I’ve photographed a number of conferences over the years. During these events I’m listening to the keynote and workshop speakers as I work my way through the room. Since I’m often in and out of the room a few minutes at a time, maybe more eavesdropping than listening.

Many of these speakers have been informative. Some have been entertaining. A few have been funny. 

Some, though, have a special charm that combines all three qualities.

Susan Seay is one of those charming speakers.

Susan Seay, Mentor for Moms

Susan and I met at a Hearts at Home conference in Normal, Illinois, several years ago when I photographed the event at Illinois State University. A wife to one husband and a mom to seven children in Austin, Texas, she was just getting started as a speaker back then.

And now?

Check out her website and you’ll see she’s written a book, runs a podcast, speaks at conferences around the country, and has been featured on numerous radio shows, podcasts, and publications. And she’s still married and parenting those seven children.

New Headshots for Susan

A headshot is an important marketing tool for a speaker and author—a good photograph helps build trust and credibility. Susan messaged me to say she’d be at the Hearts at Home 2.0/Ignite the Family conference back in Normal on March 15-16. The conference was being held at ISU again in the Braden Auditorium and would bring 1,500 women to town. Susan wanted to update her headshots and wondered if we could get together to do that. 

Fortunately for both of us, my buddy Scott Sarver from Broadleaf Video had asked me to help him shoot photos and video for the conference. So, yes, I’d be on site and, yes, we could easily make new headshots.

Scott was already planning to make headshots for other conference speakers so he had a “studio” set up backstage in the auditorium. When I arrived at the conference on Saturday, Susan and I took a few minutes that morning to put Scott’s studio to use. 

Once we finished her pictures, Susan returned to her speaker table in the expo hall where she met and chatted with the women attending the conference. 

Susan the Speaker

Susan also spoke from the stage that afternoon and had the audience—including me—in stitches. Lots of stories about the challenges and joys of raising a large family. Unsurprisingly, dinner plans get lost in the midst of busy days running from one activity to another: the Seay family are frequent flyers at Chick-fil-A.

The conference wrapped up and I sent Susan the proofs from her session. She chose the two poses you see here. Since Susan’s “brand” is all about connection, I wanted to make sure her new portraits conveyed kindness, warmth, and humor—I think we got it.

My sincerest thanks to Susan for the opportunity to make her pictures. If you find her speaking at a conference or podcast in your neighborhood, I hope you’ll take the time to enjoy her stories.

Need a New Headshot For Your Business?

If you’re a speaker, author, or business professional in central Illinois (Bloomington/Normal, Springfield, Peoria) and need a professional headshot for your website or LinkedIn profile that builds trust, I’d be happy to help you.

Just let me know.

It’s always a treat to work with the young ladies who participate in the Logan County Fair Queen Pageant. This year has been no exception. 

Molly Schempp, a senior at Olympia High School and Schempp Homeschool, has represented Logan County for 2018. She’s involved in FFA as well as Land of Lincoln CEO, an exciting business education program for high school students. Molly plans to continue her education in the agriculture industry after she graduates from high school this spring.

Since she lives close to the heart of the county, Molly has been involved in all manner of community activities this year: from parades to pancake breakfasts to calf scrambles and ribbon cuttings. She’s a delightful young woman who’s worn her crown and sash with dignity and honor.

We made Molly’s competition portraits back in August and met recently to take some new portraits and a headshot for this summer’s county fair program. Pageant director Bethany Rademaker (herself a former Logan County Fair Queen) and assistant director Katie Gosda (a former contestant) helped at each session to ensure Molly looked her best. And she did.

After I delivered Molly’s headshot proofs, Bethany replied with some very kind words:

Katie and I talked about how wonderful you are to work with! You know exactly what we need, you have a royal touch with the images, and you are so professional and personable.

My sincere thanks to Bethany, Katie, and Queen Molly. It’s always a pleasure.

The Logan County Fair Queen Pageant took place at the beginning of August and a new queen was crowned.

Meg Meeker, whose family hails from nearby Emden, is a senior at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana where she is studying agricultural leadership and science education. Like 2016 Queen Michelle Paulus, Meg comes from a farming family.

