The Portrait Gallery – a Headshot without the Headache!

If  there’s one thing most people hate, it’s getting pictures taken.  Right up there with hanging in the dressing room trying on bathing suits, getting my picture taken is such a wonderful joy.  So when asked, to get a Headshot for my bio, I cringed wondering if I could go through existing pictures and choose from there.  After sending too many pictures that didn’t work, I bit the bullet and called and made an appointment with Claudia of the Portrait Gallery!

The Portrait Gallery is located on James Rd in Clemmons, a beautiful white building.  Inside is a very comfortable studio, pictures on the wall show Claudia’s talent with children and families.  Beautiful black and whites, great pictures of children.  The only thing making me nervous was the large camera and a stool sitting in front of it.  Claudia immediately put me at ease.

“Don’t worry, just have a seat and we’ll knock this out in a few minutes.”  She’s looking at what I’m wearing and talking to me about white or black, we both decide that the black with work best and she asks what’s my good side.

“Hmmm, I have the Aargh eye on this side,” I say pointing to my right side.

“Aargh eye?”  She asks taking a few test shots.

“Yup, when I smile this eye likes to close.  My kids say I look like a pirate saying AARGH!”

Claudia laughs, “Don’t worry, just relax and we’ll try to keep you from looking like a pirate.”

Did you know that for Headshots, she’s got to be up high, with you looking up at her?  Claudia has me lean forward, look up at her turning my head to my good side.  “This probably feels wierd, but it’s the best way to get a great shot!”

After 10 minutes we’re done, and I’m amazed at how easy the process was!  We go to a computer and she shows me 15 pictures she’s taken, the start out really good!  When we get to my other side, we’re both laughing at some of the wierd smiles and of course my AARGH eye!  Immediately we decide that we’ll stick with my better side.

We go through the pictures, narrow it down to three then pick one out of the three.  Claudia agrees and says, “I’ll touch it up a little bit, and you’re done!”

All in all, it took about 30 minutes, and the result was something that even I was amazed with!  Claudia made me feel comfortable and with the resulting picture made me feel beautiful!  If you’re needing some pictures, headshot or not, think about Claudia and The Portrait Gallery – professional and FUN!

5 tips on taking a good picture with your phone…

We’re all enjoying sharing ourselves with the world using the camers built into our phone.  I’ve been to many a scenic overlook and heard, “Did you bring the camera?  No?  Well, I’ve got my phone!”  Here’s some tips on taking THE RIGHT picture with your phone:

1. Clean the lens.  We’ve butt dialed with your phones so heaven knows where they’ve been, clean out the dust and debris from the lens before taking your picture-WOW it is a LOT clearer isn’t it?
2. Avoid tight focusing, camera phones excel where everything is required to be in focus, take a scene type picture rather than focusing in on one item then trying to make the background out of focus.
3. Avoid bright reflections as this will cause the camera to underexpose the rest of the shot.
4. Set your phone to the highest picture quality.  This is different on all phones, check yours to make sure it is set correctly.  This will also increase the file size of the pictures, word to the wise.
5. Avoid the “mirror shots” or taking the pictures at arms length, not only does it give you the double chin but also will add the pounds due to the close proximity of the phone.  Break down and ASK someone to take a picture of you!

 Have fun and totally ignore all the advice above if it stops you from taking a picture.  Send that shot out into the world proudly – it’s your work of art!