Outdoor Headshots for Ecospiritual Life Coach and Founder of My Sober Girlfriends, Naomi Veak

Golden hour headshot session for Naomi. 

Naomi Veak an Ecospiritual Life Coach and Founder of My Sober Girlfriends was looking to update her headshots and booked our Lifestyle Session option with an outdoor location

We used our natural light headshot technique during the golden hour of light, about 2 hours before sunset, at this time of year at our latitude was 5pm.

We moved through 5-6 different outdoor locations using the natural light as it changed towards twilight to achieve these headshots.

We used bounce cards and modifiers to add light and shadows to create our signature natural light headshot look.

View Outdoor Headshots for Naomi

Naomi had 5 image selections from the proof gallery included in her Lifestyle Session, an individual heashot package with 5 selections and a 1 hour and 30 minute headshot session.

Naomi picked an extra photo for a total of 6 new headshots!

Choosing the Right Outdoor Location

From a few iconic Portland outdoor location choices we landed on the SE Waterfront area just south of Oaks Amusement Park in Portland, Oregon along the Willamette River named the Sellwood Riverfront Park.

Sellwood Riverfront Park was a great choice for a late afternoon-end of summer session when the sun would be reaching east over the SW hills providing an excellent natural light source for the photos.

We were lucky that the weather was clear and still had some green deciduous trees still bright even as we approached fall.

View Top 3 Challenges and Benefits for Photographing Outdoors

Crop, Image Size and Resolution

An example of multiple crop options for each selection made from the proof gallery.

Most images are in an 8×10 vertical and square crop. A horizontal crop is usually by request.

Three file sizes included in delivery

  1. Print 12 inch long, 300dpi 5 MB
  2. Large Web 2,000 pixels long, 72 dpi 1.5 MB
  3. Website Sized 1,080 pixels long, 72 dpi 100 KB

View our Headshot Booking Guide for more about delivery details.

Lifesyle Headshot Session
$775

Utilize a 60 minute individual session with 5 selections for $775 is great for those strategically interspersing styles of portraits to use across all touch points in their business.

You’ll have a range of locations or sets, outfits and poses to choose from in your proof gallery.

60 Minute Session
Includes Studio Rental
5 Final Retouched Photos

Don’t just take our word for it.
Read what our clients have to say about working with us.

“Erica is very professional and made me feel at ease during the shoot, which resulted in great photos. She had great suggestions along the way and took the time to get things right, encouraged me to change outfits – which made a huge difference – and was proactive with angles / coaching me on which way to move to get the best result. Highly recommend!”

Brittney H.

Creative Director, AUthor, Thunder Egg Collaborative

“I was in need of a headshot refresh as the 10 year old iPhone picture just was no longer cutting it. I found Erica Mitchell and am happy to say I would recommend her to anyone in search of professional headshot photography. Her wealth knowledge and the talent she possesses in immeasurable. She has a beautiful studio conveniently located that provided an abundance of natural light making the process all the better. I am actively referring her to anyone looking for this style of service.”

John B.

“Erica is an incredible photographer! I recently booked her for headshots needed for my career. I have never been a fan of having my picture taken, it has always felt uncomfortable and awkward. However, Erica was a wonderful coach, her energy made the entire process so easy and actually enjoyable. Not only do I love my final photos, but I have already received many compliments on them. You won’t regret booking with Erica.”
Maeve A.

Medical Student

Have questions about scheduling a headshot session? Visit our Booking FAQ for more information or contact us.

We specialize in natural light headshot photography. Learn more by visiting our Natural Light Headshots Gallery.

Interested in Working Together?

Laurie Baedke Speaking Event at Physician Leadership Project in Lake Oswego, Oregon

Event photography for Laurie Baedke, a leader of leaders, keynote speaker, author, executive coach and host of Growth Edge Leadership Podcast.

Reviewers and Participants

Laurie was the keynote speaker for the Physician Leadership Project 4th Annual Healthcare Leadership Summit held on October 2, 2024 at Ironlight in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

We provided 3 hours of event photography coverage to provide Laurie images to use on her social media, use in her marketing and to showcase her talents on her website.

