Portrait Session - How it Works - Two Minute Guide
Portrait Session - What to Expect
Firstly, thank you for choosing Stephen O'Sullivan Photography for your portrait session. I appreciate your business and customer satisfaction is my number one priority. I want you to enjoy your photographic experience and I promise to provide you with a service (and an end product) of the highest quality. I have put together a quick guide here to outline the process, end-to-end. I like to keep things simple & relaxed and I like to avoid surprises - it helps us to get the most out of our time together.
The Preparation
My preparation - If we are shooting in your location I will spend about 20 minutes setting up my equipment. Generally this consists of a plain backdrop and a couple of lights & lighting umbrellas on stands. For Head & Shoulder portraiture (aka 'Headshots') we do not need a lot of room. Natural light is not essential but if you have a room with a nice window we can use that room (it gives us another lighting option). If we are shooting in my studio, we don't need to talk about my preparation! The room will be setup with backdrop and lighting already when you arrive.
Your preparation - The only presentational advice I would give you is to bring a hairbrush and spend a minute before the shoot checking that everything is in place (hair is about the only thing I can't fix in the editing room). The only other preparation is to relax, I will give you some simple & gentle direction, it is 'just' a few photographs, we will take our time and keep snapping until we get one that you love.
The Shoot
I will give you some simple & gentle direction on position & pose (this will depend on your own requirements as well as the light). We will take a few shots, try a few poses, and take a look at the photos on my laptop. If you love what you see, you pick out your favourite. If you want to go again or try another pose we just pop back in position and snap away. Keep in mind this is only going to take about another 30 seconds - retakes are simple and I won't be happy until you are happy.
The Finishing Touches
Either you or I (depending on the location of the shoot!) pack up our gear and go home. I will work on the selected image and make some adjustments (mainly tonal but also some structural), then provide you with the final image in high, medium and low resolution jpeg formats. If there is anything you want to change in the image (within reason!) that is no problem at all. Satisfaction is guaranteed.
