Photography Thoughts & Stories from Tucson
Is a Professional Headshot Worth It If You Only Need LinkedIn?
An AI headshot costs $29 and might fool a recruiter completely. But LinkedIn has a rule about what your photo has to be, and it is not really about detection. It is about trust, the same trust that governs your work history and your degrees. Here's what that means for what you pay for.
A Few Tools to Help You Plan, Before We Ever Talk
Most free tools on a photographer's site are bait for your inbox. These three are not. One reads your pet before the session, one takes the dread out of a headshot, and one shows a print on your own wall at true size. No signup, no catch, and no funnel waiting on the other side.
Watermark Corporate Session
Twenty-one headshots in three hours at a Tucson foothills location with two lighting setups running simultaneously — indoor studio and outdoor with the Santa Catalinas in frame. The session went well. There's one decision I'd make differently, and it has nothing to do with the results.
You Just Graduated. Here's the One Thing Missing From Your LinkedIn.
You spent four years earning credentials. Your LinkedIn photo is still a cropped image from someone's going-away party. Before your job search gets serious, here's what a professional portrait session actually looks like, and why it matters more than most new grads expect.
The Graduation Gift That Actually Helps Them Get Hired
Your graduate worked hard to get here. A professional portrait session is the gift that keeps working after the ceremony ends, helping them show up prepared on LinkedIn, in job applications, and anywhere a first impression happens before a handshake.
From the Parking Lot to the OR:
The morning plan was simple: exterior shots, studio portraits, then documentary work inside the clinic. Then a dog got loose in the parking lot. What happened next covers five hours, a surgical suite, and more than I can count.
When Tucson's Police Dogs Got My Full Attention: The Barks for the Blue Story
In late 2018, Melina Casillas founded Barks for the Blue with an urgent mission: raise funds to outfit Tucson Police Department's entire K9 unit with bullet and stab-resistant vests. Each vest cost around $2,500, and the city budget didn't cover them. Her fundraising strategy? An 18-month calendar featuring TPD's K9 partners.
I photographed K9 Ranger, K9 Hondo, K9 Raven, and other TPD working dogs across three sessions in early 2019—black background studio portraits at their training facility, dynamic action shots on their parkour-style training equipment, and community engagement coverage at a University of Arizona campus event.
The project required the same mobile studio setup I use for executive headshots, adapted for working dogs who needed calm, confident handling. By late 2019, Barks for the Blue had achieved its mission: raising $15,000-$20,000 to protect the K9 partners who protect Tucson.
This is one of my favorite examples of how professional photography serves purposes beyond aesthetics—supporting community safety and honoring working animals.
Mobile Executive Headshots: Why I Bring the Studio to Your Office
After nearly two decades behind the camera, I've learned that the best headshots happen when you're comfortable and efficient with your time. That's why I bring professional studio equipment directly to your office rather than asking you to come to me.
