Now THAT'S indie

Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing local filmmaker Coquie Hughes for an upcoming article in my column with CU-Blogfidential on independent filmmaking in Chicago. Coquie is a truly inspirational filmmaker because she's the ultimate independent, home-grown, grassroots artist. She's an African American lesbian mother who had a confrontation with a friend of hers who one day told her that now that she's a mother, she needs to stop being a lesbian.
Angered by the audacity of this woman, she decided to make a documentary film about the social issues of being an African American lesbian mother, and started interviewing children and mothers in the community to explore their opinions and share their stories.

For these filmmaker interviews I like to take photos of my subjects, so Coquie and I went outside for an impromptu photo shoot. I got to take advantage of the murals on the wall across from my building- which I've been looking forward to shooting since I moved in a month ago. After spending 30 seconds with the spunky fresh Ms. Hughes, I knew we HAD to take her photo in this underpass.

Oh, how precious

Today I spent the day at the creative headquarters for Precious Moments, taking product photos for their upcoming Summer catalog collection. It's been a little while since I've taken product shots- I'm so used to taking portraits and headshots and there's a big difference between live models and porcelain ones. I only said "tilt your chin down for me" out loud once. I got no response from the porcelain figurine. No one heard me, so everything's okay.

It was a lot of fun, though, and I'm looking forward to going back there for some pick-up shots in the next couple weeks. I especially enjoyed the large clusters of Precious Moments figurines, plush dolls and ornaments on nearly every cubicle endcap, filing cabinet and spare table space in the office. Every time you turned a corner, there was a grouping of large-eyed porcelain dolls to greet you with a smile. I found it adorable, but I'm sure some employees might start to get creeped out after a while.

A very special thanks goes to Amy for putting the shoot together and for showing me her basket filled with broken doll heads. I learned that when a prototype of a new figurine is rejected, it needs to be destroyed... so the office holds figurine smashing parties. Amy quite enjoys those.

New Location!

Organic Headshots has moved! I'm now operating out of the glorious, stupendous, amazing Bloomingdale Arts Building on Bloomingdale Ave. near Western and Armitage. With my new 1,079 square foot loft, headshots of all kinds of looks and setups are possible! The building has an amazing courtyard with tons of brick and greenery, and there are all types of great walls and textures in the area for outdoor photoshoots. (Come on, summer, let's warm it up so we can take photos outside!)

And a congratulations and thank you to Kate McFerrin and Buffy Esslinger who were the first two headshots taken in the new space this weekend, only 6 days after moving in. It didn't quite feel like home until pictures of wonderful people were snapped within the walls.

Having your photo taken: not as bad as going to the dentist...

Of the countless number of people who have come to me for headshots, I can only think of one person who was really excited to have it done (and he was kind of strange). Most people hate having their photo taken... including me. "What?" you ask, "how can a photographer hate having her photo taken?" Easily. I just do. I really hate it.

But that's where my strength comes in with taking other peoples' photos. Since most people don't like having their photo taken and I'm one of them, I understand how they feel. Then we can bond on the level of "you don't want to do this and I understand, I've been there too, so I'll do my best to make this painless and maybe a little fun." For yesterday's session with 6-year-old Nolan auditioning for a Disney movie this weekend, that bonding included getting some funny faces out of our system before getting to the serious smiles. I vote his family uses this photo for their next Christmas card... but that's why I don't make Christmas cards.

When I finally decided that a headshot photographer should have a headshot of herself for websites and other uses, I bit the bullet, did my hair, and smiled for the camera. I would love to say that it was fun, but at first it wasn't. And now I understand why most people I take headshots for seem to really hate it at first, then slowly warm up and have some fun after a few pictures have been snapped. It gets easier when you go along. Kind of like going to the dentist for a cleaning... at first you want it to be over before it even starts. Then, when it's going okay and no one is getting hurt, you think, "this isn't so bad, I can handle this." And in both instances, your teeth might be whiter when you're done. (After some retouching, in the case of the photos.)

Glasses, or no glasses? (reprise)

Nearly a year ago (I can't believe it's been that long) I made a post on glasses and whether you should wear glasses for your headshot session. My basic answer was "if you wear them all the time, then wear them in your headshot, because your headshot needs to look like how you most often look." My answer still stands. (And I'd like to add that if you wear your dentures often, then you should have teeth in your headshot too.)

But what about people who sometimes wear their glasses, and sometimes do not? Aha! What are they to do? Glasses or no glasses??

If you're looking for some kind of overarching Biblical commandment on how headshots should or should not have glasses in them, you won't find that here. Because it doesn't exist. It's entirely up to you! If you wear glasses sometimes, most times, or even hardly ever but want the option in your photo, then work with a photographer who is willing to let you take some photos with your glasses and some without. Then you can have one of each and choose the look you want to portray for whatever it is you are using the headshot for. So you can say, "I think I'll send the headshot of me with glasses with the press release to Forbes Magazine," or, "I think I'll send the headshot of me without glasses to my 90210 audition."

I also heard someone ask me once if they need to take their lenses out of their glasses for the photo session, so the glasses don't pick up any light reflections. Good gravy, no! A good photographer knows how to light for glasses so there are no reflections of any kind. (see the photo in this post- no reflections! I get a cookie for a job well done as photographer...) In your photo session, ask to see a few of the first photos the photographer took when you were wearing glasses, and if you see reflections... yell at the photographer.

Tell him or her that they need to fix it so there are no reflections. If they say they cannot... fire them. They failed.

Battle of the Boutiques

I'm sponsoring a fun event on February 26th! It's called the "Battle of the Boutiques," is organized by poorlittlerichgirls.com and will feature some local Chicago boutiques battling gladiator-style to prove they're the most fashionable.

Many drinks we be drank and goodie bags given out- which will include an Organic Headshots coupon for a discount on any photo session. (See, I give out coupons now and then like a good girl.) It should be a blast! It even has celebrity judges. PLRG sure knows how to party!

8 naked guys in a bathroom is funny, right?

This weekend I took some quick group shots for a local group of comedians called Comedians You Should Know. They have a block of shows scheduled at the Lakeshore Theatre, a Chicago haven for stand-up comedy with other upcoming shows including Sandra Bernhard, Brian Posehn, Jim Jeffries and more.

If I remember right, the last show I saw at the Lakeshore Theatre was a burlesque show. However, it was not that random factoid floating in my head during the photo shoot that inspired the photo of the Comedians You Should Know half-naked in the bathroom. The pervert with that idea was Michael Sanchez, a member of the group and featured in the photo with the red towel on his head giving another member a shoulder massage. (And he's not actually a pervert- sorry, Michael.)

He said, "I don't know, I really like the idea of a photo of us all half-naked and like getting ready for a show in a bathroom- 8 half-naked guys with chest hair in one small bathroom is funny, right?" I think it is. I was laughing, Michael.

The second shot of the members' heads stacked onto a table was my brainchild. Mostly because we didn't have much space for a group shot and I wanted to keep it small and easy to take... I think it turned out well and was worth the scrunched shoulders and aching backs after scrunching in that tightly for a few minutes.

If this group didn't know each other well before this photo shoot, they sure are well-acquainted with each other now.