So, I met Karen Skidmore (from Can Do Can Be Small Business Marketing) some 12 months ago at the Grow Your Business event, here in Guildford. For most of that time I have been trying to convince her to allow me to do some updated headshots for her, and have also been trying to convince her that they don’t need to be done against a white background!

But what do you do when your subject is adamant that she wants images against a white background because she herself is convinced that it’s best like this for social media purposes ?? Well, you do it her way …. first … and then, you do it the proper way, and show her the results … and wait for the reaction.

In this case, the reaction was, “Put that white background away and delete all those photos. We’ll do it your way!”

Now, I’m not telling this story to sound smug, but to explain that sometimes you need to actually see something ‘in the flesh’ so to speak, to realise that there is an alternative to what you thought. As a photographer, I get these little creative visions sometimes, and it’s the relationship I have with my subjects that allows me to gain a good enough level of trust so I can try something different for them – and produce pleasing results.

So, my new brief with Karen was no longer a white background, but a darker, warmer & uncluttered background which would make her face stand out well in small images which will be used for social media – email, facebook, twitter etc She also needed shots with her facing a certain direction, hence the “to the left” & “to the right” pair of images too.

We were somewhat challenged by the cold & dark clouds which threatened rain at any moment, but managed to get a lovely set of images that really allowed Karen’s personality to shine through. This is most important when it comes to these types of images – one cannot simply snap away and take a nice picture; it needs to be engaging!

Here, then, is the new Karen !