On a recent Saturday, we made Meg's portraits for the upcoming state fair queen competition. The competition requires two photographs for each contestant: an 8x10 in queen attire and a portrait in business attire. As expected, it was a pleasure to work with Meg and pageant director Bethany Rademaker for the pictures.

Best of luck to you, Meg, at state and in your final semesters at the U of I.

In addition to the Little Miss (ages 5 to 7) and Miss/Queen (ages 16 to 22) categories, this year's pageant features a new category—Junior Miss—for girls ages 9 to 12. More details about the pageant are available on the official website, LoganCountyFairQueen.com.

Once again I've had the privilege of photographing the lovely contestants. You can see all of the girls' photos in the slideshows below as well as on local media websites.

Wishing all the contestants the best!

Little Miss Contestants

Junior Miss Contestants

Miss Contestants

Elizabeth James, a business professional who lives near Peoria, contacted me to make some new headshots for her LinkedIn profile. We met here in Lincoln for a session, enjoyed getting to know each other, and made pictures.

Elizabeth was kind enough to send me a thoughtful testimony about her experience:

I feel very fortunate to have found Michael when searching for professional photographers online. I was in need of professional photographs to use on LinkedIn and other business materials but was not sure what to look for in a photographer. Michael was very prompt and detailed in his communications leading up to our session, and his professionalism and care made me feel completely at ease with the process.

I had never sought out professional photography before, so I was not familiar with the process or what to expect. Before we began the session, he described the process—what we were going to do step by step—and then gave me clear instruction every step of the way. His warmth, demeanor, and sense of humor put me completely at ease.

Also, I was very impressed with the quality of his equipment and setup. And the turnaround was incredibly fast; Michael helped me narrow down the proofs, provided me a subset to select from, and then had the finished photographs to me by next day. Amazing! Everything about my experience with Michael was top-notch and greatly exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend him, and I am sure I will be a repeat client.

The photo at the top of the post is the one Elizabeth is using for her social media profiles. Since she brought a couple of outfit changes, both professional and casual, here are a couple others from the session that I especially like as well.

Many thanks, Elizabeth, for the terrific session.

If you’re also in Peoria and need a new business headshot for your website or LinkedIn profile, please get in touch.

In one of my first on-location assignments for 2017, I made some new pictures for the fine folks at Keystone Risk Management, Inc. right here in Lincoln. Clyde and Shari Reynolds and their staff have been working with clients all over the country from their office on the prairie for more than 30 years.

They recently contacted me to make some new professional business headshots for their website so we spent an hour at their office one Friday afternoon to get the work done.

I set up a collapsible light gray background and our main light in a 60" umbrella. A small reflector added a touch of fill light from underneath. I spent about 5-10 minutes with each person and we took several poses to ensure we had plenty of good "looks."

After the session I posted the proofs to a private online gallery so Clyde's team could choose their favorites. Once I had their choices, I sent them off to the retoucher. A day later we had the finished images you see here and on KMRI's About Us page.

Are you in central Illinois? If your team needs some updated business headshots or if you need an executive portrait done on-location, please let me know.

Life is full of seasons and change. Our world has seen sweeping changes in 2016 and you probably have as well.

So I’ll cut to the chase: starting in January 2017, I’ll be working be exclusively “on location.” At the end of this month, I’ll be closing the studio on Pulaski Street in Lincoln. The business will continue but, at least for now, without the studio.

Backstory

When I opened the studio in July 2013, I hoped there’d be enough business in a small town to get me through a year. There was.

As I moved past that first year, the next two years brought several changes.

My photographic niches shifted from consumer portraiture to business headshots and commercial projects. As a result of my headshot marketing efforts, my business was profiled in Professional Photographer magazine, a rewarding achievement. Clients came not just from Lincoln but from Peoria, Springfield, and Bloomington/Normal as well.

I also added real estate photography to my specialties, a craft I’m enjoying. I’m planning to expand my work in this area in 2017.

And, significantly, our family has grown from six to nine children. As you might imagine, that makes our lives incredibly busy. I’ve often found the candle burning at both ends and in the middle as well.

