About 2 months ago, I had the pleasure of working with the very talented and inspiring photographer D’Arcy Benincosa when she flew down to Singapore from USA to shoot a wedding. I came across her lovely portfolio online and reached out to her as I desperately wanted to upgrade my head shot from a iPhone selfie to a professional photo. If you’ve never worked with a professional photographer before, here’s a rundown of the whole process and what to expect.

Even before meeting D’Arcy, the photoshoot starts not with the camera but with me creating a Pinterest board showing a collection of images that I like. This was a process I had slowly started weeks ago, sourcing images all over the internet and accounts of people that I follow on Pinterest. I also thought of the clothes and makeup I wanted to wear, tried on a few different options at home and using a self-timer camera, took photos of myself to see what looks best in terms of colors and style. Ideally it would have been nice to hire a fashion and makeup stylist but without a big budget, it was all about doing the best you can on your own. As you can see, a successful photo, even when it looks simple, can involve lots of behind-the-scenes planning and preparation.

When the photoshoot day finally came, D’Arcy and me sat down for a discussion to understand my business goals as well as vision for the headshot. D’Arcy took a look at my Pinterest board and quickly understood what I was looking for based on common visual elements such as clean backgrounds and soft colors. I also elaborated that I wanted a look that feels feminine and even artistic although not abstract.

There are people in this world who enjoy being in front of the camera – well… sadly that is not me. Being camera-shy and a little sick that morning, I was feeling nervous and apprehensive about modeling for the photoshoot. However, D’Arcy with her cheerful personality did an excellent job at making me feel comfortable and patiently demonstrated simple poses or movements I could do. A glass of wine and nice music helped to soothe my jittery nerves as well! Using natural light from big windows, my living room was the studio setting which involved finding a clean bare wall for me to pose in front of and rearranging furniture around. The photoshoot itself lasted about 2 hours and actually felt like it went by pretty fast. Final photos were delivered to me a month later after going through post-processing which basically means using Photoshop to improve colors and small details digitally.

In the end, I was really happy about the results and overall experience. I’m sharing a few of my most favorite photos in this blog post as well as the sidebar and About page. As seen at the very top, I especially loved making an animated gif from some of the more experimental shots.

Having your portrait taken professionally can be fun as well as valuable in elevating your image and blog or business. Take your time to do lots of research on different photographers, see if their portfolio resonates with you and importantly, have a conversation with them to make sure that they are somebody you can feel comfortable working with. Finding an experienced photographer you like is half the battle won, the rest is to relax and enjoy yourself as much as possible during the photoshoot. Last but not least, don’t be afraid to show the world your shining personality!