Reply With QuoteSoundood?
No room for any more, I’m afraid
Well, I'm gearing up to launching (once we come out of lockdown) what will be a new headshot business, but I'm short of "stock" images for the website. In fact, until I can upload more than the few I have at present I can't do much in terms of launching.
With that in mind, I'm looking to set up a day/half day in a studio in High Barnet (this one) during which time I'm prepared to offer anyone interested a free shoot plus one fully retouched headshot in both high resolution and web-ready versions. Once I've officially launched this will cost a minimum of £200 so it's a nice little offer to anyone who can get themselves over to Barnet. The studio has seating areas, tea/coffee facilities, a bit of parking outside, and is close both to shops and to High Barnet Station (which is at the end of the Northern Line).
Please note that what I need is headshots rather than portraits, so the focus will be on just that (closely cropped head & shoulders images, taken on a white, grey or black background)... perfect for LinkedIn, other social network profiles, etc. I'm not really looking for teams from the office, as that would be chargeable... this is just an offer for TZ members and their partners (I need shots of both men and women) as a mutually beneficial arrangement between mates.
If you're interested then drop me a PM - if I can get enough people to make it worthwhile (at least half a dozen but the more the better) then I'll canvas views in respect of dates, etc. Weekends are possible too, so hopefully we can make a plan that works for everyone.
This is the kind of thing I have in mind (one of them is actually my son - you can decide which)...
Soundood?
"No teams" unfortunately so Soundood is out.Originally Posted by Kingstepper
Great offer Tony.
Hi Terry,
It might be worth contacting small marketing agencies in your area and offering them something like this.
Pics are always a pain and the results are often indifferent. You can check this by reviewing their 'Contact our team' page.
They might jump at the chance of sending an employee or two and they might be able to offer reciprocal work through their larger clients if they like the results.
Leave Terry out of it ;)
Good luck with the new venture. If we were local, we’d most likely pop round.
All the best
Last edited by Omegamanic; 12th February 2021 at 11:39.
It's just a matter of time...
Yes, but my wife is cutting my hair so I might skip this one until the barber reopens. Would be great to have a recent professional pic.
PM sent :)
I could do with a new passport photo
Haha... interesting idea, which I shall give some thought to. The only thing that might prevent me is if I see them more as a target market once I'm launched.
Thanks Scott, much appreciated.
It must still be worth getting a free shot - I can do a bit of tweaking on the hair in PP if necessary.
Star!
If that means you'd like to come along then drop me a PM.I could do with a new passport photo
It's not a typo.
;) special friends then...It's not a typo.
It's just a matter of time...
Tony, would you be willing to make a house call (San Diego)? After all, it is winter in England!
Nice offer Tony had a mate who had a studio in Palmers Green many years ago most of his clients had cameras without film but the “ Ladies” never complained.
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
I know there was a time when Tony took a bit of stick for his ‘moodier’ lit watch photos and I’ve been guilty of that, but it’s only ever been a joke an I wish you all the best in the new venture.
If anyone would like to get a sense of Tony’s portraiture work, here’s a headshot he did for me, I’m especially pleased with how he dealt with my buck teeth and crossed eyes in post...
Well played sir!
On a serious note sounds a great venture Tony.
Work do ours annually, so will leave the kind gesture to someone else to take advantage of.
Need an updated one though, through lockdown after trying a grade 0.5 realised I was more thin on top than I thought. My current photo has me with a full head of hair, which surprises clients a little when the cam gets switched on.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ah, I was only joking, but good luck.
Oh, you mean a headshot photo. In that case no thanks, Tel. I thought you were punting for business for your new venture.
"A man of little significance"
Sounds a great idea. So many workplaces require ID and lots of people use it on their email address. Most look awful.
I do wonder if there’s scope for some artistic creativity, I’ve seen some emails with more creative photos of colleagues and they certainly look better #give_a_fake_impression!?!
As an aside is there any way you could get in to school photos, there has to be good money from that!
I wish - I might even be able to meet my granddaughter!Tony, would you be willing to make a house call (San Diego)? After all, it is winter in England!
