Saturday, March 28, 2009
Lanta Metro Bus Ad
Friday, March 27, 2009
How to Look your Best and be Remembered with a Simple Business Portrait
~How to look your best and be remembered with a simple business portrait~
By Frank Mitman Photographer
Digital Photographic Imaging
We are living in a visual society. Almost all of our buying decisions are based upon what we see and how we react to that image. Professional people who provide a service are their own product and it is a marketing mistake not to visually represent that product, you, at it’s best. If you don’t have your business portrait on your business card or on your website you should; you really should.
Your business portrait helps make you real and approachable, and it gives your clients and potential clients a much easier way to remember you then trying to remember just your name. Let’s face it; few people have good name recall.
Don’t avoid the process because you don’t feel you photograph well. Good photographers know how to make you look your best and can provide a bit of retouching to reduce any image concerns. Remember every celebrity and model allows a bit of retouching to provide a cleaner presentation.
Don’t even think of trying to represent yourself with an amateur portrait. Don’t have your best friend, Susan, snap a picture with a point and shoot camera, or have good old shutterbug, Uncle Al, dust off his old 35mm camera. Almost all amateur photographers do not understand lighting and do not have the necessary high-end digital camera equipment and lighting equipment to create a professional, polished portrait. It takes specialized knowledge to create a portrait that looks professional and natural and will reproduce well in a magazine, newspaper or on the web. You wouldn’t ask your Uncle Al to do your hair or put on your make up.
**A few tips for better portraits**
~Choose your clothing carefully~
Remember an outfit in style today may look embarrassingly obsolete in a few short months. Bring a few clothing changes to the session. Along with any contemporary garment, make sure you bring a classic outfit that will not go out of style. Men – bring a dark suit coat, dress shirt and tie. Women – bring a classic tailored business suit, blouse or dress. We recommend you bring garments with solid colors. Avoid any garment that will pull the viewer’s eye away from your face. For a slimming effect choose darker colors and avoid sleeveless outfits. If you have trouble selecting the appropriate outfit bring more than enough choices to the session and the photographer will help you finalize your selection. If you wear a uniform or other identifiable garment that represents your profession, definitely have a few photos taken in your clean work outfit.
~Take care of your complexion and remember to smile~
Although retouching is either included with your sitting, or offered as an option, it is best to start with the cleanest possible complexion. Even though imperfections may be removed in the final image you will feel more confident with a clean, well-groomed look. It is usually better to allow the studio to digitally remove any blemishes than to apply too much makeup to cover up the problem area. Bring your makeup and hair products, but remember, the goal for your makeup is to create a clean and natural look. While a suntan, natural or artificial, may appear pleasant to the eye it may create some photographic concerns. Tan lines will appear more pronounced and the skin tone may photograph uneven. Most photographers recommend minimum sun exposure during the few weeks before your session.
Posture matters. Sit tall and comfortable with your shoulders back and relax. Look at the camera lens and smile. Remember; people respond to pleasant people. Try not to over smile. Think about smiling with your eyes. Ask to see a test photo. Most professional photographers will be happy to show you a test shot so you can double check hair and make up and see how you are presenting yourself.
~Arrive a bit early~
Arrive a few minutes before your appointment time. This will give you time to relax before your session and will give you time to touch up your makeup, change your clothing and fix your hair.
~Bring props if appropriate~
Props may not work for everybody, but with the right profession a simple prop helps reinforce and position in your client’s mind what you do. If you are a doctor it may not be a bad idea to casually hold a stethoscope. Be careful with props. The wrong use of a prop can look forced and artificial.
~Allow enough time~
Don’t schedule other activities too close to your sitting time. Even though your sitting may only take a half an hour please allow at least an hour and a half for your session. You will never look your best if you force the photographer to hurry or if you are anxious because you have to rush off to another appointment.
~Typical image requirements~
Most publications request digital images prepped approximately to the size they will appear in the publication at 300 pixels per inch and saved as a TIFF or maximum quality JPEG file. Images prepped for Web reproduction do not print well. Make sure you supply an image file at the right size and resolution.
Digital Photographic Imaging
We are living in a visual society. Almost all of our buying decisions are based upon what we see and how we react to that image. Professional people who provide a service are their own product and it is a marketing mistake not to visually represent that product, you, at it’s best. If you don’t have your business portrait on your business card or on your website you should; you really should.
Your business portrait helps make you real and approachable, and it gives your clients and potential clients a much easier way to remember you then trying to remember just your name. Let’s face it; few people have good name recall.
Don’t avoid the process because you don’t feel you photograph well. Good photographers know how to make you look your best and can provide a bit of retouching to reduce any image concerns. Remember every celebrity and model allows a bit of retouching to provide a cleaner presentation.
