A dynamic Headshot is the first step in personal branding

DarkFire Photography™ unlocks your authenticity and unleashes your power.

Our approach starts with powerful Cinematic Headshots to establish your personal brand. Later in the process, we work with you to tie that headshot together with your core messaging.

What is a Cinematic Headshot?

The Cinematic Headshot is a landscape-wide portrait taken outdoors. The background of the portrait is out of focus, similar to the effect seen in cinematography. This puts the emphasis on the model in the portrait. DarkFire Photography's Cinematic Headshots emphasize natural lighting (sometimes aided by speedlight) and seeks to create a dramatic stunning effect. Cinematic Headshots can be used both by actors and by entrepreneurs needing Personal Branding.

DarkFire Photography™specializes in Personal Branding / Cinematic Headshots.

We don't do artificial poses, forced smiles, or sit-down-and-say-cheesey portraits. A Personal Branding Shoot is a photo session that tries to capture the unique, natural, and individual radiance of a client for use in starting or expanding a business, reaching new customers, and personifying a singular marketing message. We are seeking to light up the camera with both your inner and outer beauty.

We welcome and pay particular attention to people of color, darker complexions, and beautiful ethnic features. We believe the lighting needs to be different from standard Caucasian portraiture. We try to avoid “flooding the face” with light, as this gives a “washed out” look which loses the unique beauty of darker skin tones. We look for lighting and shadows, highlights and reflections which look natural and attractive and have that dramatic flavor. A DarkFire Photograph should capture the same natural tones and radiance that the human eye sees. We eschew cosmetic retouching to remove or change natural features of the face. When we capture a stunning headshot which exudes your natural beauty and radiance, people will see and react to that rather than the minor blemishes which any human face has.

We do try to find the most appealing and flattering views of you while at the same time helping you to relax and release your inner expression and unique authenticity.

What's in the box?

    • Get-to-know-you meeting where we learn about you, what you want to accomplish with your brand, and who you are. This can be in-person or by video and takes between 30 - 90 minutes.

    • On-location photo shoot: There could be a few different locations we visit on the day of your shoot. You'll need to allocate at least half a day, depending on our plans. Generally shooting is about a couple of hours but that can easily vary. We'll do a few different outfits during the shoot depending on ambiance, location, and the kind of look we decided upon in our first meeting.

    • First-pass image review on-location: we'll be looking at the un-processed photos and getting your feedback and initial approval before we end the shooting. I'll be dividing the shots into GREAT, GOOD, and REJECTS.

    • Headshot deliverables: Within ten business days after the shoot, you'll receive access to a cloud storage folder containing your completed GREAT photos, including different Get-to-know-you meeting formats. You'll receive 3 to 10 final high-resolution headshots (GREATs) and all the GOODs in medium resolution (suitable for social media usage). The GOOD shots may take a week longer to complete the processing.

    • Photographer Release: You'll get a signed Photographer's Release for your Photographs. You'll be able to print, use, and re-crop all the photos for your branding, promotion, and personal experience; but you will not be permitted to make visual alterations, retouch, and sell/license the photographs for any other commercial usage. The copyright for all of the photos remains with DarkFire Photography.

What's the price?

We have a special offer* running until the end of April 2020 (see chart below).

Note: A non-refundable deposit of 50% of the fee is due at the time of booking a photo-shoot. The balance of the fee is due the day of the shoot before shooting begins.

Notes:

  1. $50 discount from above fees (except for "bus load" and returning clients.) for confirmed referrals from an existing DarkFire Photography client. $25 discount for "bus load" fee for confirmed referrals.

  2. Returning clients at anytime can refresh or re-do their headshots at the 'returning client' rate extant when they originally booked with us.

  3. Film school students will need to show current school id to qualify.

  4. "Bus load:" Get a group discount by arranging a shoot with a minimum of five people (max of seven), for example: people you know or others in your networking groups. Designate one person as the coordinator to work arrangements and scheduling with DarkFire Photography. The Headshot Shoot must be on the same day and the group must be on-location at the same time. A full day will need to be reserved. Deposits and forms must follow the regular requirements (deposits due at the time of booking; completed forms due 24-hours in advance of the booking). An extra three business days per person of post-processing will be added to the deliverables time period.

  5. Inclement weather could force a re-scheduling of a planned photoshoot. Generally we can know 24 to 96 hours in advance.

What's the preparation?

  1. Setup a Get-to-know-you meeting with us.

  2. Read over and familiarize yourself with What to Expect on a Personal Branding Shoot».

  3. Book your photoshoot with us by arranging a date and paying your deposit. We prefer payment by Google Pay (which only takes 5 minutes to set up with your bank card), but can also accept via PayPal.

  4. Print out the Model Release: Permission for Photography» form, fill it out, sign it and have a witness sign it. Then scan it and email back to us. This must be received 48 hours prior to your scheduled photoshoot; if not, then your shoot WILL BE CANCELLED and must be RESCHEDULED.

  5. Photoshoot: make sure you've arranged with someone to help you with your hair and makeup on the day of the shoot.

Anything else?

  1. Want to know about all of our products? Click here on Products» to see a list of all of our product offerings.

  2. Want to know more about the different legal forms we use? Click here to see the Explanation of Standard Legal Forms».

  3. Email us if you have anymore questions: darkfirephotography@gmail.com