It seems that there are always request for “those” shots. You know the ones of YOU. Eek! Whether it be for a blog feature, a magazine article or a profile on the latest hot business-related website. People love to see the face BEHIND the business. The designer. The manager. The person sending out all of those emails.The Mumpreneur, in the flesh!
So, how do we make the best of these opportunities? How do we avoid the typical, “sitting in front of a black backdrop corporate-type” shots?
How do you portray, just one image, who you are, what you are about, and why it is that you love what you do?
Well, here are my tips:
1. Sit down and have a think BEFORE the shoot. This might seem obvious but I am not meaning to “think” in the conventional “what colours do I wear?” type of thing. I mean ask yourself questions like “what makes me tick?”, “what do I want people to know about me?”, “what do I want people to know about my family?”
2. Find yourself a photographer that cares about you, and your brand. It doesn’t need to be a professional. Just a person with a good eye, and the ability to set you at ease. Sometimesthis WILL be a professional, or it may just be your next door neighbour.
3. Choose a location with great NATURAL light. There is no need to make this more complicated than it needs to be. Make sure you shoot at a time of day when the light in your chosen location is at its optimum.
4. Set the scene with items that answer the questions you asked yourself up at:
Tip #1. Surround yourself with things that tell the story of YOU. It could be your kids, your garden, your products, your favourite chair, or even the spot where you “create” ie. your studio or your workstation, or even your laptop on your knee in the backyard as you watch the kids playing in the sandpit.
5. Get in close. That is the golden rule. Everything CLOSE. Your kids, your face, your products, make sure it all fills the frame. Yes, you want people to see the “scene” that you have set, but those aspects are just to create the atmosphere around you. It doesn’t matter if they are partially cropped or intentionally blurred out of focus, as long as they are “there”, and as long as the resulting image one that shows the viewer just who you are, which isn’t just a small little dot in the middle of some cool landscape somewhere.
6. Look your best. This isn’t purely for vanity either! Sure we want people to see us looking great, but we all know that when we look great, we feel great too! Spend a little extra time “preening”yourself for your shoot so that you can relax and enjoy the experience rather than worrying that your bra strap is showing or your teeth are looking yellow from all of those late night coffees!
7. If you still feel nervous and/or self-conscious, make your photos “doing” shots. That is, prepare an activity for you to do in the shots to distract yourself from the “everybody say cheese” thing that we all fear and loathe! Do you love to bake with your family? Why not some shots of you having fun together in the kitchen? Reading a book to your kids? Sitting at the helm of your empire banging away on the laptop! “Doing” photos are much more fun to do (and more interesting for the viewer too!), then contrived “sitting and smiling” shots anyways!
8. Have fun with it and relax, let the inner you shine through, so that the masses can see what a great person, and businesswoman you are! And those are my top tips to revealing who you are when you finally decide to share the face of your business with the world!
You can choose to take all of the above and file under “V” for “very important stuff to remember”, or you could attend the Connect2Mums Mumpreneur Conference! Attendees will have the opportunity to be photographed in all of their finery, by yours truly. We will all be arriving coiffed and styled, manicured and made up, and poured into the latest in high fashion couture for the gala event. Well, maybe not, but you should all be looking forward to a night out of the PJs and into something a bit less comfortable, and so why not take advantage of it? Hope to meet you there!
Mumpreneur Monday guest post by Tanya Love of Love Bytes Photography
Read more about the 2010 Mumpreneurs Conference here
This is a guest post for 'Mumpreneur Monday', if you'd like to be a guest blogger please email us with an idea for an article! Articles should be relevant for 'mumpreneurs' in some way. E: connect2mums@gmail.com
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