Faces of 2011 ... and beyond

It's been my privilege to shoot lots of portraits in the past year. It's a privilege because a lot of people have placed their trust in me to produce pictures that go beyond a simple documentary record of their physical appearance. The DMV can do that much just fine, thank you.

I work hard to combine lighting, angles, focal lengths, time of day, witty repartee and sometimes some outright goofiness to place people, young and old, in their best light. To those of you whom I have had the honor of standing before you with a camera, thank you. To those of you yet to appear in my viewfinder, I hope to see you in the coming year.




James Jordan, Chicago and suburbs professional portrait photographer

Corporate session - Veterinary office

I recently spent a half day shooting images at a veterinary office facility to provide pictures for their soon-to-be-updated web site. They have a great team of doctors and assistants who possess genuine affection for the animals under their care. My job was to capture that within the context of their facilities.

The session was a fast-paced mixture of posed images and situations as they occurred throughout my time at the clinic.

























Chicago and suburbs professional corporate image photographer

Chicago senior portrait photography

I like photographing high school seniors. People who stand on the edge of the rest of their lives. Of course we all do, but putting aside the high school years and preparing to forge ahead with career plans is a special time in a person's life and I love it when someone asks me to capture a person at that moment in his or her life.





I had the opportunity to capture John in a place that he loves. He spent a lot of time running on the paths and roadways at this particular forest preserve in the Chicago northwest suburbs. No doubt thinking about things like the next thing on his schedule or his next musical composition or any one of a number of things going on in his life at the time. This time I caught him thinking about where he's going to go next. And if these pictures are any indication, he's going to go there with confidence, a good attitude and tons of character.





His future looks bright.

James Jordan - Chicago and suburbs senior portrait photographer

Commercial shoot - interiors

The trick to creating good shots of interiors is to carefully control the lighting, balancing existing light with supplemental lighting to avoid dark areas and harsh reflections in shiny surfaces.



Bathrooms are the most challenging. Space is often limited and mirrors and glass surfaces offer abundant opportunities for distracting glare, not to mention unintended views of the photographer or his/her equipment. Careful placement of lights and camera ensure a successful result.







These photographs were taken for a tiling contractor for use on his web site and printed marketing materials. Wide views and detail shots were requested, along with a portrait of the business owner in his element.



James Jordan - Chicago and suburbs commercial photographer

Images © 2011 James Jordan.

2010 in Weddings

Looking back at the previous year. I had the fantastic privilege of preserving the memories of many couples' very special day.















Looking forward to the many happy days ahead in 2011.

Images © 2010 James Jordan.

James Jordan Chicago Wedding Photographer

2010 in Portraits, Part 2

Families, high school seniors and corporate head shots were all part of the mix in 2010. On-location photography is my thing. I'll work with the lighting that's available, and can bring in some of my own if need be.

Looking forward to photographing many more interesting people again in 2011.











James Jordan Chicago Portrait Photography

All images © 2010 James Jordan

2010 in Portraits, Part 1

Looking back at the past year ... I had the privilege of shooting many portrait sessions. I take each portrait session as an opportunity to capture the character and personality of my subjects and present them in a visually compelling way. I'm looking forward to many more portrait sessions in 2011. More to come ...











James Jordan Chicago Portrait Photographer

All images © 2010 James Jordan

Life's too short to have to live with bad photos of yourself

I'm on a crusade. I see too many portraits on web sites, brochures and business cards that look like the one on the left. One flash, staight into the face, like a shovel. And like a shovel to the face it can leave you looking flat. It doesn't matter how many gismos and gadgets you have on that camera. A portrait using the on board flash will always look like it was taken at the DMV.

You say you're a professional. An expert in your field. You want me to trust you on that and do business with you. It would be easier for me and a whole lot of other folks to work up some trust if you had a portrait that said "Wow!" instead of "All that's missing is the orange jumpsuit and numbers across the bottom."

Just sayin.'

Here's the deal. I can come to your office and make some boffo portraits of you and your professional, dedicated staff at package prices for as low as just $20 per portrait. We can show all of you in your environment or make it look like you sprung for a day at a photo studio -- all without leaving the building. Your call.

Whattaya say? All you've got to lose is your DMV/police lineup look.

Portrait Quiz

Take a look at the portraits below. Can you pick out which portraits were taken on location and which were taken in a studio?

OK, trick question. All of the portraits you see were taken on location. Top left: Taken at the subject's office; Middle Top: Taken in a park; Top Right: Taken at the subject's home; Bottom: Taken at a retail optical store.

You don't have to travel to sit for a professional portrait. I'll come to you, and bring whatever is needed to produce a pleasing portrait that puts you in your best light.

How do people see you?

If you can only focus on two things to build your business, those two things should be 1) credibility and 2) likeability. People choose to do business with people they trust and people they like.

Can you deliver on what you promise? Are you someone with whom people can relate? More and more businesses are discovering that the best way to assure future customers that the answers to those two questions are a resouding "Yes!" is to show them in pictures.

This series of photos were taken recently at an optical retailer for its online marketing. The photographs show the inside and outside of their location -- clean, accessible and organized.

They show the staff -- friendly, helpful and knowledgable.

They even show customers sampling the merchandise and having fun in the process. Who wouldn't want to do business with these folks when the time comes for eye exams?

You can put yourself in the same kind of positive light through photography. Let me show you how.