If you’ve looked at your website or your Instagram account and thought that the photos there feel a little meh, and don’t reflect who you currently are, then keep reading. Because it *sounds* like it’s time for new photos. And trust me, a fresh Vancouver headshot can do a long way in this very competitive city of ours.

And please note, none of these reasons to get new photos should be that you hate your body in the photos you currently have or anything negative feelings like. We aren’t about that here. 

People always ask me, “how do I have a great photoshoot”? And my answer is always “Plan ahead and plan well.” 

I’ve been doing this photography thing for over 9 years now, so I’ve figured out a thing or two since then. To help with the preparation, I’ve compiled a list of what you need to consider when planning your photoshoot. 

• Choose a photographer with whom you feel comfortable and has a great track record.

I can’t stress this enough. If you don’t feel comfortable behind the camera with your photographer, it will show in the photos and you won’t like the results. 

A photographer is there to guide you, ease your nerves, be your cheerleaders and help you celebrate yourself like you never have! (For more ideas on how to celebrate yourself with portraits, check out THIS blog post.) To put it mildly, choose a photographer that you like and feel safe with.

• Have a good understanding of your brand and how that will be reflected in the photos – either for your business or corporate. 

For fellow business owners, it helps in terms of cohesion and brand identity that you have a chosen colour palette and ideas about what your brand stands for. If you need help in this area, ooooo eeee! I can help! I have a background in Design & Communications, so it’s my pleasure to help people come up with a vision for their brand. 

However, the most important thing is to bring out your vibe and personality!

• Book a meeting to discuss your ideal look with a photographer beforehand.

If you need extra help in choosing colours and want to discuss your ideal look, I always provide my confirmed clients a style consultation to begin piecing together their wardrobe and overall look of the shoot. It’s so much easier to have this discussion and bounce of ideas and help where there could be blind spots. I even go as far as putting together a Pinterest mood board so we can have some visuals to guide the process. Plus, it’s just fun!

• Choose a date and time for the photoshoot when you won’t be stressed, rushed, and you have space for an easy, breezy creative session. 

It’s no fun for anyone (yourself and the photographer) if your mind isn’t present with the photoshoot and you’re very preoccupied with other things. 

If you could be thinking during the shoot, “it would be great if this shoot could wrap up early so I can deal with xyz”, then maybe you need to choose another time. 

These sessions (2 hours long usually) need to be relaxed, not rushed, and ensure that you leave your to-do list and stress at the door. Those aren’t invited to our session.

• Throw away the idea of ‘sameness’ or ‘staleness’ with headshots: 

Last time I checked, sameness was not a vibe. Yet the pull of toxic beauty standards has us all racing to the sameness finish line. I know we all like to think we are not sucked in by these nonsense messages, but how can we escape them? I do believe it is possible to slowly move away from these messages and say F*ck to sameness. 

I encourage you to boldly embrace your: 

🖤Crooked teeth

🖤 Wrinkles & laugh lines

🖤 Greying hair, messy hair, natural hair, no hair!

🖤 Birthmarks, freckles & moles

🖤 Unique style, wear what you feel fabulous in – forget what is deemed ‘professional’

🖤 Tubes connected to your body that keep you alive

I don’t know about you, but the more I learn about the cosmetic industrial complex – which is all about how the beauty industry preys on shaming us so we spend more and keep spending more to keep those bad boys rich… the more I get fired up to liberate folks from feeling like looking the same is the ultimate way to feel beautiful.

Now I get that fashion trends come and go and we all have fun with them, and that’s not what I’m addressing here – unless of course you need to alter your body for said trend. Think Kate Moss Circa early 90’s

You are ALREADY beautiful as you are 💋 no need to change a dang thing.

So much of what we are fed is stripping us from what makes us unique and special, and there’s no need to have to look or be the same as everyone else.

• Bonus (not required but certainly helps!): Choose a photographer with systems in place.

What I mean by systems is a photographer who uses a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Why does that help you? These systems are based on workflows (a series of steps based on events taken or will be taken) to guide you along the photoshoot journey. 

Photographers (like myself) have workflows for leads and confirmed clients. These systems help us not forget anything in the process, such as reminding you to book your style consultation and photoshoot, giving you a list of things to remember for your photoshoot, and more. That way a photographer with a CRM is literally holding your hand through the entire process. Pretty cool, hey?

I invite you to my studio where you get to be the full expression of yourself! Be messy, be wild, be you! Wobbly bits, crooked teeth, scars and all 💋 To get started, please book yourself a free consultation call to see if we are a good fit, and my team and I will take it from there.