If anyone would like to get a sense of Tony’s portraiture work, here’s a headshot he did for me, I’m especially pleased with how he dealt with my buck teeth and crossed eyes in post...
You worry me sometimes.
Corporate stuff has to follow the brief, and for the most part that means keeping it simple. You never know, though.
Established school photographers have everything pretty much sewn up, although I'm not sure that it's particularly good money (especially after the freebies they always have to throw in, like new shots of all the staff).
The very best of luck with the new venture Tony.
I've enjoyed your fine photography over the years, as I'm sure have many others here.
I hope the current situation improves enough to allow you to get things off the ground before too much longer.
I would gladly offer my services as subject, but too far sadly. I hope it’s a success for you, Tony.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Can I nominate Donald Trump to receive a free head-shot?
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Sadly too far for me but best of luck with the venture and a cracking gesture to the forum
Well, I just thought I'd say a public thank you to those who responded to my request/offer. I now have 12 people (men/women/young/not so young) coming to a "headshot day" on May 1st, which will be conducted in a fully-equipped studio around the corner from me. I should end up with plentiful material to use on the website (which at present is short of example imagery due to this bloody lockdown), and everyone who comes along will get a nice, fully retouched headshot to use for whatever purposes they need/want.
I've actually spent a fair amount of time enhancing/improving the website, which - if anyone's remotely interested - is here. I'm not launching it officially until I have the new images on there and we're out of lockdown, though. Feel free to critique it constructively if anything stands out as needing attention.
Hi Tony,
love the new website, so much better and clearer in the service you can/will provide than the previous one. The reason I didn't volunteer (being on your doorstep) was that for me all of the sample shots looked a bit close for my liking (I guess hence the term headshot rather than portrait.......is there a clear difference?). I see you now include further examples of what I would call 3/4 shots further down your page.
If there's room for another volunteer, I'd be happy to come along......promise not to wear my new helmet (during the shot anyway)....no worries if you're now full-up though.
Good luck with the venture and looking forward to getting out for a ride together again soon.
Mark
Hi Tony,
Good luck with your new endeavour, I hope it is a great success.
I had a look at your website and a couple of personal opinions only :
- I think it could do with a bit more of a page header that stands out a little with your name and tag line as it seems to all morph together a bit, although that may be what you are actually after as I have no artistic ability at all.
- Again, not being a photographer, but the first six images you see all cut the top of the hair, my impression is that I would want a headshot to include the whole head and hair, perhaps would be better to have complete heads ?
- It might be worth watermarking your pictures as its so easy to download a good shot and use it just now, I just downloaded the Empire state and its good enough to make a nice desktop background etc.
Cheers
Simon
Ralph Waldo Emerson: We ask for long life, but 'tis deep life, or noble moments that signify. Let the measure of time be spiritual, not mechanical.
Yes, come along for sure, Mark - I'll send you some info by email and will add you to the list of attendees.Hi Tony,
love the new website, so much better and clearer in the service you can/will provide than the previous one. The reason I didn't volunteer (being on your doorstep) was that for me all of the sample shots looked a bit close for my liking (I guess hence the term headshot rather than portrait.......is there a clear difference?). I see you now include further examples of what I would call 3/4 shots further down your page.
If there's room for another volunteer, I'd be happy to come along......promise not to wear my new helmet (during the shot anyway)
Good luck with the venture and looking forward to getting out for a ride together again soon.
Mark
Thanks for that, Simon. Taking your points in sequence...
- I understand what you mean about the page header and I'm looking at ways I might tweak that (possibly with a logo). I'm also about to add some custom code to the site to anchor it at the top of the page when scrolling.
- You're right, but that's the current trend for headshot-type cropping. The idea is that it draws attention to the face/eyes and I do mention alternatives to that on the website.
- I've actually limited the resolution of all images on the site to 72ppi which makes printing them problematic; however, on screen they do still look okay when enlarged. I'm still pondering this one, actually, and may indeed end up watermarking them all.
Thanks again.
