One Sharp Joe

Your headshot is your business card in today’s world. You are being evaluated and judged by your profile picture for business on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook, by potential employers on job match websites and even by potential love interests on dating websites. The photo you are currently using, taken by a friend at a party will not make you stand out in a good way. Your headshot provides potential business associates an important first impression of you. People will form opinions about you and your business based on the way you or profile look. Having a professional headshot, conveys the message that you are detail-oriented, professional, and someone people want to work with. Your headshot is an integral part of your professional branding and marketing and therefore needs to be treated as such. Using a professional, high quality headshot to represent who you are will translate to closed business for you. We recommend getting a professional headshot, and updating that headshot at least every 2 years.

Set up meeting with several headshot photographers and interview them. You need to trust that you can work comfortably with the photographer you choose and that they will deliver professional and timely results. As with many things in life, you will get what you pay for with photography. Photographers all value their time and work differently based on many factors. Generally, the higher priced photographers are running a more stable business model, to ensure they will be able to use the most up to date equipment, maintain their studio and attend training classes to keep up with current trends. These are the photographers you want to work with so you know when it’s time to update your headshot in 2 years time, they will still be in business and ready to give you the very best service possible again. The following questions can help give you a great starting point when interviewing potential photographers: How long have you been a professional photographer? Do you have a studio? Do you specialize in headshots? What training do you have for headshot photography? Read reviews, look through photographer’s galleries, and check references if possible. You are going to be using this headshot for at least a couple of years so make sure you take all the time you need to feel confident you are choosing the right photographer for you!

Joe has travelled extensively and learned from some of the best headshot photographers in the industry. The One Sharp Joe team continues to attend educational seminars and workshops so that we are always learning more. This helps us to ensure no two headshots will be the same. We consider your headshot to be your personal brand, so it must stand out and be a good representation of who you are. We believe what we do makes a difference and want to help you achieve your goals.

Many people do not look forward to having their photograph taken. We not going to make this painful and in fact, most of our clients find our sessions together quite fun, full of laughs in a relaxed environment, and leave wondering why it took them so long to get this done! Joe will ask you to do some silly things and ask some funny questions while we are shooting, but that is how he is able to capture the best expressions from you. If you can relax and have honest, real reactions to his coaching, you will have a great, natural headshot to help you put your best foot forward. At One Sharp Joe, we have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We also provide free phone consultations. If you want to learn more about us to be sure we are a good fit to work together, please email us and we can schedule a time to talk. Music At the studio we have an iPod connection, and use Spotify to create playlists that are upbeat and exciting to keep great energy flowing throughout your session. Moisturize Moisturizer helps to prepare your skin for a headshot session. Moisturize the night before and again the morning of your appointment. If you have decided to hire our makeup artist, please do not apply any make-up before coming for your session.

Our make-up artist is able to help finalize hair, and makes sure it stays in place during the session, but it is best to keep your hair as natural as possible. You know your hair best, and will be able to make it look its best. We can help you with this if you need it, but prefer to let you manage hair on your own.

All women should hire a professional make-up artist for their headshot session. The artist we work with is amazing and it is always clear in the final product if someone has hired a professional, or attempted to do it on their own. The make-up artist we recommend is experienced with our lighting, equipment and style. She knows what is necessary to achieve the best look in the final headshot. You are not required to use a professional make-up artist, but it is highly recommended. If you do choose to work with a make-up artist, please arrive with no make-up on and with skin moisturized. Men should not wear make-up for their headshot session.

We recommend all women use a professional make-up artist. It provides the best end result. If you are investing your time and money to get the best headshot you can, the cost of the make-up artist will help give that perfect finishing touch to make your headshot the best. A makeup artist also helps provide a pampering experience just before your session where you can relax and ease into your day with me. The make-up artist we recommend is experienced with our lighting, equipment and style. She knows what is necessary to achieve the best look in the final headshot. You are not required to use a professional make-up artist, but it is highly recommended. If you do choose to work with a make-up artist, please arrive with no make-up on and with skin moisturized. Men should not wear make-up for their headshot session.

We recommend against men wearing make-up for their headshot session. At the studio, we have a product on hand to remove oils from your face to reduce any shine. That is usually all that is needed. If you have reasons you know you will need a make-up artist, please let us know and we can bring one in. If you are generally clean-shaven, be sure you get a good shave. We are shooting in high definition and every detail will show. Either go to a salon specializing in shaving or take your time and be very careful. If you tend to have very fast facial hair growth, you can also bring your razor and cream and shave at the studio. You are going to be using this image for at least a couple of years. If you decide you would like to shoot some images with a bit of a beard and some with a clean shaven look, bring your razor and we can shoot some with each look.

Getting a haircut is a good idea, but please do so at least a week before your appointment date. Sometimes a fresh haircut will leave unsightly tan lines or hair that you are not yet comfortable styling. Giving it a week or more will allow enough time for you to learn how to work with the new cut. If you dislike your new haircut, it will also give you time to reschedule our session if necessary.

Wear something you like and feel confident in. If you don’t own anything that makes you feel your best, borrow it from a friend, or buy that one piece that you've had your eye on. Your clothing also needs to fit you well. We have a steamer at the studio that you can use to take care of wrinkles, but please be sure to keep clothing away from pets prior to your session to avoid having their hair show up in your images. Let’s talk colors! Black and white provide too much contrast. A black jacket with a white shirt is very difficult to shoot as the camera will have trouble balancing exposure for the white that will reflect light and the black which will be absorbing light. Loud prints and patterns are also distracting. The focus needs to be on you, not what you are wearing. Earth tones and gemstone colors tend to work very well. Grey is also a great color for headshots. Short sleeves or sleeveless shirts can often be unflattering. If you have the arms for it, definitely bring these as options, but if your arms aren’t one of your favorite parts of your body sleeveless and short sleeve options won’t provide you an image you will be very happy with. For corporate headshots, dress as you would for a client meeting. Actors should keep things simple. Solid colored shirts, layers and interesting necklines are all great. Many women feel better in heels. If this is the case for you, please wear your favorite pair. They won’t be in your images but will help you feel confident and happy for your session.

We recommend understated accessories for your headshot session. No dangly earrings, no chunky necklaces or any with too many shiny jewels. Your headshot represents you, not your fashion sense. The clothing and jewelry is there to compliment your features, not compete with them. Unless you happen to sell jewelry, the above recommendations will serve you best.

Sometimes we travel for headshot sessions, but highly recommend coming to the studio instead as it is where we have the most control over the environment. We cannot replicate this as well on location. If you have a working environment that needs to be captured in your headshots or you would like executive portraits, we can accommodate those on location. Headshots do require a lot of space for lighting and background set up, so not every location will work for headshot sessions. If you book a location headshot session, a site visit is included so we can assess your location and determine whether we will be able to provide the high quality our clients deserve. Headshot sessions on location are subject to a $450 travel fee.