Susan Jefferson

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is as important for photographers as it is for any other profession. I maintain and develop knowledge and skills through studying for further qualifications, exhibiting and entering internationally recognised competitions. Personal projects are a very important part of the process and at any one time, I can be working on up to three self-commissioned projects. Camera Unfriendly is an ARPS project I started working on in 2014. It explores the impact of CCTV on the individual and how makeup is used to protect privacy. The project has already clocked up two successes: a gold medal in the Southern Federation championships and highest scoring print in the league. Winter's Waif: Gold Medal portrait at SCPF Brown Sugar: Highest Scoring Print in Southern Counties Division. Selected for Regional Finals. https://www.studio-grey.net/peer-review-regional-success/

How to prepare for a headshot session Your corporate image is more than a simple 'snap', it should capture your professional profile, support company brand values and your individual skill set. It is a big ask but perfectly achievable provided you prepare. Our ability to construct complex portraits with subliminal supporting elements is why we have won awards from respected national bodies and we can help you define, create and publish images that work as a marketing resource for you, your company and your PR team. What are you all about? Much of the work defining your individual and company values may well have been done. Your mission statement, values and objectives provide a written reference. But it's worth re-visiting just to make sure your messaging is current. Understand there are a minimum of three people in every portrait: the sitter, the artist and the audience. You and your photographer work together to convey the right message through your image. The photographe...

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is as important for photographers as it is for any other profession. I maintain and develop knowledge and skills through studying for further qualifications, exhibiting and entering internationally recognised competitions. Personal projects are a very important part of the process and at any one time, I can be working on up to three self-commissioned projects. Camera Unfriendly is an ARPS project I started working on in 2014. It explores the impact of CCTV on the individual and how makeup is used to protect privacy. The project has already clocked up two successes: a gold medal in the Southern Federation championships and highest scoring print in the league. Winter's Waif: Gold Medal portrait at SCPF Brown Sugar: Highest Scoring Print in Southern Counties Division. Selected for Regional Finals. https://www.studio-grey.net/peer-review-regional-success/

Princeton University recently published the results of work modelling first impressions from 1,000 photographs. Not only did the researchers discover that perceptions of trustworthiness, attractiveness and dominance were entirely predictable but that earlier work at Princeton discovered that 'first impressions' were made within milliseconds of seeing a portrait. Perhaps more worryingly, staring at the picture for longer only re-inforced first impressions. The commercial implications are clear: we are visual creatures and in today's connected world, often the first impression we make is through our portrait on the firm's website. What image is right for your target market? It is tempting to believe that smiling broadly creates a warm, approachable impression. In some cases it does; but is it appropriate for the whole team? Often 'camera smiles' are forced; necks and shoulders are a little tense and seeing an uncomfortable smile on everyone's face can create t...

Facial recognition software, combined with CCTV and increasing connectivity represents perhaps the greatest threat to personal freedom. The ability for a complete stranger to download your full personal history whilst you queue for a Latte is a technical reality. Facebook recently decided not to offer its  photo-sharing app Moments in  Europe because of regulator concerns over its facial recognition technology. Photography: Grey. Make Up: Hattie Florey, Model: Chloe Wainwright, Published: The Upcoming. But it is available elsewhere and not everybody plays by the rules. So how to protect yourself from unwanted intrusion? Camouflage make-up, designed to fool high definition CCTV cameras and software? It may be before a night out we don't just get 'glammed up' we also camm-up. Photography: Grey. Make Up: Hattie Florey, Model: Lewis Good, Published: The Upcoming. Camera Unfriendly  is part of an ongoing project to explore how camouflage makeup and fashion combine to complete a ...

It's a fact of life: people make judgments about you based upon appearance. So presenting yourself online is vitally important for business. Yet some executives LinkedIn and Social Media profiles leave a lot to be desired.  We've collected our favourite howlers for your amusement and education. We all know someone whose profile creates a wry smile in the office. Mr Incognito is perhaps the most prolific icon on business social media. Studies by LinkedIn suggest you are 7 times less likely to be noticed if you use the generic silhouette. But who is Mr/Ms or Miss Incognito? Are they just bad at Social Media - don't understand how to put their profile picture up? Are they computer illiterate? Not having a  good headshot  on your profile page could be doing more damage than not being noticed. But what is it doing for your company - and more importantly, yourself? Of course there is always a need to entertain clients but do you really want to advertise when it goes too far? Is t...

You never get a second chance to make a first impression which is why these regional firms took the simple decision to improve their team portraits. Punching above their weight? Always! Treetops Chartered Accountants are a North Hampshire firm serving over 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses in the region. Changes in staff and a variety of different photographers had left their ‘Our People’ webpage out of date and untidy. Calibrated equipment and carefully recording lighting and settings means that future portraits will have the same look and feel as the originals. LinkedIn is facebook for business people . It is a place where professionals can share insights and information. It is also an important ‘storefront’ for businesses. Many staff upload favourite images for their personal profile. Shots of staff playing beach volleyball, stuck into ice creams or fishing might be OK for Facebook, but for a professional networking site? Basware gave their staff the opportunity to have portra...

From fashion to art, literature to music, style means different things to different people. Often intangible but always obvious, style can be usefully defined as: "A distinctive manner which permits the grouping of work or image into related categories." From a practical perspective, we can use style to convey messages about ourselves and our businesses. We simply have to engage the cognitive faculty of our audience with grace and beauty that clearly communicates our clarity of vision. We’ve broken individual components of style from four recent commissions to demonstrate how this can be achieved: Andy Hamer is CEO of Codebook International :  a software firm providing business solutions to architects and facility managers. Creating an open consultative feel was important for an organisation whose customers’ approach to business is relaxed but professional. Expression is relaxed and confident. Head is balanced and upright, being neither aloof nor 'over-friendly'. Glas...