The Physician Leadership Project is a program created to empower physicians transitioning into leadership roles, offering sessions on executive presence, finance, governance, and leading change. Co-founded by Jill Arena and Dr. Craig Wright their expertise provides invaluable support, equipping physicians with the skills needed to navigate the complexities of healthcare leadership.

They hold an annual summit event with dinner, speakers and a panel at the end of the 10 month program for all participants.

Event Photography Gallery for Laurie

Event photography by Erica J Mitchell and Jodhi-Mather Pike.

About Laurie

“Laurie Baedke is a well-regarded keynote speaker, executive coach, best-selling author, and the host of a weekly leadership podcast, The Growth Edge.

Laurie holds a bachelor’s degree in human services and business administration and a master’s degree in healthcare administration. She is a board certified Fellow of both the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE), and a member of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Laurie has been certified by The Gallup Organization as a Strengths Performance Coach since 2006.

Reviewers and Participants

She has written two editions of a book, The Emerging Healthcare Leader: A Field Guide. In 2017, Ms. Baedke contributed a chapter titled “The Clinician Entrepreneur” to a book published by Oxford Press titled The Handbook of Private Practice. Her most recent book, Mentor Coach Lead to Peak Professional Performance was released in February, 2023.” Source

Interested in Working Together?

Professional Event Photography Services

Professional business and corporate event photography services are available for your next gala, leadership summit, conference, networking event, workshop or holiday party.

Use your images to increase your visibility on your website, in upcoming blog posts and social media channels. Grow your community and represent your industry by sharing your next event by hiring one of our professional event photographers.

Looking for professional headshots for your next Tradeshow or Expo event? Visit our Tradeshow Headshot Booth for booking and more.

What are Natural Light Studio Headshots? 

Natural Light Studio Photography for Headshots 

Let’s explore the world of natural light photography in the studio for headshots.

Natural light headshots is a style of lighting a subject using only available light. For us, we use a studio located in Portland, Oregon to create our style of natural light headshots.

The technique is to use the large south facing windows fully open on cloudy days and covered with white curtains on sunny days to create a diffused lighting glow that we use on our clients as our signature style.

We use modifiers and photography gear to craft the light by boucing or flagging light depending on the light that day. We use v-flats, bounce cards, rolling backdrops and the curtain system to control the amount of light that enters the studio. It’s like a Wizard of Oz experience.

In this post we will explore:

  • show galleries of our work of the natural light headshot technique
  • show some behind the scene looks at our setups
  • and the difference between natural light and strobe flash headshots

View our Natural Light Studio

Located in Northwest Portland, Oregon.

The studio is the perfect space for your professional headshot session to develop an image that projects confidence, intelligence, and approachability. 

The light and bright natural light professional photography studio, Studio Northwest, is located in northwest Portland, Oregon. Large windows allow the south facing light to illuminate the space providing diffused light for a soft flattering glow.

You can choose from a handful of background colors, style set ups and posing furniture as options for your headshot.

The studio has a beauty station for touch ups or for your professional hair and makeup stylist. There is also a wardrobe space which is great for selecting outfits.

With a few light modifiers, a couple poses and you are all set with a new headshot!

Natural Light Studio Headshots Gallery

Large windows allow the south facing light to illuminate the space providing diffused light for a soft flattering glow.

Behind the scene look at our lighting setups for our clients.

View our three client examples at our natural light studio using large windows that allow the south facing light to illuminate the space providing diffused light for our headshots.

1. Natural Light Studio Setup for Northwest Tenant Group

For our client Northwest Tenant Group, we created new headshots in our Natural Light Studio that has large south facing windows to allow the sunlight to illuminate the space providing diffused light.

We used a neutral background, simple style set up and posing furniture for Stanford and Becca’s company team headshot session. 

2. Natural Light Studio Setup for GridStor

For our returning client GridStor, we used the same lighting set up as we do for all their headshots, the Natural Light Studio.

With our window light setup as the main source of light since the beginning, when they were only 4 employees now over 40, this set up provides us consistent headshots for GridStor every time allowing for future sessions of new hires to blend seamlessly. The result are well balance headshot photos the illuminate each person that projects confidence, professionalism and friendliness.

3. Natural Light Studio Setup for Business Professionals

The goal of an individual business headshot session is to develop an image that projects confidence, intelligence, and approachability. 

