Portraits
Choosing the perfect clothing for your personal branding session can be stressful. Here are tips to help you feel more relaxed and confident during the shoot.
“In Episode 64, Nikki Closser welcomes Matt Stagliano of Stonetree Creative back to the Portrait System Podcast. Matt has a passion for storytelling through natural glamour photography and personal branding with an edge. His ability to capture images that express what his clients want to see in themselves hinges on making deep connections with them by taking the time to hear their stories. Be sure to listen to the whole podcast to hear more about how Matt makes authentic connections […]
Medusa has always been portrayed as ugly, sinister, and monstrous. I’ve always found her to be beautiful, so when she wanted headshots and personal branding images, I was onboard immediately.
Podcast: Winning Silver at The Portrait Masters January 22, 2021 My take on photography awards The Portrait System Podcast, produced by Sue Bryce Education and hosted by Nikki Closser is, in my humble opinion, the best photography-related podcast on the market today. As I talked about in a previous post, The Portrait Masters Awards & Accreditation process has forced me to become a better photographer, year over year. So when I won a Silver award last year, I was astounded. […]
Senior Pictures Matter Senior pictures are a once-in-a-lifetime chance to capture a young person as they become an adult. Teddy and his mom came to me because they had a special wish. In our very small community, the local high school has about 30 kids in the graduating class. This year, Teddy was one of them. A quiet, confident young man with piercing eyes and an athletic build, Teddy is already a man in everything except name. Teddy’s mom called […]
Headshots vs Personal Branding Portraits? Is there a difference? In contemporary photography, there is certainly a difference between traditional corporate-style headshots and more customized Personal Branding portraits. A lot of people argue this point and say things like “Personal branding portraits is just a fancy sales name for headshots” The truth is, headshots and personal branding portraits go hand in hand. They are two sides of the same coin. https://vimeo.com/426769428 What are Headshots? One of my mentors said to me […]
What is the Portrait Process? A lot of things about photography have changed since I was a kid. I remember heading to the mall photo studio and all of the stiff, awkwardposing, the weird backgrounds, and the packages of photos that had like 400 wallet-sized images. I don’t think I even know 400 people. Well, all that has changed. A portrait experience today is drastically different. When you come to Stonetree Creative, my goal is to be the only photographer […]
A Gift From One Sister to Another I’ve worked with my friend Hana on portrait sessions on a number of occasions, photographing her for several different magazines. Every time I see her she tells me, “You HAVE to meet my sister, Eunice! She wants to be a model. I’d love to see you photograph her!” However, with me living in Maine and them in Maryland, the chances were slim that we’d be able to setup a session. But Hana is […]
Senior pictures have changed significantly over the years. They’ve evolved from being quick headshots to much more inventive and individual sessions that bring out the personality of the student. Even after taking hundreds of thousands of photos, I learned early on that capturing the *true* individual is a skill and for me, a lifelong pursuit. With that in mind, my approach to senior photos is the same as any other high-end client – get to know them and produce their […]
Professional headshots are core to most businesses these days. If you don’t have a consistent look and feel throughout the company, your brand could be diminished. No one likes to look at a website where the executive staff looks like they took their headshots with a phone camera. When Andrew approached us to refresh his corporate headshot, our first stop was to look at his current website. Understanding that the rest of the executive staff has plain white backgrounds, we […]
…Continuing the story from Part 1 of my journey to Iceland… When I started writing this second installation of the story, I wanted to recount every minute of every day because they were so packed with information, emotion, and imagery. But it still wouldn’t do the workshop justice, so I will stay at the 30,000 ft view of my experience. So here’s the thing about a Parker Pfister workshop: don’t overthink it. You need to find a way to give […]
I sat in the audience transfixed by the presenter on stage. He was dynamic, engaging, childlike, funny, but held the confidence of a master craftsman unphased by anything. I watched as he defied all logical convention and photographic norms to create stunning imagery live in front of 500 people. This was at the Portrait Masters 2018 convention in Arizona, and his name was Parker J Pfister. My art would be forever changed. So how the Hell do I go from […]
