I was hired as a makeup artist by MichaelGroup LTD, a media production company, here in Chicago. We had to film an interview with Mr, Daley. It was a very tight schedule. When Mr Daley walked in he was quickly escorted to my chair . I started working on him immediately. First of all, I actually thought that he was taller than me. I think he is actually shorter than me by a hair or two. We started conversing very freely and you could tell that he was comfortable with what I was doing. I love when people I photograph or makeup completely give in.I was done with his makeup in under 10 minutes. The producer approved and on he went to his interview.

I have also found that most politicians I have worked with turn out to be very charismatic, you could easily see why they have reached great levels in their careers. It was no surprised to me that by the end of the shoot Mr. Daley knew everybody’s names.

Today we constantly see fantastic images, amazing websites, and deal with social media sites and ever-changing technology. The corporate, small business or personal brand has become very imperative for our marketing strategies.

We have complete control of how we present ourselves. When someone arrives at your website and sees your photograph they immediately make hundreds of decisions about the way you look. By the time they click onto another page their mind has made up their opinion about you. Also, in today’s market not having a photograph sends the wrong image. They viewer may think of a bunch of negative reasons why you haven’t shown yourself. If so many people have a photo why don’t you?

Since, “you only get one chance to make a first impression”, make the best of it!

Let me help you start with a great executive headshots. Below are some tips that will help you with your executive headshots:

Plan Your Wardrobe:

You’ll have plenty of time before the shoot to discuss with Michael the image that you want to give. Make sure that you select outfits that enhance your body type and are right for your business. A very conservative look is not always the way to go. Understanding whom you are marketing yourself to will help you decide the look that you will present. Once you book with Michael he will give you a list of wardrobe suggestions to make sure that you will look your best for your executive portrait. Calasstudio understands that you are not a model selling an outfit; the session is about you and how you want to present yourself.

Smiles:

Smiles sell even in the corporate world. Automatically one tends to smile when meeting someone for the first time. Why hide it in a photograph? You want to look trustworthy and approachable and the right smile can convey that. To keep your smile natural Michael will help you with prompt a genuine laugh, and your expression won’t look forced.

Appear Less Posed:

Michael will engage you in conversation about some topic that both of you may find of interest. If your mind is focused on something other that the photo session, you’ll seem less rigid. Look for ways to connect with your photographer and you will appear to connect with your viewers.

Be Yourself:

Allow yourself to have fun on your shoot. If you do it will show up in your photos. If you are just the best that you can be you will make a great first impression!

With all the competition for audiences in Chicago, a Theater poster is one of the most important promotional materials for your theater. It should contain the obvious, details about your Chicago show such as title, date, location and actors. A professionally designed poster can lead to the success of your show in Chicago.

A well designed Theater poster can get your potential audience hooked on your poster campaign and heighten their excitement and enthusiasm toward your show.

If you’re looking for an exciting and unique poster to promote your show, play, musical or event I can help you from start to finish. I can help you create an original impacting design.

In the gallery below are a few examples of custom theatre posters that I have helped design for my clients. You’ll notice that the photographic nature of the poster helps them stand out and be unique. You’ll notice some of the creative process in the photos below as well as photos taken to be used in the lobby of the theaters to help promote the show.

Women Behind Bars

Take Me Out

Title Of Show

Nunsensation

Lust N’ Rust

F*cking Men

The Next Fairy Tale

Dan Miftari had been around for a while creating music and performing solo and with bands in the Chicago area. He then decides to keep music as a hobby and settles down. He gets married, has two children, and ends up working at a chemical plant. Every now and then he was still writing music for other people. One of his clients, a female country singer decided to pass on the song he wrote for her.  Then he thought to himself: “I wrote it already, played the music, arranged, composed it, mixed it as well, blah, blah, blah. I’ll have some fun with it.” Well, he uploads it online and next thing he knows the song blew up on the internet, going crazy on an internet radio station.  Soon after iTunes, Amazon, Interscope, Island Def Jam, etc all want to sell it and want him to create more!!! Here is where I come in, Amazon tells him that he has to have great photos that he can’t continue with the snap shots he has up online. So in the mean time they create a cheesy “love graphic” for him, until he gets new ones. Love it!

