Composite Headshots Portrait Sample

• Advertising, Business Headshots, Corporate Headshots, Executive Headshots

When the weather outside is frightful, composite headshot portraits are so delightful! If you need social media headshots that feel like they were photographed on-location, but can’t produce good photos outdoors because of the bad weather, you can produce a composite headshot at my studio. A green screen composite headshot is quick and easy to produce and gives you the flexibility to choose the background for your images. You see it in Hollywood movies, and can now use it to produce a custom look for your own business photos. It is also much more cost effective than shooting on-location.

composite headshotThis sample shows what the headshot looks like before and after it’s composited and edited. Using the right lighting, the final image has higher fidelity and works great for advertising use or social media.

Contact me today to find out more about booking a composite headshot session at my Vancouver photo studio using green screen technology.

CaRMS Headshot Photo Specifications

• Student Headshots

CaRMS photo specificationsCaRMS medical residency photoCaRMS (Canadian Resident Matching Service) is a program that matches Canadian medical students to one of 30 different programs across 17 medical schools in Canada. A part of your application will consist of a headshot digital photo that you will need to include as part of the residency matching program.

We’ve worked with many medical students in Metro Vancouver to produce photos for their CaRMS application at excellent rates, and can also help you to produce a professional looking headshot photo as well.

The photos are taken at our studio with professional lighting and backdrops, but can also be photographed on location for groups or individuals. Typically, photo sessions take about 20 – 30min at the studio, and you will be able to review the photo proofs and make you photo selections during the session.

After the photo session, your digital portraits will delivered within 2 business days online (rush services also available). You will receive an full copy of your selected photos, as well as a cropped and

CaRMS Specifications and Requirements

CaRMS photo specs VancouverAccording to current CaRMS photo requirements, the digital headshots need to meet these specifications:

  • CaRMS photo are usually photographed as a head and shoulders portrait
  • Photos need to be submitted in digital format online under My Documents in the applicant web portal
  • Wallet sized photos should be 2.5″ x 3.5″ (63.5mm x 88.9mm) – the photo may be resized to 3″ (76.2mm)
  • Make sure the photo file type is JPEG with the extension “.jpg”
  • The maximum photo file size should be 256k
  • Colour or Black & White headshots are accepted

You can refer to the CaRMS timelines for key dates for your application and more information on the application requirements.

What to Bring to your CaRMS Photo Session

  • Wear a well-pressed shirt or blouse; neutral colours are usually best
  • Bring a suit jacket or blazer in case it’s needed
  • Bring hair product to control fly-aways if needed
  • You may bring makeup, but please keep makeup to a minimum
  • If you wear glasses with transitions lenses, please choose non-transition lenses for the photo session if possible

To schedule a CaRMS photo session, please visit our contact page and send us a message to set up an appointment.

Encountering “Page Not Found” or similar errors when trying to access your photo gallery?

• Tips

We recently began to migrate all our business websites over to the HTTPS protocol from the old HTTP protocol that most of the web currently uses. The HTTPS protocol means that the website uses an SSL certificate for security authentication and verification, and is generally more secure. It is also promoted by Google and enforced by many web browsers as a safer way to surf the web.

Although most of this transition has gone over smoothly, there have been a few hiccups along the way.

You may have encountered a “Page Not Found” or similar error message when attempting to access your photo gallery with the domain “http://clients.dsoleil.com”. The reason why this sometimes occurs (depending on your browser and/or network’s firewall policies) is because the gallery is currently not hosted on server with our security certificate (SSL certificate). This doesn’t necessarily mean you are visiting an insecure website, instead, the problem occurs because the gallery’s security certificate is not one that belongs to us, but to our cloud-based image hosting provider.

Our image hosting provider is working on a fix, but the full implementation won’t take place until July 2018.

