San Francisco Bay Area Portraits FAQ

 

Q: So what's an "Honest Portrait"
A: The idea is that there's nothing like a nude or implied nude portrait to really show what a person's like. It's not just that more of you is visible, it's a whole different feel to the image. They typically show a lot more character and emotion than you can get in a standard shoot, as an example. There's a bunch of ways to do "implied nude" pictures that don't really show anything if that's what you prefer. It's become increasingly popular for a number of reasons - frustration with standard maternity shots, a kind of informal self-image therapy, or as a gift for a loved one. And of course some people just want the experience of being a model and of creating art without having to worry about what happens to the pictures down the road.

Q: So why "HonestPortraits.com"
A: I do a lot of nude figure work as a professional photographer (I sell fine art prints, have four books out, etc.) and I started getting inquiries from people who would like a nude portrait - perhaps as a gift for someone special, perhaps for themselves - and I thought I'd just formalize it a bit - let people know it's something I do. So I created this little website and as it turns out it's been very popular. In particular it turns out that there's a lot of people out there who would like to do a maternity portrait that's a bit different from the same three shots everybody seems to be taking and as a result I've been doing quite a lot of maternity work. It's not like you can just go up to most portrait places and have them do nudes, and anyway the whole thing's much more pleasant in the privacy of an artist's home studio.

Please note that since every shoot is custom and unique this website doesn't try to cover all the bases. If you have questions, just ask.

Q: Any examples?
A: You might want to just check out my regular portfolio but here's a few to give you the basic idea:

Q: What about maternity portraits?
A: A lot of my portrait work is maternity portrait photography and there are examples on that page.

Q: Tell me more about yourself.
A: Here's a little bio.

Q: Where are you located?
A: My home studio is in the east San Francisco Bay Area. It's very close to BART and I can pick people up there easily enough. It's also possible to do outdoor work or location work.

Q: How long is a session?
A: I try to strike a balance between the time necessary to get a great result while being respectful of your time. It takes a while for people to get used to the lights and relax a bit, but once we get to that point it goes pretty fast. It also takes time before we start shooting to talk about what we're going to do and it can take quite a while to pick your favorite images after so please allow for that. You really don't want to be rushing this process so I recommend allowing three hours just in case although two hours is much more typical. The good news is that once we're done, we're done - your pictures are all picked and you don't have to come back to review them later. Maternity clients in particular appreciate not having to make multiple trips!

Q: Where would the session take place?
A: Usually I'll work in my home studio (just a room in the back of the house that's filled with lighting gear) but in theory anything's possible - you may have some great space to shoot in. Just ask and we'll talk about it.

Q: How edited are the images?
A: In my art photography, other than some basic cropping and minor contrast tweaks I generally don't edit my photos much - I'll just remove the occasional zit or whatever. With portrait work you get input - if you have some scar or tattoo you hate, depending on the size and location chances are it will typically be no big deal to either pose around it or remove it digitally. But basically if you have concerns in this area you should ask ahead of time, otherwise you're basically going to be trusting my judgement.

Q: How discreet is this? Will my pictures be on the Internet?
A: It's very discreet. I won't use your pictures for anything without your permission.

Q: What will this cost me?
A: There's both a "sitting fee" component, and a per-print cost. This keeps your commitment low and then my job is to make sure you love the pictures so much you'll want to buy lots of them. That being said, there may also be a minimum for certain kinds of shoots, or for busy seasons. Currently this would include location shoots and weekend appointments. We can discuss details once you've contacted me and I know what you want out of the shoot and how flexible your scheduling is. I'll require some of the payment up front as a retainer to hold the date, the exact amount depending on the location and if you have a limited availabilty time slot. I'll provide details about that once I know what you want.

There's a couple of things to know about the prints. These are the same archival, professional quality prints as I use in my fine art business so you're getting a true work of art. They're signed on the back just like the ones I sell. My lab has quick turnaround and people usually have the prints in-hand about a week after the shoot. Handmade prints might take a couple of weeks extra and are signed on the front. Unless we've discussed otherwise (because it's an unusual shoot) you can currently buy as many or as few prints as you want - there's no minimum past the sitting fee. This seems to work well because it keeps your obligation low while allowing you to get more prints only if you like them.

Q: I'm a guy. How about that?
A: I've done a couple of shoots with guys - mostly as part of a couple - and have a pretty decent idea which of my lighting styles work and which don't with guys but obviously it's not really my focus. Still, if you're interested, drop me a note and we'll talk about it!

Q: Transgendered?
A: Just let me know what to expect and what you do and don't want to show in your initial email. To some extent it's the same as the last question - I've done it before, and it went fine, but we might have to experiment a bit more than in a standard shoot to get the result we want.

Q: How about children?
A: There's several issues with shooting folks under 18 - everything from potential legal problems to safety issues (a toddler could cause serious chaos in my studio). Different photographers have different limits on this. I'm still kind of feeling this out. I'm happy to shoot babies - they're fun and not too much trouble and I've had great experiences with that. But I've also said "no" to shoots involving much older children, either in the images or even just coming to the studio since there are some safety issues (chemicals, electricity, glass). Basically if you want to bring a child to a shoot, even if you don't intend for them to be part of the shoot, contact me first and we'll discuss what you have in mind.

Q: What about the negatives?
A: There are no negatives! For this kind of portrait work, digital has several advantages. You can learn to pose with the light very quickly if you can see immediately how it works, and you can choose the pictures right after the shot. People love getting everything done without having to come out here more than once. But if you love the idea of working with film I have the ability to shoot and develop medium format film with a variety of professional and/or classic cameras dating back to the 1950s. It will be a very different experience - slow paced, deliberate, and you'll need to come back another day to see proofs. If you are interested, ask, but it's a high end option (that's photographer-speak for "expensive").

Q: Anything else I should know?
A: You will be treated in a highly professional manner. You must be at least 18 and provide ID. I photograph the ID as the first frame of the shoot.

If you're interested write to info@honestportraits.com - let me know a little about yourself and what you're interested in and we can start hashing out the details!