The future

While I love making pictures in the downtown studio, more and more of my projects occur outside that space—including headshots. I’ve done an increasing amount of headshot work on location, which makes the process more convenient for my clients.

Going forward, I’ll continue to do headshots on location, commercial projects, and more real estate photography. If you need a picture, I’ll come to you. I may open a studio again at some point; for now, this approach is the best use of my time and resources and the best way I can serve my clients.

As we roll into the heart of the Christmas season, I offer a sincere “thank you” to all of you who’ve trusted me with your pictures over the last three years. It’s been my pleasure to serve you. I look forward to 2017 and hope to make your picture soon.

Cheers—

Michael
December 2016

CEO is a year-long course/curriculum that gives juniors and seniors throughout Logan County opportunities to visit local businesses, meet business owners, and have a go at starting their own businesses. The students meet early before the rest of the high school classes begin for this "hands on" practical education.

Facilitator Jason Mauhar is doing a great job with these young people. You can learn more about the CEO program, the students, as well as how you can get involved at Land of Lincoln CEO.

Congratulations to Michelle Paulus, winner of this year's Logan County Fair Queen Pageant.

Michelle, a Lincoln resident and a student at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, was selected from a field of seven contestants at the Logan County Fair on August 2. She came by the studio a few weeks ago for her official State competition portraits.

Many thanks to Michelle as well as new pageant director Bethany Rademaker. Bethany (who represented Logan County in 2010) is stepping in for retiring co-directors Deanne Mott and Amy Cherry. It's been a pleasure to work with Deanne and Amy the past several years and I look forward to assisting with Bethany's contestants in the future.

Thanks, Michelle, for letting me make your pictures. I wish you the best at State in January 2017.

The spring and summer season have found me at work both in the studio and on location for a number of clients.

Professionals from Peoria, Pekin, Springfield, and Lincoln have graced the studio here in Lincoln. I've also shot assignments for clients on location around Lincoln and Springfield this summer. Here are just a few of the folks I've worked with in the past few months. Their industries have included sales, consulting, law, publishing, government, technology, and a variety of nonprofit efforts.

If you're a business professional in central Illinois (Peoria, Bloomington/Normal, Springfield, Decatur, Lincoln) and need a new image for your website or LinkedIn profile, I'd be happy to help. You can learn more on the Business Details page.

Hearts at Home has been doing creative and significant work for moms and their families for 22 years. Books, resources, and conferences have helped thousands of moms over those two decades.

Constantly "upping their game," the team at Hearts at Home published their first professional annual report last year as a more concrete and attractive way to show donors and constituents the results of their work. With this new marketing piece, they knew they wanted professional photography.

Laura Myers, senior director of Creative Services for Hearts at Home, contacted me about their annual report project early last fall. Laura was working with veteran annual report designer Leslie Benson on the project as well. Leslie and I made some headshots and lifestyle photos together last year.

Since Leslie is based in Rockwall, Texas, we met virtually via Skype and email to discuss the kinds of images she needed for the layouts. Once we had the vision for the report "look" dialed in, we set a date in mid-October to meet with some team members and moms in Bloomington, Illinois, for the shoot.

We started the morning at Miller Park, making new portraits and headshots of Hearts' CEO Jill Savage. After that we made a quick trip to nearby Forrest Park to make pictures of the ladies before returning to Miller Park to finish the day.

Leslie sent me the finished report a couple weeks ago. As you can see in the page layouts below, it looks fantastic. The images we made that day have been featured throughout the report as well as in Hearts' other marketing efforts: the website, email newsletters, and conference materials.

Many thanks to the Hearts at Home team and Leslie Benson for another opportunity to work with you all—it's always a pleasure.

As of 2019, Hearts at Home is now Ignite the Family.

Learn more about Leslie Benson Design.

A few weeks ago I posted photos from a session at Michelle Schneider's studio. She's an artist in central Illinois who makes wonderful watercolor portraits.

In addition to making some pictures for Michelle, we've spent a lot of time over the last several months talking through her marketing approach. I've consulted and coached her on product offerings, business planning, and customer website experience. She recently took the time to write some kind words about our work together (below).