Today Dan is working on his solo project. As a singer songwriter he considers his music to be warm and more on the RnB style with a Rockish mix. “Maybe That’s Just the Way” is blowing up everywhere on the internet. You can find him on iTunes, Amazon, Emusic, Spotify, Jango, LastFM and more.

You can buy Dan’s songs “Maybe That’s Just the Way” and “Both Times It Was You” at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=dan+miftari

Are you an actor or musician in need of a style reboot? I can polish your existing image, or help you to build a distinct look from the ground up. In the gallery you’ll see three examples of how I helped three lovely ladies create the right image for their specific marketing purpose. Before the shoot we discuss your direction as an artist and I ask for photos, audio, anything that helps me get to know you better. The day of the shoot we do not take one single photo until we are clear with the new direction that your look is going to take.

The gallery below shows the before and after from regular headshot to a more stylized photo for a singer/performer.

Mallory Sears is a very talented and determined young woman, with brains and beauty, sounds perfect right? Well her only flaw might be that she is a Capricorn. Mallory was trying to put together a demo and press kit for her trip to Los Angeles. There are many beautiful women in LA so we needed to make sure that she stood out and looked different form the rest. After a bit of resistance on her part we found her look and she had very good results in LA. She knew that just headshots or regular photos weren’t going to do it.

Below is a bit of her email to me after her visit in LA:

Wanted to update you on a couple of things from LA. I had a great time and I think it was overall a good success. Everyone I met with said it wouldn’t be easy (which I knew) but that I had a great personality and determination which is over half the battle so I’m already a step ahead of a lot of people. I met with some managers and artists who were very interested in working with me which is great!

Michael, everyone LOVED your pictures! I even won favorite project of the week at Argentum PhotoLab, which I think pretty much means they liked the pictures best because I didn’t get a prize or anything.

Cara Carothers whom after a ten-year hiatus from performing needed new photos and marketing materials to promote her comeback show at Chicago’s Davenport’s. She not only needed musician photos, she also desired a new look and help with her graphic design. She needed a look and image to match the caliber and nature of her powerful singing.

The results exceeded her expectations and I had a blast with her hair! I also helped her create the poster, It went very well with her powerful persona and voice.

Cara will be back at Davenports on April 13th at 8PM. For reservations visit Davenportspianobar.com then click on The Cabaret.

Gillian Kelly is an amazing Chicago Cabaret artist and ex Opera diva, as well as an amazing voice teacher (www.VoiceQuestInc.com). I know, I’ve been her student. Every Friday in May Gillian is performing at Davenport’s. She is celebrating her own journey as a mum and a career woman. Her show is rightly titled ” Not Your Ordinary Mother!”

Gillian came to me to help her create photos that she would use to promote her show. After our consultation I decided the look we needed was the quintessential mom of the 1940s – 1950′s! So we planned the proper wardrobe, hairstyle and make-up, which by the way; is one of my favorite periods in fashion. The day of the shoot I got working on the make-up and as soon as I was done placing the last flower on her hair she knew that we had accomplished the look that would make her poster fabulous. I also had a lot fo fun creating the design for her vintage poster.

Don’t miss her show and book a reservation: Davenportspianobar.com

If you wan to find out more abut Mary Beth and when she performs again visit her website. http://www.marybethburns.com/default.html

They both were looking to update their headshots. Their manager wanted them to have a real headshot rather than a more glamorous studio looking headshot. He told me that he also wanted to keep her hair and make-up looking more simple and natural. When I was done with her hair and make-up I was very pleased and relieved to know that she loved it. She actually said that she had learned a couple of make-up tricks.

Marina Sirtis palyed the role of Counselor Deanna Troi. She also played Shereen, the Persian store keeper, in the Oscar winning film, Crash. She had an unforgettable line in that movie:  “They think we’re Arab. When did Persian become Arab?”

Michael Dorn played Lieutenant Commander Worf. Who would have known that he was such a handsome man under all that Kinlgon make-Up?

