BizPics: Headshots for Business shoot at Creative Coworking, Sunday, July 9

If you need a new headshot for your book jacket, press kit, website, for LinkedIn, other social media sites or other purposes, I'd love to make it for you. My next BizPics shoot is at Creative Coworking on Davis next Sunday, July 9, 2017.

If you find the prospect of getting your portrait made daunting, this is the shoot for you. My shoots are fun, a cross between a fashion shoot and a party. Come for some smart pictures and a good time. In fact, consider bringing a friend or loved one. 

Dr. Susan Becker Doroshow

This in from dentist, Dr. Susan Becker Doroshow, about BizPics: The business portrait that Karen made was literally the springboard for a revitalized practice image, new marketing materials, and a clear brand that truly resonates with my patients and staff. I never knew that a photograph could accomplish so much. Karen is an artist and creative genius!

From my non-profit executive Thomas Applegate: I finally took advantage of the opportunity with...BizPics to get new photos for use online at Linkedin, Facebook and all of the rest. A great current photo is essential for my professional and social image online.

Karen and her crew are great to work with at the shoot. Even though I wasn't nervous about having my picture taken, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was. Karen...made it fun and easy. I met other professionals while we waited for our turn and that casual conversation helped my photos look relaxed and natural. The process from sign up to selection of my favorite shots was quick and easy.

My only regret is that I waited so long to sign up for a shoot.

Registration and details about next Sunday's shoot are up at https://bizpicsjuly9.eventbrite.com.

Kemone's Food Fight

Kemone with papayas at Mariano's.

I’ve known Kemone Hendricks since she was a high schooler at ETHS. I led and she participated in an Evanston Arts Council and City of Evanston joint workforce development project called ArtSkills 2000, which gave Evanston kids summer jobs. She was a paid photographer with 19 peers. She and I got back in touch recently to talk about the business of photography, as well as health and wellness. This is some of what we talked about.

Q: Kemone, to me you look like the same skinny kid who I met about 17 years ago, but actually your body has gone through some big changes, besides giving birth twice. You’d gained some weight and you weren’t feeling good physically. What do you attribute the weight gain to and what do you attribute your weight loss and better health to?

Kemone: My weight gain started when I became depressed about the relationship I was in. I had started to eat a lot and also drink alcohol almost everyday to comfort myself. Food became a drug to me and I would eat to the point I would feel like throwing up sometimes, even if I was full I would continue eating. Eating became my happy place, the only time I would truly feel happy was while I was eating my favorite foods, but the weight gain made me even more depressed. The person whom I was in a relationship with also enjoyed eating and encouraged me to eat more and applauded my weight gain.

I always wanted to break the cycle, but wasn't quite sure how to. I was disgusted when I looked in the mirror and started hating myself. I didn't even recognize the person in the mirror anymore. I became so disgusted with myself I started searching the internet for the fastest way to lose weight. I associated losing weight with also losing the unhealthy relationship I was in. That thought made me feel free and happy, because if he wasn't around I wouldn't have anyone encouraging me to eat and promoting the very thing that made me hate the way I looked. All I wanted was to be the Kemone I once was—sometimes sad, but usually really happy, energetic, not caring what people thought of me. Deep down I knew I could never get her back the wound was too deep. But maybe somehow I could create a new Kemone, someone better than her? Someone kinda like her? Someone stronger than her? That wouldn't let this happen to her again?

So it began. A journey I'm still on this very day. I'm a all-or-nothing person, so if I commit to doing something I will succeed. But I'm also very impatient. I wanted it now! I couldn't stand the person in the mirror another day. So I got a gym membership, started taking one of the best appetite suppressant pills, worked out almost everyday, barely ate, drank lots of water and ignored everything else around me and before you new it I felt alive again. Hearing people say “OMG. You’re getting so skinny" became a drug to me.

Q: Your path to better health has included paying attention to what your body is telling you it needed, not what a diet guru might prescribe. What are some of the foods your body is telling you it wants to feel its best?

Kemone: So I soon realized that trying to starve myself left me with little to no energy. My body started telling me it needs fruits, veggies, something else to keep it going, but not too much to slow it down. So I would fast some days drinking green tea with 100% pure honey, water, and soup broth when craving flavor. I would do that for two days straight sometimes only one and then on the days that I did eat I would eat lots of fruits, protein (chicken breast), protein bars (no sugar added, gluten free). I wouldn't eat after 7 o'clock and if I did get hungry after that, I ate fruits only. Then I would cycle that same routine thru out the week. If I did eat something “bad” I would detox it out by drinking one of my favorite detox teas.

Green tea with a hint of mint is amazing, pure honey is amazing, blueberries do wonders for you, Fiji water best tasting water ever. 

Papayas. I enjoy papayas.

Q: What didn’t work for you on your quest toward wellness?

Kemone: As mentioned, starving left me tired. But what also didn’t work for me was eating solid foods everyday. To me even a salad was like a gateway to wanting to eat more and something less healthy. It was all or nothing with me. Once I knew this was the days of fasting I could set my mind to eat and succeed.

