Is A Quickie Worth it?

Who doesn’t feel better after a quickie?

Is a quickie worth it – a quickie headshot that is?

For the first 20 years of my photography career, I had my own studio or shared it with another photographer. They had different styles to me from fashion to still life, I’ve always been a headshot and portrait photographer.

Now I work from a rental studio because it is more convenient and to be honest, there are fewer overheads. I can hire it by the hour or by the day.  And, in this rental environment, I come across many other photographers, some of them are headshot photographers.

It’s interesting to see how they work and some of the varying results they produce.

Is a Quickie Worth it?

I consider myself an expert headshot photographer, and an artisan if you like. I love my craft and work hard at it. I take immense pride in my work and go the extra mile for every client who comes to me.

But not everyone is cut from the same cloth as me. I’d say there are only 5 or 10% of headshot photographers who work and think like me. There are many more who are technicians and still more who are, ‘Have a go Harry’s.

Some of those people take their headshots in 15 minutes or less – I’ve seen it done!

Anyone Can Take a Headshot – Right?

Of course, they can.

We all take headshots and portraits on our mobile phones every week. Taking a shot of someone from the shoulders up isn’t rocket science. You frame it and Bob’s your uncle you have a headshot.

That’s all there is to it right? – wrong!

Do they draw out a person’s personality? Can they make that person (most likely a stranger) feel comfortable in front of the camera? Can they capture an image with the WOW factor in a split second or use light and shadow to create an image with a powerful first impression? Is a quickie worth it – it’s not.

No, they can’t and, if you ask me is a quickie worth it? I’m going to say no, particularly if you value your image.

If this is not important to you then why see a headshot professional photographer, you might as well go to a photo booth!

Professional Headshots

If you are taking the time to go to a professional headshot photographer you obviously understand the value and power of your image.

I understand you may have little time in your schedule. Or, you may feel self-conscious about being photographed and many other reasons why you’d rather be somewhere else than in front of the camera.

By choosing the right headshot photographer for you most of these issues can be minimised or eradicated altogether.

The right headshot photographer will help you feel comfortable, help you express your personality and when you leave the studio you’ll be happy with your new image. Confident it represents you to others in the way you want to be seen.

Eating my own words…

Ok, so I’m going to eat my own words…

I have had exhibitions where I have taken stunning headshots in 5 minutes or less.

The difference was, every one of those people are a celebrity or used to being photographed for publicity purposes.

I’ve included a few examples of those headshots and you’ll see they are all engaging, connected with the viewer and showing the person’s personality.

As I said above, I am a specialist headshot photographer – an artisan – and not many others will be able to do what I did for this project.

I’m not blowing my own trumpet – well I am actually!

The fact is – is a quickie worth it? In certain circumstances maybe… but you need to have the right mindset as a subject and be comfortable with your headshot photographer.

It takes two people to make a great headshot – working together and in harmony is the key.