In the meantime, if you find that your gallery link is no longer working, here’s what you will need to do:

First, here is an example of a link to our gallery: http://clients.dsoleil.com/p12345678

  1. Copy the last part of the link that begins with a “p”. In this example, that would be “p12345678″. This is your gallery ID.
  2. In your browser’s address bar, enter this link “http://dsoleilphotography.zenfolio.com/” – but don’t press enter yet…
  3. Append the gallery id (“p12345678″) to the link you just typed into the address bar.
    The whole link should look like this: http://dsoleilphotography.zenfolio.com/p12345678
  4. Now press enter and the gallery screen should begin to load.

If you have any questions or encounter any problems, please feel free to email us at: info@proheadshots.ca

Thank you!

Green Screen Headshots for when Photographing on Location Isn’t Possible

• Advertising, Business Headshots, Real Estate Agent Headshots

Many of my clients ask for unique backgrounds for their headshots or group portraits that feature beautiful office spaces, venues, or homes. These backgrounds are popular because they draw attention and interest, but capturing business portraits in these spaces isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons (e.g. access, logistics, weather/lighting limitations, etc.). So another option is to produce green screen headshots (also known as Chroma key) in the studio and replace the backgrounds in post production.

Here is a sample of a business headshot I photographed in-studio for a local realtor.

green screen headshot shot in studio

After this was photographed, we chose a background of a beautiful residential space and placed his business headshot into the background with some Photoshop magic. The background was “blurred” to draw attention to my client. It also allows his graphic designer to drop in a logo and a title in the space on the right of the image. Alternatively, the photo can be cropped closer if just the head and shoulders headshot is needed for web advertising or business cards.

green screen headshot for realtor

Another background was selected as well, and it was easy to place the headshot into a new space with little additional Photoshop editing required.

Some of the keys to making this all work are: the studio lighting placement, background selection, and colour grading. Knowing what the background will be in advance is important to making the final composite image look as realistic as possible.

Most of the backgrounds I prefer selecting have a brighter and/or generally muted colour palette, which helps to minimize the contrast between the headshot and the background. Knowing that the background is going to be generally brighter means adding some back lighting or rim lighting to the subject’s photo.

Colour grading or matching tones is another important ingredient. Compare the top image with the bottom one. Notice that the warmer skin tone of the top image fits better with the residential background due to the similar warmish tone.

Headshots from the green screen process rarely look as good as shooting in the actual space, but it’s an acceptable compromise when certain access or seasonal limitations keep us from shooting on location. One way to add fidelity to the image is to apply a tighter crop. This can usually help because it removes much of the background distraction, but includes just enough of the background to maintain context.

green screen headshot cropped

If you would like more information about producing headshots, group photos, or commercial images using this green screen technique, feel free to drop me a line!

Dramatic business headshot

• Business Headshots, Corporate Headshots

This is a dramatic business headshot taken for a Randstad tech recruiter at the studio using the new Canon 5D MK IV (Mark 4) using a mix of natural ambient lighting and strobe lighting by Elinchrom and their Rotalux light modifiers. Head hunter headshot employment staffingThis dramatic business headshot are influenced by actor headshots often seen in hollywood portfolios. Lighting is darker edgy and is intended to draw attention to the shape and contour of the face. dramatic headshot for a high tech recruiterIf you would like to produce similar headshots for your own business use, contact me for rates and availability.

Photos for an Advertising Campaign

• Advertising

This is a photo I produced for Dominion Lending Centre’s recruitment advertising campaign last winter for Metro Vancouver. This photo was produced on a frozen Como Lake in Coquitlam featuring one of their top mortgage brokers. Photography for Advertising Campaign in Vancouver

This photo was taken on a cold afternoon on one of the coldest and snowiest winters we’ve seen on the West Coast in decades. It may be one the last times we see a local lake safe enough to skate on while frozen.

If you would like help producing photos for your next promotional campaign, please get in touch!

Corporate Lawyer Headshots On Site

• Uncategorized

Here are some sample images of Corporate Lawyer Headshots photographed on-site in downtown Vancouver. These headshots were photographed at my client’s office. We used the lawyer’s lounge for our lighting setup and used part of the window as the backdrop for these corporate portraits.