All of our individual and team headshot sessions include the use of the Natural Light Studiolocated in northwest Portland, Oregon. Other locations options are outdoor or on site at the client’s office.

At our studio the large windows allow the south facing light to illuminate the space providing diffused light for a soft flattering glow. You can choose from a handful of background colors, style set ups and posing furniture as options for your portrait. These sessions are designed to provide professional headshots while using classic photographic techniques that utilizes or mimics sunlight to enhance the light quality for each individual.

Our Two Lighting Techniques for Headshots

We offer out clients natural light and strobe flash headshot photography services. Natural light is use mostly in our studio and at outdoor locations while the strobe flash headshots are most commonly used on-site at a client’s office or private space. 

What are the two lighting techniques for headshots?

  1. Natural Light
  2. Strobe Flash

1. The natural lighting techniques we use at our studio use manipulation of sunlight through clouds, white curtains or how it enters the studio. This diffused light fills the large south facing windows and creates a unique effect strobe photograph cannot make.

2. Strobe flash photography is a classic technique that has been used in studios for decades using artificial light. It is very directional which limits the area in which the subject can move around. However, this setup can be great for single image headshot packages, team headshots or matching existing headshots.

In the example above our staff photographer Jodhi is photographed in the studio. On the left he is lit by the natural light from our studio’s large south facing windows. On the right image he is lit by a strobe flash head with a 7ft modifier.

Want to see our strobe flash headshots?

Explore the world of flash photography for headshots by visiting our recent blog post What are strobe flash headshots?

Flash photography uses strobe lights known as heads to pop light through a modifier, in our case umbrella used in the photo above, to create a light source for the photographer’s subject, in our case, the lighting we use for our client’s headshots.

In this post we explore:

  • the difference between natural light and strobe flash headshots
  • show galleries of our work for each technique
  • show some behind the scene looks at our setups

For more information visit Two Types of Lighting for Headshots↗

Interested in Working Together?

Matching Existing Headshots for DHM Research

New headshots for John and Phoebe with DHM Research and for Sam with Color Wheel Digital, a partnering company.

View the headshots, delivery details, crop options and behind the scene’s set up at our Natural Light Studio using strobe flash photography techniques.

Strobe Flash Headshot Sessions for DHM Research at our Natural Light Studio.

For our client DHM Reserach, we created new headshots in our Natural Light Studio using our strobe flash headshot photography style to match existing headshots already on the DHM Research website.

We used a neutral background, simple style set up and posing furniture for John, Phoebe and Sam’s corporate headshot sessions. In post production, we made the background white to blend seamlessly with the other headshots from the company.

DHM Research delivers qualitative and quantitative opinion research to help leaders make better decisions around complex challenges.DHM Research Website

Crop, Image Size and Resolution

An example of multiple crop options for each selection made from the proof gallery.

Most images are in an 8×10 vertical and square crop. A horizontal crop is usually by request.

Three file sizes included in delivery

  1. Print 12 inch long, 300dpi 5 MB
  2. Large Web 2,000 pixels long, 72 dpi 1.5 MB
  3. Website Sized 1,080 pixels long, 72 dpi 100 KB

View our Headshot Booking Guide for more about delivery details.

Our studio lighting set up.

Behind the scenes to our light set up at the beautifully naturally lit studio located in northwest Portland, Oregon.

The open space, with a wall of windows and high ceilings, provides lush and ample natural light as the light source for these headshots. 

Interested in Working Together?

Our team photographs using natural light and strobe flash to create a soft environmental look for each of our clients.

We specialize in natural light headshot photography. Learn more by visiting our Natural Light Headshots Gallery.

What are Strobe Flash Headshots? 

Strobe Flash Photography for Headshots 

Let’s explore the world of flash photography for headshots.

Flash photography uses strobe lights known as heads to pop light through a modifier, in our case umbrella used in the photo above, to create a light source for the photographer’s subject, in our case, the lighting we use for our client’s headshots.

In this post we will explore:

  • the difference between natural light and strobe flash headshots
  • show a headshot gallery of this technique
  • show some behind the scene looks at our setups

What are the two lighting techniques for headshots?