If you're an artist or small business person who needs help growing your business, please get in touch and let's see if there's something we can do together.

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Last year after having a baby, I was struggling turning my “business brain” back on and getting sales going again after some time off. I was feeling a bit lost, not knowing who to turn to, and definitely wanting to avoid the generic advice of business people who are smart and savvy, but who don’t know me or my business at all and who don’t have much to offer creative entrepreneurs like myself.

Michael came to mind immediately as someone I’ve known for a long time and respected as both a creative entrepreneur and business person.

Working with Michael has been amazingly insightful and well worth the investment. He’s helped me to look at my business and art from my customer's point of view, to narrow down my focus and intensity, to clarify my marketing message, and to build a stronger brand than before.

He’s devoted his time and attention to looking at my website specifically, talking with me over Skype and in person about the specifics of my brand, and has even made the trip over to my studio for our initial consultation and again later to photograph me in my environment.

His photographs have made my website more professional looking and have helped to add clarity to my brand. He listened to all of my requests and gave me a collection of images I can use on my website and social media to help my customer get to know me better.

I’ve loved working with Michael and have gleaned so much good information over the course of these past few months that it’s definitely changed my perspective on my marketing strategy. His one-on-one advice was exactly what I needed to get my business back up and running after some time away. I highly recommend his services!

Every small business is a marketing business; every artist who's selling her work is a marketer.

Central Illinois artist Michelle Schneider from The Art of Michelle "gets" this.

Michelle does a terrific job of marketing her work. She paints custom watercolor portraits and is writing and illustrating children’s books, and her websites showcase the work with outstanding product photography. Michelle's paintings are beautiful and personal, so she knows it's important to make a personal connection with visitors to her websites. To take her marketing imagery a step further, then, she contacted me to make some picture of her at work in her studio.

We spent a few quiet hours on a recent afternoon at work, Michelle at her easels and me behind the camera. We also made portraits that she'll use for PR purposes.

Here's what Michelle said when I emailed her the link to her proof gallery:

The proofs look amazing! I love them. You really are a lighting genius. Feel free to quote me on that. ;)

I'm eager to start using these pictures! ... Thank you again! I'm very happy. 

Michelle makes wonderful paintings—I hope you'll check out her work.

Here are a few more images from our session.

Lauren Stanfield, an aspiring actress and soon-to-be Lincoln College graduate, came by the studio last month for some updated headshots. Lauren knows that, in this competitive industry, first impressions matter so she needed solid images that would help her find work.

Before the appointment, Lauren and I talked about what to expect during the session, best clothing choices, hair and makeup, and other details. Lauren arrived at the studio with some simple but appropriate tops and had her hair done that morning. She looked great for her shoot.

We started the session with some lighting tests to see what would look best. I set up my ALZO Digital Pan-L-Lites (the same system I used for the Thirty-One consultants in January) and we got started. After photographing Lauren in several different poses and lighting configurations, we sat down together to see what we felt was working best. We then headed back into the camera room to get some more images in her other outfits and with another couple lighting setups. Altogether, Lauren's session took about two-and-a-half hours.

I was impressed with Lauren's ability to "turn it on" for the camera. She had so many solid looks, it was difficult to whittle them down. In the end, Lauren chose the image below as her favorite and shared these kind words on her Facebook page:

I wish Lauren all the best as she enters this next chapter of her journey. Below are another couple of my favorite images from her session.

If you're a theater major (Bradley University, Lincoln College, Illinois State University, University of Illinois Springfield) or aspiring actor/actress in central Illinois, I'd be happy to help you create some beautiful portfolio images. Let me know.

One year ago I rigged a makeshift headshot studio inside a small storage closet in Sherman, Illinois. We set up a backdrop and lights then photographed 57 women over the course of the next six hours. Those ladies, Thirty-One gift consultants and directors from all over the country, used the photographs on their social media profiles and marketing platforms to promote their businesses.

Senior Executive Director Julie Timm, the motivating force behind those ladies, wanted to offer the same opportunity to her team again this year. So we did and added two more ladies to bring the total to 59.

