For a traditional, conservative business portrait which conveys success, we suggest deep colors such as black, navy blues and grays. Remember, the darker the color, the more professional your finished portrait will look, not to mention the fact darker colors are more slimming.

For men, it is best to schedule your shoot in the morning hours to avoid an afternoon shadow. Men, if your appointment is in the morning, shave earlier in the day to let any razor burn dissipate and to allow any nicks to heal.

Overly busy patters are bad, be it a jacket, shirt/blouse. Bright or busy jackets, shirts or blouses will distract the viewers eye from the face in a finished portrait. Shirt and blouses will sometimes need to be retouched due to a wrinkle in the fabric, and patterns on that fabric. The focus and purpose are seeing your face not to focus on your clothing.

For the women, should you want to wear a necklace or any jewelry, think about bringing multiple options and your photographer can give you his or her opinion as to what will work best for your portrait.

For men, please feel free to bring multiple tie selections. Your photographer will be able to tell you which one will work best with your skin tone and ensemble.

Remember the following when dressing for a slimming effect:

• Darker colors are slimming; light colors are not.
• Solid colors are slimming; bold patters will expose shape.
• A single color from head to toe (i.e. a suit) is slimming.
• Vertical lines are slimming; horizontal lines are not.
• The V-neck shape is slimming. This is achieved by the cut of a sport coat, jacket, blouse, shirt, or sweater.
• Single-breasted jackets are more slimming than double-breasted.

Make sure your clothing is well tailored and wrinkle free. It will be plainly obvious if both your shirt and/or jacket do not fit in your finished portrait. Men make sure you can comfortably button the top button of your dress shirt.

For men and women, if you plan on having a full-length portrait created, then your hands may appear in your finished portrait. Please make sure your nails are freshly manicured.

For men and women, it is best not to wear something sleeveless or short sleeves. This may cause you to look heavier, and bright arms will lead the viewer’s eyes to the bottom edges of your image and away from your face.

For women wanting a full-length portrait, try to avoid wide belts. If wearing a belt, make sure it is a darker color, again to slim the waistline and to keep the viewer’s attention to your face.

Men should have their haircut about 1 week before the photo session. Women should be photographed whenever they are happiest with their hair in relation to the time it is styled.

If you wear glasses most of the time, then we recommend you wear them for your portrait. For best results, consider bringing an extra frame with no lenses. However, we can light your portrait in ways which will attempt to avoid glass glare. And if avoiding glass glare is impossible, then our retouch artist will digitally remove the glare providing you with the best results possible.

Make sure you are well rested before your portrait session. Try to get a good night’s sleep the night before. Dark circles and puffy blood shot eyes can be retouched in photo shop, but nothing is going to beat a fresh you.

And finally, practice smiling the night before. For many it can be difficult to smile on command. We will make you feel relaxed so no worries. Smile from within!