How to Prepare for a Headshot Session

Aug 5

I have said before that the photography is the easy part. The camera, the lighting, the settings, I can do that in my sleep. The part that decides how the images turn out happens before you ever get in front of me.

Not the preparation you are thinking of. Let me explain.

Sleep matters more than anything you can buy. Two nights before is the one that shows. Not the night before, the night before that. Nothing you put on your face fixes the version of you that has not slept.

Drink water, starting yesterday. It is unglamorous and it works. Skin holds light differently when you are hydrated. You do not need a routine. You need water.

Pick a time of day when you are actually yourself. Some people are sharp at eight in the morning. Some people do not arrive until noon. Book the time when you are already the version of you that you want photographed. This is the single most overlooked thing on the list.

Handle haircuts a few days out. Three to five days before. A haircut the day of still looks like a haircut. A few days in and it has settled into looking like your hair.

Bring the clothes on hangers. Not folded in a bag. It sounds small. It is the difference between a jacket that hangs right and a jacket with a crease across the chest that I have to work around.

Eat something. People skip lunch because they are nervous, then wonder why they look tight in the frame.

Now the part that actually matters.

Most people walk in carrying a disconnect between how they look and how they believe they look. They are already braced. Some are so convinced they are not photogenic that they will nearly talk themselves out of a good image before we start.

If that is you, you are in the majority. Not the exception.

It is why I do not run a timer. Some people settle in fast. Others need more time. Time to lower their guard. Time to stop bracing. Time to believe, even for a second, that the person in the mirror and the person I am photographing are worth exactly the same.

You do not have to arrive confident. You do not have to know your angles. You do not have to have this figured out. That part is my job, and it is the part I am actually good at.

So prepare the way you would for a meeting you are looking forward to. Sleep, water, clothes on hangers, a time of day that suits you.

Then let the rest of it go. There is nothing here you can fail.

Gregg Ordon

The photography is the easy part.

The camera, the lighting, the settings, I can do that in my sleep. The hard part is the ninety seconds after you sit down, when you are still braced for a camera and half convinced you are not photogenic.

That is what expression coaching is for. I learned it from Peter Hurley and the Headshot Crew, and I have spent twenty-three years making it mine. It is the difference between a photo of your face and a photo that looks like you.

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Send it through the form below, or call the studio. Either way you hear back from me within 24 hours, and not from an autoresponder. Pricing, the session that fits what you described, and open dates.

There is no pricing page here on purpose. What a session costs depends on where the image is going and how many you need.

Three steps. Nothing to figure out on your own.

I read it

Not a bot and not a sales sequence. Me, reading what you wrote about where the images are going.

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Pricing, the session that fits, and open dates. If a smaller session would do the job, I will say so.

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Studio in Liverpool, or I bring the studio to you. You choose your favorites before you leave.

Visit the Liverpool studio.

Address 200 Salina Street, Suite 109
Liverpool, NY 13088
By appointment. Hours Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm
Sunday, 9am to 5pm Reach me (315) 383-4383
gregg@cnyheadshots.com

Not near Syracuse?

I bring the studio to you. Rochester, Buffalo and Albany are regular trips. Tell me where and how many, and I will build the day around it.

Need the whole team done?

On site at your office. Same lighting, same standard on every face, so your leadership page reads like one company instead of twelve different phones.

I was born in Poland and raised outside Syracuse, and I've had a camera in my hand since I was a kid. I went digital in 2004 and never went back. For a long time I photographed everything. Twenty years of induction weekends at the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Almost as long at the Syracuse Nationals. Events for people who needed them done right. Then I found the thing I was actually good at.

Headshots. Specifically, the part of a headshot session that has nothing to do with the camera.

I trained with Peter Hurley and the Headshot Crew, which is where expression coaching comes from. They named one of my images Headshot of the Month. The studio is in Liverpool, a room built for exactly one thing.

