How Professional Pet Sitter Headshots Changed The Lives of Those On Both Sides of the Camera

Think for a minute… what was your most recent ‘defining moment’ in your life?

You know, it’s those moments in time that were truly pivotal and transforming for you.

I know personally they usually sneak up on me.  They may not seem like such a big deal at the time but then when I have time to process, it’s sometimes hard to wrap my head around the power of what happened.

I had such a moment at the recent PetSittingOlogy Conference PSO2015.  I think a lot of people did.

It started when Michael Bagley (2014 conference speaker and our official event photographer) put an idea on the table.  What if he were to come back and offer professional head shots for all of the attendees?

This is part of the brilliant email he sent April, 2015:

I had a random idea this morning I thought I’d share with you. I’ve been doing a lot of head shots lately for professionals, and especially those in the pet biz – dog trainers and vets and vet techs. It seems that more and more people want a high quality photo of themselves and/or their staff.

If you wanted to I would be happy to shoot some headshots for attendees of the conference at no charge to them or you. Instead, we could suggest a donation to Pilots N Paws, our official conference rescue group.

Amazingly generous and necessary for our industry. We have all read about the importance of a good photo on our web site.

Potential clients want to not only get a visual on who you are, but that photo also needs to convey a feeling of trust, reliability, responsibility, integrity….that photo can be the difference of someone calling to hire you vs bouncing to the next site.

No pressure.  No pressure at all.

How many of you don’t have a photo of yourself on your site and instead hide behind the animals?

Maybe you are nervous.  Maybe you don’t like the way you look.

The pressure of the right photo can be intimidating.

When we announced that there was going to be a mini studio where all attendees could get their photo taken by Mike, you could feel the nerves popping through the comments.

“I would rather go to the dentist than get my picture taken”.  Was pretty much the general theme.

A theme many people carried all the way to the conference.  Even as they were waiting for Mike to get the lighting just right, you could see and feel the nerves.  It was palatable.

Had a dentist walked in at that moment, they would have gotten a lot of relieved hugs!

“Whew, so glad you are here Dr, I was about to get my picture taken.  Can you fit me in for a root canal instead?”

But then something magical and powerful happened.  (The transforming moment I was talking about earlier).

We started laughing.  About who knows what, but it doesn’t really matter.  Laughing and smiling and chatting.

We literally started lighting up the room.

And Mike was able to capture it on camera.

“I didn’t know I looked like that” was said many times in a hushed voice.  “It’s the photographer, I don’t really look like that”.

Yes you do.  You looked beautiful.  And happy.  And confident.  And ready.

What were expected to be professional head shots to use with any of your business marketing efforts turned into so much more.

They became personal.

Which is exactly what your clients want from you.

I am so proud of everyone who stood in front of the camera and let their best self shine through!

(And I think it turned out better than the dentist don’t you?)

BONUS: Read the article directly from Michael Bagley on how photographing our industry profoundly impacted his life!

Click Here to Register to Attend #PSO2106!