Let’s take a deep dive into Eldeen Annette’s world, Orlando’s go-to professional headshot photographer. From singing opera to diving into various artistic interests, she doesn’t just capture photos – she tells stories. She shares professional business headshots tips she has gathered over years of her career.

Committed to personal connections, she shares unique stories of business pros and actors. Get ready for an exclusive interview where Eldeen spills the beans on her journey, inspirations, and the ideas behind her powerful portraits. Read ahead for professional business headshots tips from Eldeen.

Headshot photography is more than just smiling faces. Anyone can fake a smile for a photographer but a true artist will capture the hidden emotions behind every smile. Read ahead to learn how Eldeen achieved this magical ability and some of her professional business headshots tips!

Q1. Can you share more about your journey into becoming a professional headshot photographer, especially considering your background as a classical opera singer and other diverse interests?

Ans. I have always loved art, music, photography, and really, anything visually beautiful. The way that colors, shapes, light, and sound can come together to create an emotional, spiritual experience for me has had a huge impact on the direction of my life. Ever since I was young, I was surrounded by beauty in art and music. My dad played every instrument he could get his hands on and we regularly gathered around the piano for song night, and my mom was a painter for a living, having gone to school for art. I believe God blessed me with a deep appreciation for art and music, so it was only natural that I pursue something in the fields of the arts.

I originally wanted to be a Disney animator, but music seemed like a more reachable goal, so I went to college for music, majoring in opera. I traveled for just two short years doing shows during and after college before I gave up that life for the beautiful opportunity of marriage and family. I enjoyed my time as a soprano (and still sing often!), but was eager to step into a new phase of life.

When I was newly married with two young children in 2009, I was teaching piano and voice lessons from home. I felt the tug to try something new and started a photo card business. The business was so successful, that I decided to buy myself a nice camera so I could capture moments of my family for our scrapbook. My Photoshop knowledge allowed me to produce photography that I was excited about and felt proud of (though looking back. let’s just say… I was a MAJOR over-editor, haha! Don’t judge – I was learning… plus…vignettes and huge color tone adjustments were all the rage back then, right?!).

My love of photography was born, and I dove into all things photography. I would take pictures of anyone that would smile for me – families, children…

pets (they smile, too!)…

glamorous women (boudoir), and even weddings! But after several years, I settled on individuals’ portraits. I absolutely adore connecting with someone on a one-on-one basis, getting to know their story, and capturing them in a way that makes them feel loved, seen, valued, and beautiful.

I photographed high school seniors like crazy, developing a huge business and honing my skills as a businesswoman. I developed a full senior portrait success workshop that I have taught many times in Colorado and Utah! I loved teaching other professional headshot photographer about everything high school senior portrait photography!

But in 2018, I needed to make a shift and was feeling burned out. I decided to begin working on perfecting business headshots, and shortly thereafter, acting headshots when my daughter decided to become an actor at age 9.

I thought, “hey.. I can do headshots, right?” I found that I had a LOT to learn about the specifics of actor headshots! But having my daughter in the industry was a fun starting point to that journey. Now, I have had the honor of working with nearly 1000 film and theater actors from Los Angeles, Denver, New York, Georgia, and Florida.

Q2. What inspired you to specialize in professional business headshots tips & creating headshots for business professionals and actors in Orlando, Florida?

Ans. The experience of working one-on-one with others fills my soul. I love getting to know people and their stories. Being in relationship with one another on this colorful planet is a blessing, and being able to engage in relationship using photography is something that I will never tire of. The personalities in Orlando are diverse and rich.

I love the bright and friendly market that Orlando has in business and in the acting field. The Disney parks and commercial acting here make headshots in Orlando really enjoyable because we’re shooting for bright and friendly images.

When I started to receive repeated feedback in my reviews from Orlando professionals about how I made my clients feel during their session, I new that I was in the right field. I honestly had no idea that the relationship aspect of my sessions meant as much to my clients as it did to me! So, that realization was a huge inspiration for continuing to specialize in professional business headshots, actor headshots, and branding and marketing portraits for small business owners.

Q3. What are some of the projects or achievements that you are most proud of as a professional headshot photographer?

