Editorial Portrait – AmeriServ Financial Annual Report I love being a commercial photographer here in Pittsburgh, and one of my favorite things to shoot is an Editorial Portrait. It’s more play than actual work. You go into a location and try to find an interesting and applicable environment that you think will make a compelling…
Typical Location Business Portrait I thought it might be interesting to show you a few behind-the-scenes photos of a typical location business portrait and explain what all goes into this type of photography. There are several things that need to be taken into account when selecting the exact spot where the subject will stand or…
Theatrical Headshots for Actress Delaney Shaye As a sound man for independent movies, I’ve worked with Delaney many times over the past couple of years. I’ve always found her quite talented as an actress and a lot of fun to work with. So when she approached me to shoot her headshot, I was very pleased…
Behind the Scenes Photography on Autopilot A few weeks back, I bought a new GoPro 10. I already had a GoPro 3+, but I never really liked it. To use it properly, you had to memorize which buttons did what and had to know how to navigate your way through the cryptic menu system to…
My portrait swipe file I’m about to admit something, and I don’t consider it to be unethical. What I do is swipe other photographers’ photos off the internet. I spend quite a bit of time looking at other photographers’ photos, usually on Pinterest or Instagram. I “follow” photographers whose work I admire, and when I…
Commercial Portraits for Cancer Bridges Every now and then I do some work for a neighboring non-profit “Cancer Bridges”, formerly known as “our Club House” and before that, “Gilda’s”. It’s a support community for cancer survivors and their families. They’re great people and I always welcome their calls. I wish I could do more of…
Headshot of Pittsburgh Filmmaker Xayne Allen Over the last three years or so, I’ve branched off into the area of Independent Filmmaking. Along the way, I’m met and become friends with, many interesting people. Most in the Indy Filmmaking community, pursue their passion on the weekends, while holding regular 9 to 5s like the rest…
Finding the right background for your Business Headshot Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind shooting business headshots on canvas or plain-paper backgrounds. I think they have their place, depending on the type of business. But I have to say, I prefer to shoot headshots in an environment, usually somewhere in the business’s office…
Portraits with a purpose Here are a few portraits from a recent shoot. I do some pro bono work for a few paces in the Pittsburgh area and this is one of my favorites, Cancer Bridges , formally known as Our Club House. One of the projects I work on is a fundraising brochure where…
New Environmental Portrait Look for me For the last few years, I’ve been in love with the look of location portraits and headshots taken with a telephoto lens, shot at its widest aperture. This creates what I call the “minimum-focus” look that I really like. As a matter of fact, I like this look so…
Taking Professional Real Estate Portraits and Realtor Portraits So what’s the best way to photograph Real Estate professionals? I’m a Professional Commercial Portrait Photographer located in Pittsburgh PA and I’ve been shooting portraits for quite a few years now. I’m here to share with you what I think are the main things to consider when…
Corporate Photographer Assignment As a Pittsburgh Corporate Photographer, there are some projects that are a lot of fun to shoot. Good SEO and a good corporate photography portfolio will get you the occasional magazine assignment and this one was perfect for a corporate photographer that specialized in shooting people. Corporate photography assignment for trade journal…
Portrait Photographer Types in Pittsburgh Have you ever wondered about the different types of Portrait photographers here in Pittsburgh? I’ve written an article on the subject and published it as a “page” and not a “Post”, so you’ll have to visit the link above.
Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer Types of Portraits I’ve been a Pittsburgh Portrait Photographer since the 1980s and I’m even sometimes confused about all the different types of portraits and what each type means to different people. Rarely do I shoot for non-commercial clients. Mostly, it’s for all types of companies, corporations and various publications, including national…
Business Headshots for Website Part of my business is shooting commercial portraits and business headshots. It’s not the majority of my work, but I have to say I enjoy the diversion from shooting food. There are many challenges to shooting a good business headshot. Finding a relevant and visually interesting background is sometimes difficult, and…
Social Media Headshots I’ve been getting more and more calls to photograph people, not only for various marketing materials, but also for social media. Individuals and businesses are realizing how important it is to have a quality headshot to represent them. The key to a good social media headshot is to have the subject with…
Editorial Portrait Photography Thought Process I was recently hired by a trade magazine to photography a lawyer that was involved with a case against the NFL, having to do with Mike Webster, the deceased Pittsburgh Steeler, and the concussion problem facing the National Football League. The challenge of the assignment was to illustrate as much…
Location Portrait of Michele Ridge This is from a recent commercial photography project for Seton Hill University. Michele was retiring from being a long time board member and the University wanted to give her a portrait as a gift. This photo was taken in front of the administration building, an iconic location for the portrait.
Editorial Business Portrait for The Braff Group This portrait is from a recent shoot for Third Planet Communications, and their client, The Braff Group. We came away with quite a few great business portraits and action shots, but this one is my favorite. The photo was taken with my Nikon D800 and my trusty 80-200mm…
Urban Executive Portraits Here’s an Executive Portrait I did over the weekend. We talked about various business location for our shoot, but thought this would be interesting. The shot was to be used for various business reasons such as a Linkedin profile photo and in case of speaking engagement invitations. The lighting in this location…