I still shoot Honor Flight Syracuse. Five missions so far, a sixth coming up. The veterans and their families come home with photographs from a day most of them will never forget, and I get to be the one who made sure of it. That one matters to me.

When I'm not doing any of that I'm on the board of the CNY SPCA, walking the dogs that need it and fostering the ones nobody picks first. That photo up top is me and my bike. That's about as fancy as I get.

Here's what I've learned about the people who walk in.

Almost nobody likes having their picture taken. Executives. Founders. People who run rooms for a living. They sit down and something in their shoulders says brace. I see it more than you'd think.

Most of them are carrying a gap between how they actually look and how they believe they look. Some are so sure they're not photogenic they'll almost talk themselves out of a good photo before we start.

That's the whole job. Not the lighting. Closing that gap. It's why I don't run a timer. Some people settle in fast. Others need more time.

People whose face is part of how they do business.

Executives and business owners

Someone looks you up before the meeting. The photo gets there first and starts the conversation without you. It should sound like you.

Speakers, podcasters and authors

You already have something worth hearing. The image on the event page or the book jacket decides whether people lean in before you say a word.

Teams and firms

Same lighting. Same standard. Same result on every face. Team headshots across Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Albany, so your leadership page reads like one company instead of twelve different phones.

Three steps. Nothing to figure out on your own.

Tell me where it is going

A short conversation about what you need and who is going to see it.

Come in and get coached

Studio in Liverpool, or I come to you. You choose your favorites before you leave.

Use it everywhere

Retouched files sized for LinkedIn, your website, press and print.

They said it better than I can.

5.0 from 47 Google reviews

He truly has an eye for candid photography and creates a comfortable environment that encourages guests to engage naturally in their poses.

Daquetta P. Jones

Chief Executive Officer, Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region

He didn’t just take photos. He helped me show up in them. With patience, humor, and a truly calming presence, he pulled me out of my shell and captured the real me.

Kailene Dadey McKay

MBA

I went to Gregg to get headshots and well taken pictures, but what I got was so much more. I got clear brilliant photos due to Gregg owning the responsibility of the task at hand.

Mark Koester

CEO

Gregg Ordon is truly the best in Syracuse at what he does. You won’t find this kind of style or attention to detail anywhere else I’ve looked.

Joshua Tyo

He made us feel comfortable, helped us smile naturally, and captured photos that looked professional without feeling stiff or overly posed.

Martin Kostadinov

He was a real pleasure to work with, kept things fun and light, which put everyone at ease for their headshots. He also showed us each photo in real time and people were genuinely excited to see them.

Arc Herkimer

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They said it better than I can.

Corporate and executive headshots.

Headshot sessions for people whose face is part of the job.

Pick the session by what the photo has to do.

The Express Session

The Signature Session

The Executive Session

Teams and firms, photographed on site

Branding and lifestyle sessions

The photography is the easy part.

How it works.

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Come in and get coached

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Questions people actually ask.

How long does a headshot session take?

Do you photograph teams on site?

Do I get to choose my photos?

When do I get my images?

What should I wear to a headshot session?

What does a session cost?

Let's figure out which session you actually need.

Tell me what you need the images for.

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Three steps. Nothing to figure out on your own.

I read it

You hear back within 24 hours

We book it

Visit the Liverpool studio.

Twenty-three years behind the camera. Still not the interesting part.

Twenty years of being the one they call back.

Here's what I've learned about the people who walk in.

You stop dreading the request.

You walk in already introduced.

You like it.

Let's get you a photo you're glad to send.

Look like the professional you already are.

The photography is the easy part.

People whose face is part of how they do business.

Executives and business owners

Speakers, podcasters and authors

Teams and firms

The ones who call back.

Some people need more than a headshot.

Three steps. Nothing to figure out on your own.

Tell me where it is going

Come in and get coached

Use it everywhere

Start with the guide.

If you are looking for the cheapest headshot in Syracuse, I am not your guy.

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