Woman lawyer headshotWhat makes these headshots stand out is the out of focus background, which puts the headshots in context, while placing my clients in sharp focus. The combination of soft lighting with a subtle rim light gives these headshots a clean and bright feel with minimal shadows and soft tones. Corporate lawyer headshots VancouverAll my headshots are edited in Photoshop, where a light skin retouch is applied, but the images are not overprocessed. If you are a business in Metro Vancouver and need corporate headshots for your website, social media, or for print marketing, contact us for more a custom quote and availability for on-site or in-studio sessions. Please ask about our group rates if you are inquiring for your company staff.

Mobile Headshots in Gastown

• Business Headshots, Corporate Headshots

With the recent early winter snowfall in Metro Vancouver, there was an increase in the number of headshot portrait inquiries for on-site at my client’s offices. Mobile headshots services are a common service I provide to my corporate clients who need profile photos for their staff, but need the work to be done in a time effective way that won’t add any unnecessary work disruptions.

My mobile headshot studio normally consists of professional studio lighting gear that can fit into almost any space to produce professional looking headshots that appear like they were shot in a commercial studio. I often use boardrooms, lunch rooms, or even office lobbies – so long as there is space to set up my equipment, I can produce modern-looking headshots at reasonable rates.

mobile headshots for a high-tech software company
Mobile Headshots for a Vancouver Software Company

These are the web profile headshots produces for a recent mobile headshots shoot for a healthcare software company in Vancouver’s Gastown district. The light gradient grey background was chosen in advance to compliment their branding and website colours.

These were shot in the company’s staff/meeting room, which was a medium sized room that accommodated the setup of a large seamless backdrop, and professional lighting gear for the main light and background light, along with the grip equipment.

Following the session, an online photo proofing gallery was set up to allow my clients to select their best photos. Their selected headshots were then prepared and delivered within a couple of days. So if you need a fast turn-around time, I’m more than happy to accommodate!

I offer excellent group rates for departments or businesses that need new photos for web profiles, LinkedIn, editorial stories, or for print marketing purposes. So if you are interested in producing custom headshots for your business at your office location, please contact us today for rate info and availability!

Musician Headshot | Vancouver Guitarist

• Actor Headshots, Musician headshots

Adrian Verdejo had his musician headshot taken at my studio in East Vancouver this month. Portraits for musicians are a key part of promoting an artist in Vancouver and abroad. These musician headshot will be used for publicity on his website and other marketing materials related to his music and teaching.
Classical guitarist musician portraitsWe did a headshot session with a couple of different looks. For the casual look, a simple black turtleneck was the perfect clothing choice to focus the viewer on the artist himself, and his guitar. We did both a darker scene as well as a  high-key look with plenty of negative space to the left of the frame so that text can be at a later time. Adrian VerdejoA slightly more formal attire choice below presented a professional look. We chose to feature both the front and back of his classical guitar in this shot. The lighting perfectly highlighted the wood grain and its specific characteristics. Vancouver classical guitarist Adrian Verdejo

For more information about headshots to help promote your music or art, please contact us for get information on portrait rates for Vancouver sessions in studio as well as custom sessions on location.

One Studio, Two Looks for Studio Headshots

• Business Headshots, Corporate Headshots, Executive Headshots, Real Estate Agent Headshots

These two studio headshots were photographed at the same session with two lighting setups for two distinct looks. The Studio Dark look on the left conveys a more dramatic look, while the look on the right is brighter with softer lighting.

Studio lighting looks for headshots
Studio Dark (left) and Studio Bright (right) lighting looks

Notice the difference in shadows around the face. The headshot on the left has darker shadows around the jawline, which helps to shape my client’s face. The headshot on the right has more even lighting across the face, and appears softer and brighter overall.

Although both these headshots were photographed at the same time of day, the configuration of studio lights, type of modifiers and reflectors has a big impact on the overall look and feel of the headshots.

If you are looking to produce two different looks during your photo session, get in touch with us for details on what type of headshot session would work best to meet your goals.