Join the Course Now & Start a Plan for Capturing Your Best Possible Photo!

Spend the time and investment now to learn important skills offered in this short course. You could save yourself a great deal of money that you might have spent unnecessarily, as well as extra time and wasted photos in the long run.

Do you need a photo of yourself for a professional acting headshot, business marketing profile picture, or simply a great social media profile picture? If so, your photo is the first impression others have of you. Well before anyone reads your bio, resume, witty post, even before they meet you and learn about your personality, skills, experience, and expertise, it is your photo they see that makes an immediate impression to them of you. This first impression then makes them decide if they will proceed with reading about you or meeting you. Unfortunately, far too many people don’t plan well for the photo part of their personal marketing. They often either just take a quick candid photo thinking “That will do” or hire professionals to take care of their photography, hair and make-up and do far too little of their own personal planning for the photo shoot. In these cases, the photos might come across as stiff or not communicate what was intended.
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This short course, taking only two and half hours of instruction time, will provide you with:

If you want your photos to result in high quality accurate impressions of you, and preferably in one of your best moments, the answer is in learning methods and strategies for how to accomplish this successfully.

• Physical methods to help you become more at ease and comfortable in front of the camera • Lessons for expression and posing development, so you don’t come across stiff or fake • A clear process for creating a personal communicating plan, to ensure successful results • Samples from photo shoots and explanations of why some are successful, and others not • Advice on what to wear and why for best results in headshots and profile photos • A step-by-step process for planning your photo shoot from advice on scheduling to what to ask for from the photographer and to advice on locations
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Instructor: Laura Bond

Laura Bond is a Full Professor of Drama and Interdisciplinary Studies at UNC Asheville teaching acting and emotional expression. She teaches professional and student performers, as well as individuals from various professions in somatic methods for resiliency and expression development. Bond specializes in somatic education and its relationship to evidence-based emotional effector patterns (EEP). After 20 years of practice-research collaborating with Feldenkrais® practitioners, and research psychologist Susana Bloch, an original EEP researcher, Bond founded the Emotional Body® method. Bond develops specialty lessons to assist individuals in expanding expressive capabilities and somatic resiliency. She is the author of TEAM For Actors: A Holistic Approach to Embodied Acting and The Emotional Body: A Method for Physical Self Regulation. Learn more at emotionalbody.co
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3-minute Video Intro to Course from Laura Bond

Unique Methods

This is a unique course providing methods and approaches not found in other classes devoted to this subject

  • Evidence-based somatic methods and lessons for emotional expression development and detailed relaxation lessons for softening muscles throughout the body

  • Creating and embodying a communication plan for your photos so you are not simply “smiling for the camera”

  • A unique approach to creating micro expressions for multiple shots in a photoshoot so you have plenty of dynamic material to choose from within your final proofs

Testimonials from Students

“I never seem to capture a good photo these days. Typically, I blamed this on my hair not looking perfect or my makeup being off. This course helped immensely break down ways I can intrinsically prepare for my headshot, not just by thinking of my appearance. The way that I can prepare on my own by practicing the gradual grin and my posture in addition to carefully planning ahead of time. Everything was extremely organized and helpful. I enjoyed the portion where Laura Bond takes us through sample photos, pointing out positive aspects and why she took out certain photos as contenders. I can't wait to schedule with a photographer that will successfully capture me on my best day! ”

Public Health Social Worker

Katherine P

“I was a true beginner when I started the course and now I feel very confident that I could do a photoshoot and be quite happy with the results.”

Costume Designer

Ida Bostian

“Laura is a great instructor. She covered all the points with an amazing amount of detail so she was very easy to follow. Even though it's a video course, you can feel Laura's presence as though she is right there with you, speaking directly to you. I guess that's part of her walking her talk, and demonstrating how to be totally present and engaging on camera. I would highly recommend this training for anyone wanting to know how to shine on camera. Thank you Laura.”

Coach

Wanda Marie

Course Curriculum

  • 01

    Welcome to the course!

    • How to use this course platform

    • Introduction to the course

    • Before we begin...

    • Course Outline In Six Steps
  • 02

    Chapter #1

    • Practice- Facial Expressions

    • Practice - Body Posture

    • Practice - Sample Body Postures: Laura Bond Provides More Practice Postures as Examples

    • Sample Photos from Laura Bond's Photo Shoot: Demonstrating Face & Posture Lessons
  • 03

    Chapter #2

    • Plan

    • Samples - Cutting Room Floor Photos

    • Samples - Final Proof Photos

    • Samples - Photos taken with a Smart Phone

    • Samples - Photos from Smart Phone Shoot with Backgrounds Removed

    • Indoor Photo Sessions
  • 04

    Chapter #3

    • Prepare

    • Prepare - Communicating Through Your Photo

    • Share Your Communication Plan
  • 05

    Chapter #4

    • Process & Position - The Day of the Photo Shoot!

    • Samples of Student Photos

    • Post-Production - Selecting Your Final Photos

    • Before you go...