Mini Headshot Info

North Carolina makes photographers collect sales tax. Yesss, we are a service, but it’s a service that results in a product (the JPEGs) so NC deems that the entire fee is taxable. No, I can’t look the other way and you can’t pay me under the table.

Nope, not a fan of setting up and lugging around lights unless I have to, so I opt to shoot in places with natural light.

Sure! I will travel to anywhere within the city of Durham, NC for a mini headshot session for an extra $50 fee. This is good if you have more of an urban environment in mind, or if you want to shoot indoors somewhere (you can rent a place at Peerspace, which is a great resource for photoshoots where you can find all types of indoor environments for rent). The $50 fee is waived if you need to choose an alternative location due to a physical inability to handle steps. Please note that I do not travel outside Durham for mini headshots. Thanks!

Payments are broken up into two parts. A $100+NC sales tax deposit is made within 7 days of signing the contract, and the remaining balance is due two weeks before the session. All monies are paid through a secure online checkout using your credit or debit card. I’ll give you a username and password once a contract is signed.

We simply reschedule. Boom! Problem solved. The payment and all of our previous plans just carry over to the new date. I always check the weather the day before my shoots and text my clients with whatever I find.

You can reschedule for other reasons as well, such as illness (please contact me if you’re sick so I don’t get sick!). Just reach out and we’ll figure out a new date.

I do not offer privacy contracts for headshot photos and always maintain the right to blog, post, and share the photos of your branding session. Sorry!

Wear something you feel absolutely great in, as you’ll be using these photos a lot! You’ll want to love how you look in whatever you choose. Patterns are totally fine. The only thing I would specifically avoid are articles of clothing that are neon colored (electric yellow, highlighter pink, etc). Anything that makes you look like you’re about to help a bunch of children cross the road or are trying to avoid being hit while jogging along a busy street are usually colors that don’t photograph well. Bright, crazy colors often reflect back onto your skin tone if you’re pale, and then kinda turn your skin that color too. So go for more neutral, earth-toney, or jewel-toned colors. Ask if you aren’t sure! I’m happy to help.

You’ll have a small questionnaire that’s due two weeks before the session. I recommend filling it out close to the due date, but reading it beforehand so you have the questions in your mind for the next few weeks before your shoot. Then a week prior to the shoot, I will email you with all the details of the session. If you prefer a phone consultation instead of email to touch base before the shoot, just let me know and I’m happy to do so!

I deliver mini headshot session images 7 business days after the shoot.

My editing style has a lot of colors and contrast, and is a bit bold and modern. Make sure you take a good look at my portfolio and blog to make sure you like how everything looks! If you like my content but not my editing, I’m not the right photographer for you, so please make sure we’re a good fit before booking.

When I edit headshot photos, I edit for basic color and contrast, as well as remove blemishes and provide light overall retouching. But I won’t be photoshopping your hairline, hair color, eye color, makeup regrets, clothing regrets, etc. I believe in the integrity of the photograph. I do not permit any clients of mine to alter any images I’ve taken with AI software, and I will not add in any AI-generated clients/friends/people/items at your request or otherwise. I edit with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, which have replaced some of their traditional editing tools with AI-driven tools that are unavoidable at this point. When those tools are necessary, they are used used by me in a traditional editing capacity, not a generation capacity. I continue to edit each and every photograph by hand.

One or two small props to indicate what you do (a camera for a photographer, for example) are permitted, but no pets for these sessions, please!

All of my clients handle hair and makeup a little bit differently. You’re more than welcome to do your own hair and makeup in a way that you feel best represents yourself. You may also hire your own hair and makeup team to do your hair and makeup prior to your arrival at the shoot. If you do this, please plan for hair and makeup to run just a tiny bit late and give yourself a little bit of a buffer so you can make it to your photoshoot on time. I don’t provide a hair and makeup artist for my clients because I feel like this is a very individual choice.