Effective Portraits

Reserving Your Session

Please call us so that we can discuss your needs and answer any questions you may have about our services and costs.  If you'd like a face-to-face, free consultation, let us know.  A deposit is required to book the actual session.  Your deposit (cash or credit card) will be equal to one half of the total cost of your session or $100, whichever is the lesser. 

Digital or Film?

Effective Portraits is equipped to shoot using both digital and film technologies.   Today, all of our headshots are shot using digital cameras and  we encourage our clients to consider digital for the other varieties of portraiture that we offer.  Digital provides some very real benefits for both the client and photographer.  Except when shooting on the move (outside and events), our  digital cameras are tethered to a portable computer as we shoot.  The images appear on the computer screen moments after the shot is taken.   You'll know right out of the starting blocks if your images are to your liking, and if not, we'll make the adjustments to get them there.  We will still shoot any kind of portraiture with film, even headshots, but this will elongate the turnaround time for your product and will likely increase price.

Shooting Style and Atmosphere

It's very difficult to produce a first-rate portrait with uneasy or self-conscious subjects.  Every serious portrait photographer knows that establishing rapport and relaxing the sitters is job number one.  We can't guarantee we'll put everybody at ease, but we'll sure try and we usually succeed.  We have also changed our preferred shooting style to help the process along. 

Before digital photography matured, we shot our portraits almost exclusively with medium-format-film cameras.  These manual beasts delivered incredible image quality, but  were best suited to a slow and deliberate style of portraiture.  Every image in our Black and White Portrait Gallery was shot in this manner and most of them come across as formal and deliberate.   Today, we are leaning away from the formal style and shoot in a far more fluid and dynamic way thanks to digital.  Much of the posing is now done on the studio floor or using soft, modern props.    The difference in the images can be incredible: people come alive, inhibitions fade, and images come across as far more genuine and real.    

The Cameras (Do you really care?)

We use Fuji Professional single-lens-reflex digital cameras with Nikon lenses for digital.  Our 35mm film work is done with Nikon single-lens-reflex cameras, and medium-format (120) film is handled on the Mamiya RZ Pro II camera system.  If you need a portrait to cover the side of a building, we'll pull out our Toyo view camera.  Now, if you were neither bored nor bewildered by the last three sentences, please read on.

Lighting (It's important!)

Lighting is extremely important to the quality of your portrait.  Some very fine portraits have been created with cheap, optically-flawed cameras, but few, if any, with poor lighting.  We take special care to ensure that your portrait will not only be well lighted, but, whenever possible,  lighted to show your features to best advantage.  We accomplish this by using a variety of light shaping tools, both in the studio and when shooting outside.   

When shooting indoors, we create our lighting with studio electronic flash.  Unlike many studios that create all of their portraits with just two or maybe  three lighting units, often in a fixed positions, we prefer to use three or four units when the surroundings permit. This allows us to create portraits with a greater sense of depth and dimension.   Having additional lighting units has other advantages; we can light large, impressive interiors and include them in your family or corporate portrait. 

When shooting outside,  we attempt to use natural light to the fullest extent possible, supplementing it only when absolutely necessary.   Natural light can impart a wonderful soft glow that is hard to duplicate in a studio.  Finding a location that harnesses the natural light requires some experience and a bit of homework.  If you have a specific outdoor location in mind , we will likely need to check it out in advance of the scheduled shoot.  Not every location is appropriate and some adjustment in plans may be necessary.  

Makeup

Effective Portraits does not offer makeup services directly, but we will gladly refer you to a qualified makeup artist with availability in your session timeslot.  Retouching can do wonders, but it is no substitute for quality makeup.  If you choose to do your own makeup, select products that provide a matte finish and bring along plenty of powder for touchups. 