First, let’s learn about our two types of lighting styles we offer our clients.

Two Types of Lighting

We offer out clients natural light and strobe flash headshot photography services. Natural light is use mostly in our studio and at outdoor locations while the strobe flash headshots are most commonly used on-site at a client’s office or private space.

What is natural light headshots? The natural lighting techniques we use at our studio use manipulation of sunlight through clouds, white curtains or how it enters the studio. This diffused light fills the large south facing windows and creates a unique effect strobe photograph cannot make.

What is the strobe flash technique? Strobe flash photography is a classic technique that has been used in studios for decades using artificial light. It is very directional which limits the area in which the subject can move around. However, this setup can be great for single image headshot packages, team headshots or matching existing headshots.

Two Types of Lighting for Headshots

In the example above our staff photographer Jodhi is photographed in the studio. On the left he is lit by the natural light from our studio’s large south facing windows. On the right image he is lit by a strobe flash head with a 7ft modifier.

Behind the Scene Look at our Lighting Setups

View our client examples on-site and at the studio using strobe flash photography for their headshots!

On-site Setup for Client PEC

For PEC’s new company headshots we photographed on site with a single light strobe set up as the main source of light in addition to the natural light fill supplied from the outdoor setting through the windows. We used the client’s headquarters and office space as the two locations for the team headshots.

On-site Setup for Client WPI

We created new headshots for the leadership team of WPI’s Eugene office using a two light set up. We photographed on-site at the client’s office during work hours to provide accessibility and ease for each team member.

To match the headshots we made for the WPI Builds at their Portland office we used the same lighting set up and a neutral gray or white background on-site at their Eugene office.

We used a conference room wall to make these headshots and the same two light set up we used in the Portland office. The light source was a 3 ft octabank modifier on a Profoto B10 strobe head, our second Profoto B10 strobe head was used to light the background. We had the same modifier bounce cards in the same place to match the headshots we already made. Once the client made the selections we mad the background colors all match.

Studio Setup for Client Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center

We updated the headshots for the Leadership Team and new hires for the Virgina Garcia Memorial Health Center in studio to provide a consistant type of setting. We used artificial strobe lighting to match previously done headshots!

Studio Strobe Flash Setup for our Client DHM Research

Behind the scenes to our light set up at our studio located in northwest Portland, Oregon.

Our client’s used strobe flash to match existing headshots for the company.

On-site Strobe Flash Setup for our Client Author Loren

We photographed Loren in his library of collected books on-site at his home. We used a 2 light set up, one 7 foot umbrella as the main light source and a single light in the back of the long library hall with a 3 foot umbrella.

Interested in Working Together?

In-studio Natural Light Headshots for JD Steel

New headshots for Brian and Todd with JD Steel. View the headshots, delivery details, crop options and behind the scene’s set up at our Natural Light Studio.

Headshot sessions for coporate team of JD Steel at our Natural Light Studio.

Our team photographs using natural light and strobe flash to create a soft environmental look for each of our clients.

For our client JD Steel, we created new headshots in our Natural Light Studio that has large south facing windows to allow the sunlight to illuminate the space providing diffused light.

We used a neutral background, simple style set up and posing furniture for Brian and Todd’s copmany team headshot session. 

Crop, Image Size and Resolution

An example of multiple crop options for each selection made from the proof gallery.

Most images are in an 8×10 vertical and square crop. A horizontal crop is usually by request.

Three file sizes included in delivery

  1. Print 12 inch long, 300dpi 5 MB
  2. Large Web 2,000 pixels long, 72 dpi 1.5 MB
  3. Website Sized 1,080 pixels long, 72 dpi 100 KB

View our Headshot Booking Guide for more about delivery details.

“Building from the foundation up with the highest level of integrity, using a clear vision developed with our clients to achieve the common goal of a successful, safe and profitable project.” JD Steel Website

Our studio lighting set up.

Behind the scenes to our light set up at the beautifully naturally lit studio located in northwest Portland, Oregon.

The open space, with a wall of windows and high ceilings, provides lush and ample natural light as the light source for these headshots.

We specialize in natural light headshot photography. Learn more by visiting our Natural Light Headshots Gallery.

Interested in Working Together?