The studio set up was the same as last year: ALZO Pan-L-Lites for the ladies and a couple speedlights on the white backdrop. Since the Pan-L-Lites are continuous lights, they give me the ability to quickly and easily tweak the light for each subject. We were able to photograph each person from multiple angles and get flattering light without having to move any gear around—it's a great approach.

What did our "studio" look like? Here's a look inside the closet from the entrance:

And here's the business view from the camera position:

And how'd we do?

It was a delight to work with these enthusiastic ladies, just like last year. And even though I spent only a few minutes with each one, it was a pleasure to share that time together. 

Here are a few of the ladies we photographed.

My best wishes to Julie and her team. Thanks for the opportunity to make your pictures.

Downtown Lincoln, Illinois, is sporting a freshly renovated and expanded theater, the Lincoln Grand 8, and four local business owners hired me to produce a pre-roll congratulatory message which is now showing on the screens at the beautiful new theater.

Chris Graue (Graue, Inc.) raised the idea with me in December. We met with Patrick Doolin (Integrity Data), Joe Ryan (Country Financial), and Nick Guzzardo (Guzzardo's Italian Villa) as well to discuss the concept and script. In early January we met at the theater to film the interview pieces and I shot some B-roll footage later that day. After a couple rounds of edits, the finished commercial was ready to ship.

Congratulations to David Lanterman, owner of the Lincoln Grand 8. It's an outstanding destination for locals and visitors alike--I hope you'll come watch a movie here soon.

Technical notes: the video was filmed on a Sony A6000 camera outfitted with a Sony 18-105 F/4 lens. The interviews were lit with an ALZO Digital Pan-L-Lite kit and audio was captured with a Rode VideoMicPro microphone into a Tascam DR-60DmkII audio recorder.

The studio was busy over the summer and fall, with a number of headshot/portrait clients coming from Peoria and Lincoln. They're updating their looks for LinkedIn and other social media profiles, websites, and press/public relations uses. Here are just a few of the folks who came by for to have their pictures made.

If you're in central Illinois (Lincoln, Bloomington/Normal, Peoria, Springfield, or the surrounding towns), I'd love to help you improve your personal brand and marketing. Click over to the Business Portrait page or join the studio A-List to learn more.

Cilla Williams has been one of my consistent real estate clients. She's an agent in the Morton office of Jim Maloof/REALTOR and helps sellers and buyers throughout central Illinois but especially in her hometown of Delavan. Over the last year, I've photographed numerous homes for Cilla, many of which you can see on the Illinois Home Photography blog.

For this session, though, Cilla and I met at my studio in Lincoln for a new portrait. She wanted to update the profile photo that appears on her Facebook business page and next to her listings on Realtor.com.

Because real estate is a business that requires so much personal connection between agents and their clients, we wanted Cilla's portrait to convey warmth, confidence, and competence. That online photograph may likely be the first thing a prospective client sees, so it's critical that the photo helps make a connection.

We took a relaxed 90 minutes for Cilla's session, working with poses and lighting setups to find the most flattering looks for her. The photo above was one of our favorites.

Here's what Cilla had to say about her experience:

Interested in a professional portrait that helps you connect with prospects and clients? Visit the Business Portrait page to learn more.

Also, if you're a real estate agent in central Illinois, please visit Illinois Home Photography to learn how you can build your brand and market your clients' homes with, in Cilla's own words, "exquisite photography."

Huh. Well that was unexpected.

That was the first thought that went through my mind when I read the email from Jane Gaboury, director of publications at Professional Photographers of America (PPA):

Hi Michael,

One of the Professional Photographer editors at PPA found some info you'd posted on theLoop [PPA's online member forum] and brought it my attention. After looking at your website and seeing how you market business portraits, I'd really like to tap into your expertise and share it with other PPA members. I haven't seen anyone else do such a thorough job of explaining the benefits of professional headshots for business people and then show how it's done to put them at ease about the process.

Would you be game for being the subject of an article that addresses how you market, create, and sell business portraits?

Would I be game? How fast can I type YES!

(That was the second thought that went through my mind.)

