#77 - Tips for a Great Author Head-Shot with Photographer Lauren Lang

From his role as a guest faculty member at Superstars Writing Seminars, Kobo Writing Life director Mark Lefebvre interviewed professional photographer Lauren Lang who was on site to help attending authors get a professional author photo. In the interview Mark and Lauren discuss:

• Lauren’s start in the industry in journalism and her desire to use a visual medium as her preferred method of telling and sharing stories
• The desire of capturing a moment in photography and causing an emotional reaction in the viewer/audience
• Some of the differences between “posed” and more “candid” photography and Lauren’s desire to love people in the midst of emotion, catching them emoting and enjoying themselves in the moment
• The methods that Lauren uses turning the “inherently unnatural” environment of posed photography into something where the subject doesn’t feel so uncomfortable or self-conscious
• The importance of being real when Lauren is trying to draw the author and their story out as part of the photo shoot
• Some of the tricks that an author might use when preparing for a professional photo shoot, including moving beyond the “getting an author head shot is something I have to do” to thinking about this as being something for their fans (even if they’re a beginning author and don’t yet have a fan base)
• A look at some of the “do not do’s” and “mis-steps” that people make when trying to select a good head-shot, including using a photo that actually looks like you (rather than the way you looked a few decades earlier)
• What an author should look for when finding a photographer to hire/work with
• A look at expression in photography from a study from Photofeeler.com

Mark then reflects on the author photo, a projected image, authenticity and how that might all role into a larger picture of author brand.

Links of interest:

Jacobin Photography Website

Jacobin Photography on Facebook

Lauren Lang on Instagram

Lauren Lang on Twitter

Photofeeler.com Blog

Superstars Writing Seminars