Laura Burke's Power Hour

When I first moved to town, my agents said I needed new headshots and they handed me their list of their favorite photographers and Laura Burke had the best portfolio by far. I met and absolutely loved her. She's from Long Island and has that no BS, very honest and forthcoming attitude, but without the aloofness and attitude of some of her peers. She likes to laugh, feels like she's your mother's cousin from back East, and is absolutely amazing at what she does. I immediately knew she would take great care of me and get me what I needed.

And here's another thing: she actually likes actors. I would even go so far as saying she loves them. You can tell. 

She called me up and asked me if I'd like to give a review of her Power Hour; a special package she does where you get an hour to take headshots in one of her favorite locations of your choice at The Lot in West Hollywood; as many wardrobe changes as you can make happen, and 100 shots for only $225. "And for your readers, of course, I'll throw in an additional 50 shots."

That's right! Say you found her on this here little blog and she gives you a bonus 50 shots!

See why I love this woman?

We set a time and date for the shoot, and five days before that, she sent me information on what types of clothes to bring and addressed any questions I would have, as well as information on parking (always appreciated!).  She asked me to take a photo of all the outfits I wanted to take headshots in. I used my camera phone with the flash and sent them to her and she was able to weed out what worked and didn't. Pastels? No. Jewel tones? Yes. I hate lugging an entire suitcase to my headshot photographer's studio, so this was an excellent way to cut down on wasted time and sore muscles, making sure I had what I needed.

The day of the shoot, I parked in The Lot's structure and called her as she instructed, and her makeup artist Simone Closson, met me at the elevator to escort me to Laura's office. Simone is Laura's go to makeup artist and super sweet. We talked about the looks I wanted: Mom, Hipster Office, and I Just Gotta Be ME! which is heavy eyeliner cause I love that stuff. She determined the order we would start with based on the easiest makeup look and her ability to quickly add to it. Simone does her part in making sure your power hour is less makeup changes, and more headshot shooting, and to be clear, the makeup part of the shoot is NOT part of the Power Hour! I got all made up first and the Power Hour didn't start until we were on location and shooting. I'm telling you, this is a great deal. 

I'll sell your diapers.

  Laura met with me in the middle of my makeup application and when I was all prettified, Laura and Simone and I all made our way to one of Laura's locations, The Mill on the Lot, which is the warehouse all the sets are built in. It's beautiful, airy, and the afternoon sun filtered through the windows beautifully. I could see why this was one of Laura's top spots to shoot.

 We did the first look, with Laura helping to pose me in the most flattering angle. After 5 minutes or so of pictures, she came to me with her camera and we went through them. The ones mid-blink were automatically deleted, and she showed me her favorites. Any that I didn't like, we deleted. We had a lot of good shots, and I recognized easily the ones I would want to blow up to an 8x10 or post online. She asked me if I felt comfortable with the shots we had and if I thought we could move on. Sure! So off I went to change.

I love tech gadgets!

Simone sat me down and added a little more eyeshadow and changed my lip color. I unpinned some of my hair and for Hipster Office, I wore a graphic tee and jacket. I brought a pair of funky glasses, so I got 4 mini looks here - just my graphic tee, my graphic tee with glasses, my graphic tee and jacket, my graphic tee and jacket and glasses. Super fast and super fun! Again, Laura shot me, posed me, shot me some more, and came over to show me the photos. We deleted the ones we didn't think worked (um, like, 1?) and saved the rest.

My last look! I changed into a maroon sweater and we pinned my hair differently, added dramatic eyeliner and changed my lips again. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Review, review, review! Love, love, love!

Feminine Products? YES!

We felt good about the outfits, the styles, how we shot, and the type of shots we got. We were done!

We walked back up to Laura's office and she told me she'd have them up online in two days. That was it and it was SO Easy!

The Power Hour is especially great if money's a little tight but you need new headshots. It's also great if your agent is requesting just a new look or two.

Women, to get even more looks, wear a camisole under your clothes so you can just change on the spot without having to rush off to the bathroom to for privacy. Simple hair changes, like, ponytail/no ponytail, makes a hug difference too.

And people, wear layers! If you've got a tee and a jacket, you can whisk the jacket off and get a whole slew of shots with just the tee! If you're a quick change artist and already very comfortable in front of the camera, this is definitely a fantastic new way to get as much as you can at an incredibly affordable price.

So there you go!

Contact Laura, let her know that you heard of her Power Hour deal from me, and she'll give you a BONUS 50 shots! That's an extra 50% just because you're a loyal reader. Not too shabby, right?

Thanks Laura!