I joined PPA in 2009 and have been reading and learning from Professional Photographer magazine since the beginning. PPA is the largest nonprofit organization for professional photographers in the world, so getting a chance to have my business profiled in the magazine is pretty neat.

If you want to skip the backstory, you can read the article (PDF) as it appeared in Professional Photographer.

For the curious, though--how did this come about?

Getting started

The majority of my promotional efforts are built on an inbound marketing approach. I blog regularly, market with email, and do some social media promotion. When someone in Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, or Bloomington/Normal does an online search for "business headshot photographer," I want them to find me. My search engine rankings are good in my central Illinois market (first or second page of organic search in Google) but I felt my business portrait page was weak.

Toward the middle of 2014, I knew I wanted to grow the headshot/business portrait side of my business. It's work that I love and it gives me a chance to meet some new and wonderful people around central Illinois. 

I needed to do three things to make this happen:

1. Offer a unique product that clients couldn't get somewhere else
2. Deliver a special kind of experience that would make a trip to Lincoln worth the effort from nearby towns like Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, and Bloomington/Normal
3. Create an attractive landing page that answered as many questions as possible about having portraits made at the studio

I wanted my guests to be able to come to the studio, take time to get comfortable, to not feel rushed in the process of making pictures. And once we were finished, I wanted them to walk out with great photographs as well as feeling like they had a really fun time during the session--an experience they would tell their friends and colleagues about.

Marketing preparation

With input and feedback from some PPA folks on theLoop forum and Don Giannatti's P52 members (a commercial photography group to which I belong), I developed a series of "packages" for branding portraits. These would come to include photographs as well as design services. The Trio package, for example, would include three poses. The premium packages like the Professional would include six poses as well as custom designed banners for Facebook, Twitter, or About.me.

Once the concepts for the packages were in place, I made the sample pictures for each package and wrote (and re-wrote and re-wrote...) the copy for the page. Again, input from other professionals was invaluable. 

My goal was to launch the new offerings on January 1, 2015. The last step, then, was to design the new business portrait page.

The new page features a 69-second intro video followed by lots of client samples (to show prospects what their pictures could look like). The page also contains some behind-the-scenes videos and links to blog posts describing what's involved in a session, so that prospects clearly understand what to expect when they come to the studio. A few client testimonials are sprinkled throughout the page so site visitors can read first-person accounts of other clients' experiences.

The page wraps up with the package descriptions and more sample photos as well as a map of downtown Lincoln. Why the map? Well, for clients who visit from out of town, I figured they might like to know where to get good coffee or lunch or dinner while they visit Lincoln.

Launch and following...

At the beginning of 2015, I announced the new offerings to my email list and on the blog. I've had a number of new clients come from Bloomington, Springfield, Peoria, and several from Lincoln. As you'll see from the testimonials in the links, they've shared that their experiences were exactly what I was striving to create.

A few different times after the first of the year, then, other PPA members raised questions in theLoop forum about headshots and marketing. I responded from time to time and shared the link to my business portrait page, encouraging them to have a look.

So there I was, merrily making pictures at my studio in Lincoln. And then at the beginning of March, I got the aforementioned email from Jane Gaboury.

She put me in touch with Jeff Kent, editor-at-large for Professional Photographer. Jeff interviewed me over the phone and wrote the piece. The article now appears in the July 2015 issue. Again, here's the link (PDF).

Since having a feature in a publication like Professional Photographer doesn't happen every day in my small town of Lincoln, Illinois, I decided to do a little public relations push at the same time.

The New Herald News in Lincoln ran a fine interview and story on June 29.

The Lincoln Courier also posted a nice write-up, and the Lincoln Daily News ran the press release I sent.

I sent press releases to newspapers in Peoria, Springfield, and Bloomington/Normal as well. I know the Peoria Journal Star published it and I think The State Journal-Register in Springfield ran it; not sure about the Bloomington Pantagraph.

So--that was unexpected. And fun. It's pretty cool to see my clients featured in a magazine like Professional Photographer.

Do you need a business portrait for your online profiles? Marketing images or video for your business? Or maybe senior photographs for your teenager?

I'd love the chance to help you.

Let's get in touch.