Rachel Alves Photography 

A professional headshot tells others that your professional image matters to you! The way you present yourself has impact. First impressions matter, whether good or bad. What does your current headshot say about you?

The main difference between a headshot and a portrait is the crop and use of the image. Essentially, headshots are todays business cards and they put a face with a name. Headshots typically take up the whole frame and are cropped tight from the shoulders up to the top of a subjects head. Sometimes the crop is above the head or cropped into the top of the hairline, allowing the eyes to take up more space and give the subject more presence. Portraits are typically 3/4 length in crop or full body. They contain more environmental information that gives you a bit more insight about the subject and tend to be more creative.

Simple is better. Consider the industry that you are working in to help you make your clothing selections, but in general it's important that you feel comfortable in the clothing you select. I ask clients to bring 3 to 4 different looks or shirts. It's very important that your clothes look pill free, wrinkle free and ironed for the shoot. Do not bring cotton shirts that are overly worn and faded as they will photograph as so. Make sure your clothing fits you proportionally. Avoid clothing that is to big or too tight. No LOGOS! Colors - Choose neutral and jewel toned colors. Avoid overly bright, large striped, big patterned, low cut or shiny shirts. Whites, grays, blues and blacks work well. Men Bring a suit jacket as well as 2 to 3 button down dress shirts in different tones. Make sure that the collars are extra starched from the dry cleaners. We can then roll up the sleeves for a casual look or wear it under a suit or blazer for a dressier look. Make sure you nose, eyebrows, neck and ear hairs have been trimmed. Women Bring a suit jacket as well as 3 to 4 tops that have a variety of color and necklines as this is key in helping to frame your face. Jewelry - Simple earings.

The goal of a headshot is to capture you looking your best. If you are going to invest in having a professional headshot or portrait, then consider hiring a professional hmua to ensure you do look your best! Professional makeup application will also minimize any retouching that needs to be done in post production. A professional hair and makeup artist will come to the studio to make sure yours skin looks flawless,your eyes look radiant and your hair perfect. Whether you are going with a clean look or a full coverage look, the makeup is applied specifically for the lighting we use. To achieve a natural flawless look in your photos, it may require more makeup than you normally wear on a daily basis. The lighting will change how your makeup translates on camera. Be assured that the end result will be natural flawless looking makeup. We shoot tethered to a computer so that you can see exactly what you look like on the monitor before your session starts. Hair and makeup adjustments can be made until you feel that your look is perfect.

Cancellations with less than 36 hours notice or for no-shows, will not have their payment reapplied and refunds will not be issued. With more than 36 hours advance notice, your session may be rescheduled within 30 days of the orignally scheduled session. Last-minute, weekend, or holiday bookings will be considered a firm booking and not subject to cancellation.

The studio is located inside the ActivSpace-Ballard which is located just one block west of NW Leary Way on NW 42nd St.

As a photographer, for every hour we spend on the shoot we generally spend two hours at the computer. After a session, we then start the editing process. Editing consists of downloading your shoot, culling or editing out the rejects, organizing, cataloging and creating a proofing gallery for clients. After client selections are made, we then start basic retouching of an image by making raw image adjustments, color corrections, skin smoothing, removal of skin blemishes, softening of facial lines, adjustments to shadows, eyes, and teeth, as well as minor hair and makeup adjustments. Advanced retouching consists of body contouring, advanced compositing, color changes to hair or backgrounds, excessive wrinkles to garments, head swaps, removal or addition of objects, etc... Advanced retouching can be requested for an additional fee of $50 per image.

Short answer no. It is our policy not to give clients an unfinished product. A photographers editing and post processing is what makes us distinctive as photographers. That's what gives us our style and that's why people book us. Giving away our RAW files, opens the window for people to manipulate and edit our images without our consent. Every professional photographer shoots RAW photos because having all that information is better than having less (like in a JPEG). The catch: RAW photos that come out of the camera generally look sub-par. They’re flat with bad contrast with dull colors. Until the photo is edited, the image is not finished, and that’s by design. A RAW photo is like a carpenter having a wood shop full of tools and materials to build a table, and the ability to create whatever he wants. A JPEG is buying a table at the store, you either like it as is, or you don’t, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Editing of the images is just as much a part of our identity as artists as the method we used to capture the image in-camera.