“All things are created twice. There is a mental creation, and a physical creation.” (Stephen Covey)

Boston creative photographer for corporate photography

Other Frequently Asked Questions

Brutally honest answers for people who want to prepare for awesome headshot/portrait session in advance

When should I update my headshot?

When your look changed, or your career progressed to where a new style would benefit you. Outdated pictures on your profile don’t help you with a favorable impression when meeting people.

Some corporate people keep using old pictures for a younger look. Unfortunately, those people also keep their younger paycheck. Your current more experienced look makes you credible and helps open up new opportunities.

Casting directors’ #1 complaint is that headshots don’t look like the actors in auditions.

Online dating people complain when your pictures are outdated.

Is the studio intimidating?

The studio looks like an artist’s studio. No fancy upscale interior. There is some seriously high-end equipment in the studio, but I think there is just enough chaos to be inspiring so that you know this is where creative work is produced.

Also, headshots and personality portraits are taken in a quiet environment without useless people hanging around.

What are the experience of other people?

Read customer testimonials. There are currently 150+ reviews there, collected from third party review sites like yelp and google plus.

What can I do to steer the outcome to the better? What can I do to manage my insecurities?

Make it fun: often forgotten but this is the #1 key to success in any project.

Prepare your outfits, plan hair styling and makeup in advance.

Rest well and don’t leave any source of stress. Avoid your boss on the day of shooting, as well.

Keep a reasonable and achievable expectation but be prepared to get a small surprise.

Try some power walk or another mild exercise on the day before. It clears your mind.

No alcohol/drugs before the photo shoot, please. You’ll impair fine control of your face.

Feel free to bring some snacks. Don’t let your blood sugar drop too low.


What should I know when choosing outfits?

Style: Think about your most important audience. It might be your prospective clients, potential employees, boss/colleagues, or HR people. What industry do you belong? Think about these factors, and then add what style makes you look good. Other than these, there is no one-size-fits-all advice for the style.

Color: If you prefer a darker-skinned look, wear a lighter color or white, and paler, wear a darker color. Even though the camera will capture the skin tone accurately, the human eye will be biased by the surrounding color.

Size: You’ll look the best in pictures when you wear shirts and jackets that are correctly fitted. You won’t look good when wearing baggy clothes, even though they might be more comfortable to wear when working. Even if you try to look slimmer, don’t try to do so by wearing smaller size clothes, either.

Avoid: pure white and pure black, if possible.

Shop your clothes early (check the store return policy). Try them on at home and iron/steam if necessary.

I wear glasses. Do I need to worry about it?

If you prefer to wear glasses in your pictures, it is usually a good idea to prepare an empty frame without lenses. This avoids problems related to the optics (eyes look smaller/larger, or your face edges look distorted through the glasses, etc.) as well as the reflection.

People wearing glasses of strong diopters are more problematic with the distortion. I’m raising this matter upfront so that there is no surprise, and you have an option to do something about it, but not many people recognize the problem until examples shown (and usually don’t care). Most other photographers don’t bother to mention, either.

Either way, please do bring your functional glasses or contact lenses, so that you can see the pictures for review and editing purposes.

When should I shave?

A few hours before the photo shoot to allow enough time for your irritated skin to heal.


Do you shoot outside Boston?

Yes, depending on the type of shoot. The travel cost will be added, but I’m happy to shoot elsewhere. Besides Boston, I shot in New York City, Washington DC, Providence and Chicago most often.

Do you offer discount or cheaper option?

No. There are some who would shoot for less, so you might want to compare prices but don’t forget to compare the quality of work, as well.

If the price is your primary concern, cheap options are often waste of money. I’ve written a brief article describing how to shoot headshot at home.

I’m not sure what works best for my next headshot.

One way is to share your current/old headshot with me, and discuss what you like or don’t like about it.

Another way is to look at work samples on this website, and tell me which ones are close to the style that work for you.

Another way is to check out what your colleagues or competitors are doing.

Another way is to use Pinterest or another online curation tool to sample headshots that work for you.

Keep in mind that headshots and personality portraits are a device to help achieve professional or personal success and not necessarily the place to maximize your personal “feel good” factor.


What picture helps to get a new job (or to meet new people)?

Make your picture connecting and show a positive attitude. You might have more to show but these are the qualities that get the attention of recruiter/HR people.

What picture helps to attract good people to hire?

Make your image connecting and show a positive attitude in an inspiring or energetic way. Many companies photograph their execs with a bit of rock star feel to make their company an exciting place to work.

What picture helps to succeed in my current job?

The right expression may vary depending on your workplace environment. Whether you are competing for promotion or trying to build a strong team, we can figure out more by talking a bit more about it during phone consultation, but look confident and enthusiastic for sure.

What picture helps networking?

Networking crowd is full of people who need help. Very few have something to offer, and those people don’t reveal much. The only audience that matters is the latter kind. They will know when you show something that stands out in quality, concept and style. Don’t be limited to your industry standard look.