Grace and I had a lovely time working with the Winston-Salem branch of Freese and Nichols. Faced with the task of wanting to change their public perception from corporate to more approachable, Mr. Freese reached out to us about creating staff headshots within their office.

"We work alongside our clients. Friendliness and approachability are essential to how our team come across." I could hear the earnesty in Mr. Freese's voice. "Our [current] headshots are uniform. We want to show the personality of our employees and incorporate a variety of backgrounds in our office."

After scouting their Winston-Salem office for the best locations within, we set to planning out the headshots they needed for their 10 employees.

Everyone was kind and easy to work with and we had a great time using the warm interior of the office. In the end, Freese and Nichols ended up with 10 unique headshots and even a group portrait we snuck in at the end.

“There’s a magnetism in an authentic moment, when we get to witness a person’s soul. ”

— Alyson

Who you are is important to me. Your personality. Your uniquenesses. Your sensitivities. There are countless details that make you, YOU. I want to help you bring those traits out to create portraits people connect to because they see who you are.

Have you ever looked at a picture of someone and said, "They look like someone I could be friends with?"

I have. Plenty of times.

There's a magnetism in an authentic moment, when we get to witness a person's soul.

That authenticity happens in a split second. Quite literally, a split second. There have been times where I've taken two photographs back to back - one right at the climax of the moment and the other right before or right after.

It never fails that the photograph where the timing is a split second off, you can see the minute details that don't fullfill the expression of that person's emotion.

I always seek out that spark, that single moment when every bit of you shines through. I love to see you be Seen, in every tiny detail.

Behind the scenes of two sequential headshots - only one second apart - from Lynn’s corporate headshot session. | Winston-Salem Headshot and Brand Photographer | Jasper & Fern

With a boisterous laugh Leann declared "My last headshot fell under the category of 'If Your Mugshot Was Okay'. This time I want to look friendly and inviting - like you can sit and talk with me."

Headshot created for Leann.

As an in-dorm resident faculty member, it was important that Leann's headshot make a welcoming impression to the students she would be getting to know.

"I'm jealous of the people who have spontaneous headshots that look like they were caught in an authentic moment. I want that for myself," Leann continued.

Knowing that she disliked being in front of the camera and was often dissatisfied with how she photographed, I made a point to craft partially posed moments that allowed for a cadid reaction.

In one of our favorite headshots, I had Leann look out a window, taking a moment to herself while I conversed with her. Then, I gave her a cue that resulted in her looking directly at me in a moment where her guard was down and she could be more of her authentic self, letting her walls slip down to see her beautiful smile

I often find that, as people desiring to connect with our viewers [those who will see our portraits], we spend much of our focus in our thoughts when we're in front of the camera. We hold ourselves back from a moment shared and focus on the moment we want to create.

I love working with people in such a way that helps them step out of their thoughts and into the moment, leaving only me to concentrate on the moment that needs to be captured.

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Winston-Salem Headshot Photographer | Jasper & Fern

I don't often share that my first "real job" out of college was at a big box photography studio. Mostly, because I don't feel good about the work I did there. I was a cog in a machine that treated customers like numbers. It was a "sit here, look here" * snap * formula the generated photographs, not portraits - and it still pains me to think of some of those experiences.

People are SO much more than what the camera sees! (It's just a machine, afterall.)

It's about connection and communication. It's about what the subject wants to see in themselves. It's what they want people to know about them. It's about an authentic moment that reveals the beauty of who that person is.

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Photographs become portraits when you can SEE the INNER PERSON.

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My favorite moments are through genuine connection, knowing that someone can look at the portrait - be it a headshot, brand photograph or conceptual portrait - and see part of themselves.