Viewing the results (on-line proofing, CDs, and prints)

Although we will be able to check shots periodically during the shoot when using digital, a full preview of all images will not be available on the day of the shoot (corporate, day-rate clients can contract for same-day availability).  After the digital shoot is completed, all images will be resized, and color and density corrected.  A set of low-resolution proof images will be posted to the internet and we will email you the URL, username, and password needed to access them.  You can pass on this access  info to agents, friends, and family.   For clients without internet access, we will create a CD (Compact Disk).  For those without computer or internet access,  we will supply proof prints for a modest fee. 

Retouching

After you have selected your final images, we will retouch the images as specified in your contract.  Samples of the retouched images will be forwarded (email users) to you for your approval.   We use the latest Adobe Photoshop software for our retouching and take the time necessary to make it look "real".  Our preference is to err on the side of too little retouching.  All original images are retained, so if you are not happy with the degree of retouching, we can start from scratch with your specific preferences in mind. 

Printing and Framing

Some say that we (portrait photographers) are in the business of selling memories.   That may be a bit of a cliché, but it really is true.  The prints we produce have to go the distance.  As a result, all of our final prints are produced by a professional lab that uses the latest generation of enhanced-life Kodak Endura professional photographic papers.   And, it's not just the paper that counts, but how it is processed.  I've (I was an I before I became a we) been using the same lab for over 11 years and the prints they made for me 11 years ago still look like new today.  They are not the fastest operation in the region, but they make great prints and  I know I can trust them.   There will be photographers who will herald their same day printing service; I am not one of them.  Your prints will be ready approximately one week after you give us the go-ahead for the retouching.  Protective spraying and canvas mounting are available for prints that will not be mounted under glass.

If you are a headshot or modeling-portfolio customer, we will do the layout for one headshot or one  composite card for no extra charge.  If you need a bulk reproduction of your headshot or composite card, we can handle that too. 

If you will be displaying your portrait, you should give serious consideration to the frame.  For a fraction of the cost of a commissioned oil painting, you can have a superb wall portrait, mounted on canvas and framed in a classic wooden frame.  Our frame distributor, one of the biggest and most respected in the country, has a wide selection of quality frames ranging in style from modern to classic.

  

Notes on the tools and methods of the trade

It's not always easy to select a photographer.  Great portraits have been made in all kinds of ways, and in all kinds of settings.  Some photographers use only film and others digital.  Some claim that the natural light in their studio gives an inimitable quality to their portraits, while others extol the versatility of their electronic studio lighting.  Some photographers emphasize spontaneity, seeking to seize that fleeting magical moment at the expense of perfect focus and exposure.  Others pose their subjects classically, leaving no technical detail to chance, producing prints that could hang in a gallery, but which can seem leaden at times.  In the end what really matters is that you like the photographer's work, not necessarily how they produced it.  You must also feel comfortable with the photographer, because making a great portrait is a collaborative effort between the subjects and the photographer. 

 

Which is better, natural or studio flash lighting?  I'd say it depends...

Studio flash lighting wins every time if the sun has set or your session lands on a dark, rainy day, but it provides other advantages.  High-quality studio lighting systems allow the photographer to more carefully direct and limit the lighting.  This becomes very useful for less-than-perfect subjects where "corrective" lighting is a plus.   If your chin is a bit heavier, your ears a bit bigger, or your hair a bit thinner than you'd consider ideal, the savvy photographer can pose and light you to emphasize your best features while allowing others to fall into shadow.  Studio lighting also allows the photographer to create an enhanced sense of depth and mood by directing lighting units from multiple directions; just think of the studio stills of the great film stars of the 1930's,40's, and 50's.  Studio flash units also freeze motion, so blurred shots are rare. 

On the other hand, natural light, whether delivered in the studio via skylights and windows, or used straight-up outside, delivers a quality that is hard to duplicate in the studio with flash.  Those who use natural light rarely use direct sunlight except during periods directly around sunrise and sunset.  Instead, natural-light shooters rely on a combination of skylight (light coming from above, but not directly from the sun) and reflected sunlight.  This combination gives a light that is soft, creamy and enveloping, yet with a bit of sparkle.  Natural-light, outdoor sessions can have additional benefits: there are more settings and subjects are often more relaxed.

 

    

 

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