Q: When you fall off the wagon, what foods do you go for? Chips?

Kemone: Tacos. When I fall off the wagon I go for tacos! Always. There's just something about authentic Mexican tacos! ;-)  For me, anything not made at home—I would go to a restaurant—was not good for me.

Q: What are some of your favorite sources for good-for-you food?

Kemone: I'm not too picky about where I buy my food and I know I should be! I do love Mariano’s, Trader Joe's, Valli Produce, Village Market Place on Dempster in Skokie and Rogers Park Fruit Market.

Q: What are some of your favorite sources for solid information about nutrition?

Kemone: While I read a lot of things on the internet and follow a couple different health pages on Instagram, I just pretty much stick to the basics and create my own nutritional plan based on my bodies needs and vitamins that my doctor says I'm lacking.

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Got your own questions about how to eat better to feel better? Consider asking Chelle, Michelle Gillespie, that is. She and I are starting a column/podcast called Ask Chelle, so she can share eating wisdom in between Health Hacks workshops.

Four good reasons to get a good business portrait made

Nov 20 BizPics shoot offers affordable headshots

Originally post: March 21, 2011, Updated: October 3, 2011

Having a good portrait made of yourself is a good idea no matter what profession you are in or ambitions you have. 

First, you never know when the AP might want to feature you in an article, like the one social media strategist Alecia Dantico was featured in back when she was at Garrett Popcorn. Fast Company's piece on Domino's Ramon DeLeon was very useful to him, but more so because he had a picture of himself to provide the magazine (which I'm pleased to have made for him.)

You're doing yourself a favor, and the media outlet, by having a photo on hand. Because deadlines and budgets are tight, editors and producers don't always have the resources for getting an image made for their stories. And if by chance they are able to assign a photographer to make your picture, there's no guarantee you'll like the image.

Second, to help maintain or enhance your reputation, having a strong, smart online presence is important. If you are using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, you're expected to include a picture of yourself. An up-to-date one is usually best, because you'll want to use one that communicates the qualities you want the public to know about you now.

Third, as the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but who's got time to read a thousand words? Reading a picture is faster. Portraits communicate in seconds qualities of a person words can't. They transcend language. Images are more show and less tell, which is what effective communication is about.

And lastly, because getting a portrait that works can be pricey, my firm, Kring Lerner Group, in cooperation with Boocoo Cultural Center and award-winning stylist Edda Coscioni of Salon Lamia, is offering good portraits at a good price on November 20.  Space is limited. For more information and to register, check out register as soon as you can.

Results from past shoots are online on Facebook.

In the portraits above: SymphonyIRI Group’s Nicole Kirkwood (upper left), Portnoy Enterprise’s Ken Portnoy, NPR's Cheryl Corley (lower left) and Catalyst Magazine's Linda Lenz.

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Remembering ArtSkills 2000

Not widely known by most my Evanston friends is that in the Summer of 2000, I led one of the City of Evanston's summer youth employment projects: ArtSkills 2000.

The project introduced Evanston teens to the art and business of photography. Though we were headquartered at Chute Middle School where we hosted many photographers who came to share their expertise, it was just as likely to find us shooting pictures around the city, developing film and printing in Norris Center's darkrooms, scanning negs at Columbia College or at the Art Institute or Evanston Photographic,

The coaches encouraged the kids to express their personal vision through the lens of their camera while documenting and exploring their Evanston. The resulting images were as varied as the kids themselves.  Then-freshman Nick Cade's focus was on cafe life.  Then-senior Gwen McPherson focus was more personal. She shot a series of pictures of her cat Muffy. Mia Rollow shared a views of her room. Some images captured decisive moments such as a picture of a seagull in flight by Richard Hammell, which he nailed with a point-and-shoot no less. Some images were graphic and contrived like Kemone Hendricks’ "Up in the Sky', which she created by hanging a flower in a tree limb. (It's the first image displayed on this page.) Other participates include Kate Broitman, Ann Heindel, Nicole Newman, Michelle Ilme, Jonathan Payne, Tim Robinson Jr., Anthony Sanders, Quinn Stephens, Gabe Patay, Dominique Harrison, Dominique Cunningham, Justin Shields, Kenneth Coe Jr., Eric Edwards and Mort King II.

Later in the project all of Evanston was invited to get involved through a portrait shoot, Evanston People, that invited everyone associated with Evanston to pose for a picture.

The kids' ten weeks of work culminated in a group exhibition at Noyes Cultural Center. We displayed individual portfolios, a slide show and large prints which offered the public a unique perspective on Evanston and what some of its teens are about. 

Collaborating organizations included PICTURE THIS Projects and the Evanston Arts Council.  Participating coaches and speakers included Jennifer Keats, Shavan Spears, Matthew McNulty, Scott Strazzante, Jon Lowenstein, Tom Maday, John Brooks, Terrence James, Yvette Dostanti, Todd Heisler, Joel Lerner, Bob Quane, Saben Orr and George Pfoertner.

I have many fond memories from that project. Thank you all.

From top to bottom, images displayed here are by Kemone Hendricks, Dominique Cunningham and Justin Shields.