One of the best parts of shooting George’s new actor headshots was that I had just seen him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2! It was so cool to have in my studio, an actor that has been in 3 of the Harry Potter movies! His manager sent him my way because he was looking to update his actor headshots but wanted to feel comfortable in the studio. He also wanted some shots that he could use for publicity.

We immediately connected when we started talking and we realized that we had both grown up in the Caribbean. I was born in Cuba and grew up in Puerto Rico and he grew up in Grenada. If you come form an island in the Caribbean you’ll understand the bond.

He also enjoyed that I keep my studio very casual and lived in. Nothing fancy and pretentious. I feel that my clients need to feel comfortable and at home. This allows them to relax, have a good time and end up with great actor headshots!

This was a very fun project because I got to help shape the look and style of the six finalists. “Talent: The Casting Call” is a reality talent search. Thousands of girls auditioned online, but only six, were selected and flown to Hollywood. What made this show a bit different was that they not only competed singing but also acting and being able to change their image and look, walk and act like a real superstar.

My approach to this shoot was like a Hollywood publicity photo session.  We had to make sure that they all looked their best and brought to the publicity photo session a brand new glamorous look. During the publicity photo session they also had to be able to move and pose as a professional entertainer. The was no time for too much prepping. The producers  were trying to find girls that were well rounded and that looked like real girls and then turn them into superstars.

I ended up having a great time showing them how to pose and walk during the publicity photo session. Most of them had never really been in a professional shoot before so it turned out to be a big challenge. After getting comfortable with me they began to flourish in front of the camera and they came out fantastic.

The winner was Logen Hall. She won the role of Kenzie in ” Talent” the new series and a contract with Jive Records!

Another fun surprise was photographing the judges and the host. They turned out to be as much fun as the contestants.

Here I will try to give newcomers advice on what professional actor headshots should be like. It might also turn out to be good advice to an actor that has been around a while, perhaps they will learn something new. So let’s start wit the basics.

• Actor headshots are an 8×10 photograph taken of an actor. The main focus of the photograph should be of the face.
• Actor headshots are absolutely necessary when auditioning for roles on TV, film, commercials, Theater and industrial films.
• Many actor headshots are often 3/4 of the subject’s body (called a “three quarter” shot). These are more commonly used for commercials.
• 8″x10″ headshots the the actors calling call it is just like a business card. The actor headshot is presented to casting directors or agents or managers.
• Actor headshots are intended to help the actor market themselves.
• Actor headshots should shoe the person as they would look on camera and as close as possible to who they are.

Don’t get caught up in the word natural. Instead pay attention to have it look like you. Perhaps you are not into the natural look. I believe the proper word should be reality. The headshot should portray you in a real manner. Many people also talk about natural light being better. Not really every commercial, TV episode or film is not shot with natural light alone unless it is a documentary. It doesn’t matter how you are shot as long as the headshot shows the real you. I shoot most of the time with a combination of natural light and strobe. This will look a lot more like film or TV.

•  Actor Headshots should show you in as positive light as possible, accentuating the subject’s best qualities. It should be clear and well lit. Too many shadows tend to hide too much of the subjects face.
• Actor headshots help the casting director find that particular person they are looking for.
• Don’t confuse actor headshots with “Galmour shots.”
• A good headshot can help you get called in for an audition.
• The quality of the work of the photographer can make a difference.
• A professional looking headshot will grab the attention of a casting director. It will also imply that you are taking your career seriously.
• Good actor headshots will be an accurate and realistic representation of you. It shouldn’t make you look younger or like someone else.
• Actor headshots are not “Fashion” photos. Actor headshots show you off and “Fashion” shots are meant to show off the clothing.

Many times I get asked how often should you update your actor headshots? In my opinion you should update your actor headshots any time your look drastically changes. Maybe you changed hair color or lost a considerable amount of weight or regretfully you have aged. Actor headshots are supposed to be an accurate and realistic representation of what you currently look like. Children tend to need headshot more often than adults, but that doesn’t mean that adults should change their headshots after 5 years. You have changed, period. The last thing you want is to waste the casting directors time with a photograph that is 5 years or older. They won’t forget you wasted their time.