Ans. When I was deep into senior portrait photography, I did a full-on fashion show for the seniors – it was a wonderful time in my photography journey! The proceeds from the ticket sales benefited MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), and the seniors had a blast walking the runway. You can check out the video here if you’d like!

One of my favorite projects I did through professional headshot photography was entitled, “Joy is Universal.” I asked my town of Erie, CO for volunteers of all shapes, sizes, colors, and personalities so that I could capture their joy through my lens. This project truly fed my soul and love for getting to know others! I also hope that I brought the town together just a bit more through this project.

I try to organize a personal project about twice a year to remind me why I love what I do and challenge me to try new things, meet new people, and get better at my craft.

Q4. How do you challenge yourself to meet high expectations and continue learning and improving as a professional headshot photographer?

Ans. As an acting professional headshot photographer, very specific styling and excellence is required for their headshots to book auditions and please casting directors. It is a huge responsibility for me! I study current trends in actor headshots and aim for perfection according to the industry standards. It is a wonderful challenge!

With my small business clients and their personal branding and marketing images, my job is to make their business shine with personality and their business message. I get to help small business owners attract their ideal client through telling their story! But it’s a big responsibility, and one I don’t take lightly.

I set very high expectations for myself with these clients especially because they are entrusting me with their company message and communicating who they are to their audience. But I do love getting to know someone’s story! So I meet with them, study their company, learn the heart behind their business, and get to work creating a story board of images.

Q5. Can you share a time when you had to deal with a difficult client? How did you handle the situation and ensure a successful outcome?

Ans. Since my business is so relationship-oriented, I don’t really feel I’ve ever had a difficult client! Just making sure communication is friendly and clear seems to have helped me avoid uncomfortable situations.  I have had one or two who weren’t super happy with their photos for one reason or another, though. It is never a good feeling to know that your wasn’t what they were hoping for – but I welcome humbling opportunities, and it was my pleasure to re-shoot in those circumstances making adjustments so they got exactly what they were looking for in their professional portraits.

Now, I’ve learned how important it is to communicate clearly so my clients know exactly what they can expect (and hopefully I can over-deliver every time!).  My goal is that every client leaves with their expectations exceeded regarding their images, and that they feel valued and seen through my lens. In the rare cases where I don’t feel we are a good fit, I am happy to recommend another photographer from my network here in Orlando!

Q6. Your commitment to continual learning is evident. Can you talk about a specific aspect of photography that you recently learned and incorporated into your practice?

Ans. Learning is fun! Ever since I was young, I have loved trying new things – especially things that I can continue to pursue excellence with, like photography, where I see progress and growth.

I have several photographers I look up to that just seem magical to me. David Muller, Stephanie Girard, Joel Grimes, and a few local photographers are constantly teaching me through the excellence of their work. I am totally guilty of zooming in on eyes to try and figure out lighting. Like, “How in the world did they do that?!”

And then I make my 18 year-old daughter pose for me so I can experiment and learn something new. The latest thing my inspirers are blowing my mind with is portraits that have the look of full sunlight, but in the studio. Just this month, I spent an entire afternoon getting out all my gear and having Aria, my daughter, model for me. It is just so fun!

I love the thrill of succeeding when I try something new. For these images below, taken just this month, I wanted to highlight Aria’s newly-earned rock climbing arms, and also try my hand at “sunlight” photography. I have a lot of learning left to do with sunlight mimicking, lol! But it was a fun first try! My how she’s grown. I’m so glad I picked up photography when they were young. Capturing my daughters’ youthfulness and journey has been one of the biggest blessings photography has given me.

Q7. How do you keep up with the latest trends and technologies in photography?

Ans. The technological advantages we have in this generation are pretty awesome. Photoshop’s always-growing capabilities can be overwhelming to keep up with, but I follow the incredible Scott Kelby and attend Photoshop World in order to remain up-to-date with all the cool opportunities this rich software provides.

I love that the more technology advances, the more natural and timeless portraits I am able to create! Small detail work that I can now do in post production, powerful lighting gear, and education have helped me create images that are true and timeless.

Q8. How do you ensure that each photograph you take represents and preserves the memories of the events and people you capture? Give some professional business headshots tips.

Ans. I try to preserve memories, events, and personalities through excellent lighting, posing that seems natural to someone’s personality (or what they are trying to communicate for their business), and timeless, natural editing, that ideally will never seem dated or out of style.