Hope all goes well. Couple of quick thoughts:
I would go straight to the chase on the initial copy for the landing page. Many will be slightly nervous unless they're models, so have a think about a way to tell them early on that you're an experienced, relaxed and patient professional who will help ensure they get the images they want.
Also have a think about the phone calls you've had when someone is booking you, and answer the common questions on the site, too. I think you have most of them already.
Might be worth qualifying the offer of unlimited time for shoots. In reality, nobody will keep you for more than a few hours but just in case you're engaged by a muppet, do put a max time limit somewhere on the site.
Looks great though.
Thanks very much, and I'm glad you like the look of the site. I've worked very hard on it for some time now. On the points you raise...
Good point about nervous models, and I'll see if I can add a sentence or two to offer some reassurances early doors.
On balance I think I've answered all the questions I need to for now; that said, I'm cognisant of the fact that I might want to add add some FAQs should it appear to be necessary. I've trawled literally dozens of headshot photography sites and have identified pretty much all the important bits that others have seen fit to mention (at least as they apply to me/right now).
I know what you mean about timing, but I've opted to go with an unqualified allowance of time based on what other photographers do/don't do/have said to me. For a headshot session there's only so much that you can shoot (driven in the main by wardrobe changes), and I reckon a couple of hours is going to cover 95% of one on one sessions. If there's the odd one that becomes a pain, hopefully it'll be outweighed by the the additional business my approach brings in.
^Great stuff.
Looks good in the main.
Thoughts I’ve had are (I note some are already covered):
Header, feels a touch light and could well be bettered anchored to the top of screen
Front page (this could be a personal dislike) but it feels like a you only do headshots and the other services are a afterthought, my preference is for a front / main page that gives an overview of the different services and then links off to them
Telephone number, mobile only, that always rings a few alarm bells on a site especially in the age of cheep voip services, but this might be a generational thing for me
Cookie policy/privacy policy/terms & conditions, not for the services but for the website are ether missing or hard to find, perhaps consider adding links to the footer
Registered address, not sure if you are ltd or sole trader but I know if the former you should include your company # and registered address
You might be interested in the squarespace site I set up for us a few years back but I’d note we optimised it for desktop/laptop/tablet rather than mobile.
https://www.transitiondynamics.co.uk/
^Nice.
That looks a lot like change management. Is it? Wondering if you found transformations, migrations and transitions to be terms that resonated more with clients.
A couple more thoughts
I might lead any landing / main page with something like the ‘Hi, I’m Tony’ copy from the headshot page and consider using it or a variant on the leading block on about me page. It has a better/warmer ‘feel’ than the current leading about block
Then on the landing page either the leading block copy from each of your services or a truncated version of it and a relevant image to help visually anchor the multiple services you offer
I’m just the techie but in typical (but serious) consultant speak ;-) it really depends on the individual and the type of journey the individual, their team and the organisation are on.
It’s organisational transformation underpinned with Buddhist philosophy around impermanence and constant nature of change.
Nice site, and thanks for such a helpful response to my question. So...
Header - yes, this is in hand as mentioned in an earlier comment response.
Landing page - headshot photography is what I'm pushing, and it's going to be far and away the primary focus going forward. Having it as the landing page is right in that respect, and it also reflects best practice in this sector of the market.
Telephone - I effectively only have a mobile number as the land line is largely unmonitored (so is a risk to include). I think nowadays that's fine, though.
Cookie & privacy policy - this isn't missing, I've just not included the page in the nav bar. I've linked it on other pages, though, and may put another link in the footer if there's a way to reduce the footer font size in my template (there isn't in the design menu but there may be some custom code that'll do it). If I can't reduce the font size I'll leave it, though, as the link text looks to in your face when included at the moment.
Reg'd office/company # - yes, I had that in and then took it out. You're right, though, in that if I work through my existing limited company but t/a Tony Angel Images (which is a distinct possibility for insurance and corporate procurement process reasons) it needs to go back in again.
Anyway, thanks - some good points.
Love it.
