Allison (the photographer) takes a directorial approach to sessions. She'll talk you through thought processes, moods, and use acting techniques to encourage you to bring variation and specificity to your looks. She'll also guide you in posing and leave room for looser, experimental movement and allow you to lead through your own prep work. Our focus is always on storytelling and collaboration so the answer is always "Yes, you can try that".
After the session, images are delivered to you in a way that reflects our finished style. This means that we don't send you photos that require photoshop to look like our work. We love retouching because it gives us a chance to fine tune every image that's going to be used in a way that's impossible to do to the entire collection, but we never require it because 1) we provide high quality images that we're proud of right there in your gallery and 2) we respect that maybe you don't love photoshop and we believe in your right to present yourself to the world in the way you like best.
Check out the Rates page here.
Our go-to studio is in the Koreatown/Virgil Village area. It's a natural light filled space with an outdoor area that can be used as a setting as well. There is a bathroom on site and a vanity area. The walls of this studio are a warm concrete texture and there are a handful of posing boxes, chairs and stools to work with.
The studio does have A/C.
You're welcome to bring a friend for assistance or moral support. There is nowhere inside available for lounging or working, so if someone is coming along with you who is not going to be involved in the session, they can hang out in the outdoor area (note that it is hot out there in the summer).
Head over to the contact page to get the ball rolling.
It is the fee required to hold your appointment on our calendar and it is applied to your session fee total provided you keep your appointment. When you book we will invoice you for a $150 to hold the date and book the studio. To protect our schedule, time, and cost of booking the location, if you cancel or request to reschedule your session too close to your date, the holding fee is forfeit and a new holding fee is due upon rebooking. All the details on this are at the link in our Rescheduling Policy tab.
Click here to read through the rescheduling policy.
You don't have to choose them, but you do have to tell us if you have preferences so we can have them on hand. We need to know at least 24 hours before your session. This is vital if you need a larger seamless backdrop in a particular color.
Some clients and reps have very specific preferences, and we're always happy to listen/look at those preferences if you do have them. The best way to share your preferences is through screen shots, not descriptions.
We offer a third party payment plan via a reputable online payment system, which we can provide details for upon request.
Wardrobe is super important for headshots and should not be left to the last minute. Formulating a plan before the session helps everything go smoothly and gives you all the confidence going into your session. If you’re repped, check with your agents and/or managers as they may have very specific requests. We've put together Pinterest boards for styling inspiration if you're the DIY type. If you want more hands-on help, see the next question/answer.
Allison is happy to give you feedback on your plan or provide some ideas if you need them prior to your shoot. Email is always an option, but if there's enough advanced notice, a 20-minute zoom call is also a possibility. You can share any selfies, wardrobe shots, pinterest boards, google slideshows, or canva boards ideally 4 days before your shoot for feedback. (Anything sent the day before is not guaranteed to get reviewed before your session.)
We are happy to do a very basic makeup application at the top of your session if you don't have your own makeup or any experience doing it yourself. This does not include any "beauty" makeup.
If you want to hire someone for full hair and makeup/grooming services, you are welcome to do so. We don't make these arrangements for you, but we have a list of excellent options on our HMUA Info page.
You do NOT need to hire someone from our list, but be sure your HMUA knows what they’re doing when it comes to headshot makeup.
If you really want to prep on-site before your shoot you can book up to 1-hour of additional studio time for $65. This covers the additional studio fees, but we'll be there for free. We begin shooting as soon as you are camera-ready so if you are doing a no-makeup makeup look, we'll get started pretty quickly and you can built your makeup look up from there.
We cannot shoot slates due to uncontrolled sound in the surrounding area (there is a school next door). If you want slates to match your headshots, we recommend booking time at an audition taping house and bringing your headshot wardrobe to roll through all your headshot looks and vibes.
There is a full bathroom at the studio. There's also a fridge, but if you put something in there you'll most likely forget it. Learn from our mistakes.
Yes - if it helps you to have particular music playing, please feel free to bring a playlist. We'll help you connect your phone to the bluetooth device. We also have Spotify so you can listen to pretty much whatever you want while we work even if you don't have a specific playlist.
Yes, but do so with caution. Irritated skin doesn’t look good on camera, so if your skin is sensitive, we don’t recommend it and we don’t take responsibility for shots that are problematic due to skin reactions to shaving. We recommend an electric razor always, but you know your skin best. The most common thing we hear when a client uses a blade razor is "I usually never cut myself, but..."
Definitely keep in mind that shaving should not be rushed, so please book enough time to make this change if going from a heavy facial hair look to clean.
We'll send images to you via an online gallery platform within one week of your session. The images are high resolution and downloadable directly from your gallery. You can use images as-is if you prefer not to get retouching.
All sessions come with 2 retouched images of your choice. Additional retouching is $20 per photo. Non-Tandem Retouching begins at $30 per image and is offered based on our availability. Place your retouching orders through our Retouching page.
We schedule family portraits just like headshots, based on time. Just let us know this is what you're looking for when you reach out.
Yes. On location pricing is based on several factors. Please reach out via the contact page to tell us more about what you’re looking for and we’ll get back to you with a quote as soon as we can.
Yes, we will send you or your recipient a digital gift card that they can use to book an appointment. Just let us know who you’re buying for, how much you want to spend, and when you want it virtually delivered.