I also value seeing a person’s heart and knowing their story so that we are not creating images that don’t represent them. While there are certain poses that I may use often based on body type, and just what I know will look great on camera, I always want their heart and story to shine through.

During a session, after every 5-10 shots, I normally relax the camera down so we can chat for just a few seconds, laugh, talk about pets, kids, hobbies.. whatever comes up! I love to encourage my clients during the session in any way I can so they know that they can relax and be themselves. Insecurities come out in full force with many people when they get in front of a camera (me included!), so it’s important to let my clients know that they can leave everything up to me and just be themselves. This type of environment is the perfect scenario for capturing authentic portraits.

Q9. How do you balance your time between your professional headshot photographer business and your family?

Ans. I try to preserve memories, events, and personalities through excellent lighting, posing that seems natural to someone’s personality (or what they are trying to communicate for their business), and timeless, natural editing that will never seem dated or out of style.

I also value seeing a person’s heart and knowing their story so that we are not creating images that don’t represent them. While there are certain poses that I may use often based on body type, and just what I know will look great on camera, I always want their heart and story to shine through.

During a session, after every 5-10 shots, I normally relax the camera down so we can chat for just a few seconds, laugh, talk about pets, kids, hobbies.. whatever comes up! I love to encourage my clients during the session in any way I can so they know that they can relax and be themselves. Insecurities come out in full force with many people when they get in front of a camera (me included!), so it’s important to let my clients know that they can leave everything up to me and just be themselves. This type of environment is the perfect scenario for capturing authentic portraits.

Q10. What are some of the books that you enjoy reading?

Ans. Oh, I love reading! I tend to always have some soft of marketing/business book going, and also a Christian fiction for weekends at the beach. I currently run a book club called “Uplifting Windermere Book Club” here in west Orlando.

Likely, the most influential book I have on my shelf regarding business is “The Go-Giver” by Bob Burg. His concept about how to succeed in business completely changed not only how I treated my clients, but how I felt and thought about them. I highly recommend this book to anyone in business of any kind.

One of my favorite fiction books is called “Peace Like A River” by Leif Enger. It is like sitting on a front porch on a late summer’s day, sipping sweet tea and leaving all the worries of the world behind. My friend and I had a full-on book club meeting about it every week because it was such a delight to talk about.

A current book that’s sort-of rocking my world is called, “Imagine The God of Heaven” by John Burke who interviewed nearly 1000 people from all over the world who died and came back to life, and details out the commonalities. It is super fascinating!

Whatever I’m spending time reading, I want it to be encouraging, teaching, and always uplifting to my soul, making me a better person.

Q11. What are some of the goals or dreams that you have for your future as a professional headshot photographer and as a person?

Ans. I would love the opportunity to teach workshops not only in Orlando, but nationally. I even developed a curriculum a couple of years ago on lighting for headshots that I had intended to video and provide online, but I chickened out every time I got in front of the camera to film, so the entire workshop just sits on my computer, waiting for me to be brave and just film it, haha! I’d love to find the courage to complete that project, and go on to teach in-person workshops about headshots, lighting, and the business of senior portraits. I love teaching others about photography!

I have the goal of prioritizing health this year (the 40s hit hard!), so I can keep up with my family and honor my body. I inherited bad joints, so exercise is not easy for me to enjoy, but I know that I can start small and grow from there (and I’m confident the results will keep me going!). Also, I have started growing food at home, so our windows and pool deck are basically greenhouses now. It is incredibly rewarding to go “pick” your dinner.

I am living out my dream in Orlando, going to amusement parks, working at home doing what I love, and bring with my family! Thank you for taking a few moments to allow me to share my story – I hope that wherever you are, you can find a photographer to take a portrait of you that you love and your family will cherish (and if you’re ever in central FL, give me a call – I would love to meet you).

Hope this in-depth interview & professional business headshots tips by photographer Eldeen Annette inspired you. It is evident that she has a innate passion for photography and puts in all her positive energy into every photo she clicks. Her words are truly inspirational and you’re sure to have gained a lot of insight into her mind and noted down her professional business headshots tips!

To get in touch with professional headshot photographer Eldeen Annette for corporate headshots contact here & for actor headshots contact here.

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