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By Gary Morgan


You can only make one first impression. If potential clients are going to be checking out your company's website, the first things they learn about you will be on your management page. You have to be as professional looking and appealing as possible. A Los Angeles business portrait photographer has some great tips for creating a lasting, and great, first impression.

Whenever you are having a professional photograph taken, you need to plan your outfit carefully. It should match the type of business you are in as well make a statement about your place in the corporate environment. No matter your position however, there is clothing that needs to be avoided.

Thin stripes and patterns are two things you want to avoid. They can be very fashionable in person, but in a picture they will create what is called a moire effect. This is an unflattering ripple that will show up when the pictures are reduced to fit into a company brochure or on the website.

You should think about how the photo will eventually be used. Many times corporate photos are changed to black and white images or reduced to be used as thumbnails. These uses will eliminate any subtle variation in color tones in the clothing you're wearing. Your pale pink tie, that looks great against your snowy white shirt in the mirror, will all but disappear in this kind of photo.

If you have a job in an industry considered creative, a suit and tie might not be what you want to wear. You still have to be careful if you normally wear tee shirts with logos or other types of graphics. Most corporate portraits are head shots, or head and shoulders, which will cut into your logo and detract from your image. Wild patterns on shirts and ties don't translate well when pictures are reduced.

When you are having a professional photograph taken, the photographer is probably going to have you sitting under high intensity lighting. If you sweat easily, you don't want your face, especially your brow and upper lip, to come out shiny. Applying some foundation is a good idea for the women in the group. If you don't feel comfortable with that, run a damp cloth over your face right before you get in front of the camera.

Photographers say they are always surprised when clients come to their studios for portrait sessions with their hair flying in all directions. Women are generally more guilty of this than men, because most men have less to work with. Dropping a hairbrush and some gel or hairspray into your purse is a good idea. You never know when a wind gust will catch you unawares. You should pay as much attention to your hair as you do to your clothing.

To wear your glasses or not to wear your glasses is a question photographers get all the time. Their advice is to wear them if that is what you usually do. If you only wear them occasionally, leave them off. The lenses must be completely clear if you wear the glasses.




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