I guess every sector is different, but there are some established principles with regard to headshot photography websites and they're followed by pretty much all the successful headshot photographers (as opposed to photographers who also provide headshots... huge difference). Over a period of weeks, I've taken all the best practice in that respect and applied it to my site; examples would be a landing page that takes you straight into the headshot area of the site, and one long scroll interspersed with lots of "calls to action".
It seems that this kind of approach has been driven in part by the fact that many people limit their surfing to mobile platforms, where navigating from one page to another is a major pain. In any event, I'm very happy now with the way that the site is structured.
A few words if I may:
First the good points:
The site has been well optimised for mobile. It is important both because chances are that is how the majority will visit it, and because this is how Google prioritise it.
It is quite clear as to what you do, and is very informative.
The design is a bit bland to my taste but you could very legitimately claim a Bauhaus look where function leads form. Certainly nothing wrong with it.
The not so good:
First and foremost the site is slow. Both in desktop and mobile version. It is probably 100% HTML; consider CSS, and minimising your images.
Secondly it is very wordy. Completely understandable as you want it to be informative. But what you sell are images. This is all your homepage should be about. And a link to different pages, say covering headshots, portraits and fine arts. As it is, headshots and portraits, and homepage are identical.
Your about me at the bottom is good, but the header should be your mugshot and your signature rather than a logo (the same signature you’d use on the prints you send, maybe?), and the about me deserves a page.
Then you have to think about why you want a website.
As it is, it’s a sort of business card. Again, nothing wrong with this if that is how you want to use it.
But if you want future clients to find you with the site you will need to think a little more about it. Happy to discuss it with you, if I can be of some assistance, of course.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Ta.
I used this in the custom css field to change font size, obviously you can also adjust colours if req.
/* This is the footer font size */
#footer p {font-size: 10px;}
Thanks - tried that but it didn't work.
I already have this in the footer code section, which changes the default backlink after adding a print to the basket (it needs to go back to the print collections as opposed to the homepage)... could it be stopping your code from working?
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.5.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$('div#productNav a').attr('href','https://tonyangelimages.com/print-collections');
$("div#productNav a").html(function() {
return $(this).html().replace("Back to Shop", "Back to Print Collections");
});
});
</script>
Marc, I genuinely accept the spirit in which you've offered your thoughts, and I appreciate them very much. Again, though, I suspect that there are some sector specifics at play here, and I'm happy that I've done the necessary research.
I've spent literally WEEKS taking advice, looking at competitor websites and discussing these issues with headshot photography communities. I'm therefore happy with the structure as it is (yes, headshots & portraits is indeed the landing page, quite intentionally), and I'm also happy with the wordy nature of the landing page, as it's good these days for Google ranking (lots of headings, subheadings and key words in support of the images). Possibly most importantly, it works beautifully on mobile platforms and, as you say, this is probably the key issue nowadays.
There is, in fact, an About page, and the link is up there on the nav bar. Not sure why you're finding it slow to load though, as i've done multiple page load tests on it and it appears to perform very well. The images are all low res/small file sizes too.
Edit: Just tested the site again and got the following result. Performance has gone down a bit since I've added new elements, but a full load speed of 2 seconds could be worse. I'll see if there's anything i can do to improve it, but at least the other elements of the test scored highly.
Landing page is too long and rambling.
Good luck with the new venture, though.
Interesting...
I inject the following scrip in my footer and my font sizing custom css code still works. Just for the avoidance of doubt you were adding the ‘ #footer p {font-size: 10px;}’ code to the design/custom_css field not the settings/advanced/code_injection/footer field (apologies if that seems a obvious q but I’d rather not assume)
<script type="text/javascript">
Static.EU_COOKIE_POLICY = "bottom-left";
Static.EU_COOKIE_TEXT = 'We use cookies to help us improve, promote, and protect our services. <br/> By clicking on the "Accept Cookies" button you are consenting to the above usage. <br/> <br/> Details of our Cookie Policy can be found <a href="https://www.transitiondynamics.co.uk/cookie-policy" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>.<br/> ';
Static.EU_COOKIE_BUTTON_LABEL = 'Accept Cookies';
</script>
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