes you can take a selfie or ask a friend to take your picture. But it's always how much work and time you put in that will pay off.

Photography isn't about making a sale, it's about presenting you and selling you.

That's why it's not just about the photo, it's about expression, body position, lighting, background and clothing.

Ten minutes is not enough

Ten minutes is not enough to build trust and remove the fear of taking a photo and getting a quality output. It is recommended to complete a shoot of 2-3 hours. This is where you get used to the camera and the lights. It's time to change clothes, lighting style and background to get the best quality result. A large part of it is the coaching itself. Summarising and selecting the best bits is integral, so that when the photos are delivered you know exactly what you're getting and you get the highest quality.

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Jaroslav Beck - Musical composer

How you want to present yourself

The first question should be how you want to present yourself. That's why we go over several expressions, clothing and backgrounds and lighting styles with our clients. And everything has an impact.

As a basic expression you should have what is called an approachable business expression where you can have a slight smile. Then you don't have to be afraid to put that photo in a magazine or on a billboard. In addition, it is recommended to have this expression in both business and leisure wear. And then comes the variation of smiles from more open to conservative.

Imagine several thousand people a day judging you by your profile picture. Do you really want to present yourself with a vacation photo in a swimsuit?

What styles of photos are appropriate for you?

Headshot - portrait only, here the emphasis is on expression. Clothes, attitude and background do not play a big role.

Martin Jaroš - Marketing Specialist

Portrait - a wider photograph that also shows part of the body, up to about the waist. Here you can also influence the impression by using your posture and clothing.

Jirka Král - Influencer

Stylized Portrait - If you are in a certain area of business, it is possible to reflect that in your photography. Usually this style of photo is not suitable as a profile photo, but it is suitable for social media and magazines where you want to show a different, more approachable side of yourself.

Dominika Býmová - Actor

Environmental portrait - Or a portrait in the environment. The only time you are photographed in your "natural environment" This means that if you are a business owner, you are photographed in offices, production areas, or outdoors. The use is mainly for the web, social media and magazines.

Lukáš Poláček - tattoo artist

Let yourself be guided, but say what you expect.

To get the best result, it's a good idea to let the photographer know in advance where you'll be placing the photos and what the overall impression should be. The photographer should recommend a style and everything else based on this information.

We place great emphasis on coaching the person being photographed. No one is born a model, but with the right guidance you can become one.

And with a gentle approach you will stop being afraid of the shoot. And from now on, you will always be a star in front of the camera.

So investing in portrait photography should be one of the things you should not take lightly. A good quality portrait makes you look more impressive and professional in the eyes of recruiters and future employers, and brings confidence in your abilities. A portrait is an investment that will bring you much more money later than the initial deposit.

Look at your becoming portrait and critically tell yourself, if you were on the other side would you be confident?

If you are interested in a consultation or new photographs please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Microsoft - Corporate Portraits

"Recently I had the pleasure to be selected to shoot profile pictures of Microsoft employees in Prague as a part of their benefit program"

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Goal was simple - shoot 40 people in 3 days - first 2 days it was 16 and last day 8.

25 minutes for each of them - makeup and coaching altogether only to get 1 final image for them to use - confident yet approachable.

This plan proved to be quite a challenge - mostly mental. Shooting 16 people a day, getting them relaxed is always a game of judgement - these are not models (most of them are not looking forward to standing in front of a camera). At the end of the day I was a drained husk.

However when I am looking at the final images now I feel happy.

I also had to include few images into my own portfolio - these however are not what I call confident yet approachable. In the past few months I started gravitating towards more interesting expressions - everyone can identify with someone smiling in the picture. Images below are expressions that got me thinking - what is this person thinking?

My selects:

Some behind the scenes:

Commercial Portraiture Photoshoot - Young & Rubicam

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"Persuing personal projects will get you more work."

Beginning of April I was approached by an agency Young & Rubicam Prague to create series of portraits (headshots) for a client Ceska Pojistovna. It was given to specifically because of my previous engagement in the Agency where I've discussed with their producer my personal work - headshots. I've had a lot of experience in pulling the best out of people when they're in front of the camera.

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 My advice is this, pursue your personal work, do what you want to do, not what others want you to.

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I know there's a compromise in everything and you have to put the food on the table. But in the long run, this is what will define you to the others.

We had to search for models first, in the first round I've selected my favorites from a wider selection that YR Agency had provided me, the next round was a personal callback, luckily Agency Dos Amigos from Prague had great selection of models so picking the right ones was easy.

I wasn't given a specific direction on how to approach the lighting, only a few hints so when the shoot day was coming I had several ideas in my mind how to light it.

Here I've provided a lighting diagram that I've used:

Setup is this: Canon 5DS with 100mm L lens, Large octa for main light (camera right), large strip box (camera left) for fill. Two smaller stripboxes rougly 45 degree angle behind the subject. Reflector directly behind the subject to lighten up the background and to create a subtle gradient. And lastly medium softbox on a boom for hair light - behind the subject, tilted down approx 45 degrees.

Not the easiest setup to pull off but the result is worth it.

Check a quick video:

Behind the scenes photos:

Final images