Don’t even think of trying to represent yourself with an amateur portrait. Don’t have your best friend, Susan, snap a picture with a point and shoot camera, or have good old shutterbug, Uncle Al, dust off his old 35mm camera. Almost all amateur photographers do not understand lighting and do not have the necessary high-end digital camera equipment and lighting equipment to create a professional, polished portrait. It takes specialized knowledge to create a portrait that looks professional and natural and will reproduce well in a magazine, newspaper or on the web. You wouldn’t ask your Uncle Al to do your hair or put on your make up.
**A few tips for better portraits**
~Choose your clothing carefully~
Remember an outfit in style today may look embarrassingly obsolete in a few short months. Bring a few clothing changes to the session. Along with any contemporary garment, make sure you bring a classic outfit that will not go out of style. Men – bring a dark suit coat, dress shirt and tie. Women – bring a classic tailored business suit, blouse or dress. We recommend you bring garments with solid colors. Avoid any garment that will pull the viewer’s eye away from your face. For a slimming effect choose darker colors and avoid sleeveless outfits. If you have trouble selecting the appropriate outfit bring more than enough choices to the session and the photographer will help you finalize your selection. If you wear a uniform or other identifiable garment that represents your profession, definitely have a few photos taken in your clean work outfit.
~Take care of your complexion and remember to smile~
Although retouching is either included with your sitting, or offered as an option, it is best to start with the cleanest possible complexion. Even though imperfections may be removed in the final image you will feel more confident with a clean, well-groomed look. It is usually better to allow the studio to digitally remove any blemishes than to apply too much makeup to cover up the problem area. Bring your makeup and hair products, but remember, the goal for your makeup is to create a clean and natural look. While a suntan, natural or artificial, may appear pleasant to the eye it may create some photographic concerns. Tan lines will appear more pronounced and the skin tone may photograph uneven. Most photographers recommend minimum sun exposure during the few weeks before your session.
Posture matters. Sit tall and comfortable with your shoulders back and relax. Look at the camera lens and smile. Remember; people respond to pleasant people. Try not to over smile. Think about smiling with your eyes. Ask to see a test photo. Most professional photographers will be happy to show you a test shot so you can double check hair and make up and see how you are presenting yourself.
~Arrive a bit early~
Arrive a few minutes before your appointment time. This will give you time to relax before your session and will give you time to touch up your makeup, change your clothing and fix your hair.
~Bring props if appropriate~
Props may not work for everybody, but with the right profession a simple prop helps reinforce and position in your client’s mind what you do. If you are a doctor it may not be a bad idea to casually hold a stethoscope. Be careful with props. The wrong use of a prop can look forced and artificial.
~Allow enough time~
Don’t schedule other activities too close to your sitting time. Even though your sitting may only take a half an hour please allow at least an hour and a half for your session. You will never look your best if you force the photographer to hurry or if you are anxious because you have to rush off to another appointment.
~Typical image requirements~
Most publications request digital images prepped approximately to the size they will appear in the publication at 300 pixels per inch and saved as a TIFF or maximum quality JPEG file. Images prepped for Web reproduction do not print well. Make sure you supply an image file at the right size and resolution.
iSTOCK
I'm a member on iStockphoto now. I'll be looking for models to photograph lifestyle images TFP or TFCD.
Official Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs Photographer!
Before 2008 ended the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs contacted me to ask if I would be their official Photographer. How awesome! We are all super excited here at the studio! We'll be at all 72 home games. We'll be photographing all the fans, players, and all the events! We can't wait for Opening Day! I'll keep you posted...
Readers' Choice 2008
Thank you note I put in the paper
Thank you for selecting Frank Mitman of Digital Photographic Imaging for Best Photographer in the 2008 Readers Choice awards.
Our goal is to provide you with the best quality product while making the buying experience easy and pleasant.
We are different: We produce distinctive portraiture and high quality commercial images in a comfortable, casual and friendly environment. There are no hidden fees or up charges. Retouching is included with all print orders and you will receive in your portrait collection exactly what you want without having to endure high-pressure sales tactics. And our prices are fair and available for all to view on our website.
Thank you again from all of us at Digital Photographic Imaging for appreciating the way our studio conducts business.
Sincerely,
Frank Mitman Photographer
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
You're Invited!
It's our first post! We've been so busy with photo shoots we haven't had time to start a blog. But we will try our best to make this part of our routine. Within a few days you will see many post from past dates. If we are excited about it even though it happened a year ago you'll see it soon. We have so much to post! So little time! We are starting to get into our busy time! Happy blogging!
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