Professional Natural and Candid Portrait

Environmental Portrait Photoshoot

/ / / / / Our Tips for a Natural Portrait

We all want our portraits to look natural, but the tricky part is feeling comfortable un an unnatural photoshoot situation. For most of our clients, it is their first time in front of the camera, and with little to no clue of what to expect, you can expect to see some initial awkwardness at the beginning. Not to worry, as this is completely normal of a reaction !

Luckily we offer some tips and guidance through the session to help you feel and look more natural in your shots. It’s less about visual language (hair/makeup/clothing etc) and more about body language.

Some ways we help our clients feel natural on camera:

Wall/furniture to lean on: Helps relieve the body from feeling heavy and static
Head tilt: Imitates what our body does when we are naturally curious/interested in someone/something
Looser crop: Hands are always expressive and having them comfortably resting in a way that matches your personality—will help bring out your personality.

Headshots and Corporate Portrait in Downtown

Creative Staff and Team Headshots

/ / / / / editorial style meets corporate style

If your company is interested in headshots but are looking for something a little different than what your competitors have, we encourage you to get creative and send our team any references/inspiration !

For this particular photoshoot, we applied a heavier dose of colour to create a “film-like” feeling and provoke more of an emotional response. By layering a marbled fabric on top our basic set table, we were able to create a custom desk. The soft texture makes for a lively image without the subject having to pose too much, creating a balance between conservative and characteristic.

Graduation Photos and Portrait

Professional Graduation Photos:

/ / / / / *new* gown and cap rental service

Take time to celebrate your big day by booking a private graduation photoshoot session ! Grad portraits can either be shot against our simple studio backgrounds, outdoors, or against one of our beautiful hand painted canvases for a little character (shown above).

Come with your own gown and cap, or borrow one of ours for an additional $25 (available in: shimmery blue, shimmery dark blue, shimmery black, and matte black). Although we don’t currently offer a graduation package, feel free to book whichever option suits you best.

With no restriction on the type of looks you can try, mix and match casual shots with your graduation photos, or even include your family in some of the shots !

Business Headshots for Professionals

Professional Corporate & Business Photos:

/ / / / / Standing or Sitting Headshot ?

Spoiler alert—there is no exact rule when it comes to whether a sitting or standing portrait is better. The most important thing about your headshot is not your pose, but actually your facial expression. When we are seated, our face tends to be more relaxed, so if you are really nervous (or have really uncomfortable shoes) we may choose to offer you a seat during your headshot.
Depending on your preference, we can either crop the image to be just a headshot, or include a small portion of your body like our client chose in the above shot !

Corporate and Business Headshots for your Brand

Images for Marketing and Branding

/ / / / / business cards headshots

Letting us know the particular purpose of your headshot may seem like a fancy and somewhat unnecessary detail, however you’d be surprised at how differently you can tailor your photoshoot experience by simply telling us a little more about your intentions.

In this case, our client was planning to use this particular shot for his business card, and request that it be sent in a loose crop, or have a little room around the edges, so that he could appear comfortably on the card. In the original image his shoulder was actually touching the edge of the photo (making the crop slightly awkward for a business card format). Part of his arm got recreated in photoshop as a result, which helped achieve a more comfortable crop.

Whatever the detail is, big or small, we’re interested in hearing it ! Give us a call or email for a quick chat about your project.

Portrait and Headshots for Branding

Professional Studio Portrait for Artists/Musicians

/ / / / / Cropping headshots for a more dynamic effect

I’m sure you’ve all seen that style of headshot where the photographer has graciously chosen to slice the top of their subject’s head cut for dramatic effect—but in this post, we are going to dissect another bizarre cutting/cropping technique that we sometimes use to add life to the shot without having our clients put in much effort at all.

Although the eyes and face are with out a doubt the most expressive part of your headshots, the reason we would want to include a portion of the body is to add more depth to the subject’s personality. The hand on the hips activates the shoulder and creates body language that would only ever appear naturally in real life for a few moments (perhaps while waiting in line or listening to a friend ramble on about their day). Thus when we see this pose initially, much like a symbol, our brains automatically register the subtle shoulder action as a candid moment that just happened to get captured on camera.

This technique comes in handy if you’re one of those totally normal people who have no idea what to do with their hands in the shot !

Fashion Lookbook and Catalog Photos

Professional Photos for Fashion Design, Marketing and E-Commerce

/ / / / / Catalog, Lookbook and Editorial Photoshoots

Whether you are a student, emerging, or established designer, our team can help capture your work beautifully. Send us an e-mail or give us a call with the initial details (# of edited images, lighting style, whether you’re looking for catalog or editorial images, purpose of the photos etc.) and our team will promptly get back to you with any questions we may have to finalize a quote.

For this client’s campaign, plants were brought in as props to decorate the set for their spring/summer looks. We encourage our clients to customize the background for a touch of character ! For even more character we also used a muslin cloth to evoke a softer, organic feeling, reminiscent of the material in the collection itself. The soft folds of the background add dimension and a story to the shot, which is essential to catch the attention of the audience !

Professional Dancing Studio Portrait

Dancer Portrait and Headshots

/ / / / / Capturing the grace of ballet on camera

We love when the opportunity to shoot a different style of “headshot” comes about. For this session we created a lighting set up that felt both soft and sharp, to best capture the silhouette and gentle fall off on her skin.

When it comes to your dancing portrait, feel free to send custom requests for lighting or background style. Whether you’re looking for a classic black & white image, or something more artistic and backlit, e-mail us your references beforehand and we will do our best to recreate that style !