The Signature Portrait · Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
The Signature Portrait is one fully directed session — light, wardrobe, and pose — delivered as fully retouched digital images.
Most people have been photographed. Few have been photographed with intention.
This is a considered portrait experience — styled, directed, and lit with precision to create images that feel cinematic, sophisticated, and entirely your own.
The result is less like a traditional portrait and more like a frame from a beautifully made film, with you at the center of it.
The room is made before you walk into it.
A vintage Kansas laundromat at six in the morning. A side street in a city you have never been to. Wherever the story wants to live. You walk out with images that look like stills from a film that does not exist yet, in which you are the lead.
How it works
The concept conversation
We talk before anything is booked. I want to know who you'd want to be in the picture — not what you do for a living. Out of that conversation comes a direction: a world, a mood, a register. You bring references if you have them. You don't need any.
World and wardrobe direction
I scout the location and build the plan around it — light first, then wardrobe, then movement. You get written direction on what to wear and what to leave at home, down to fabric and color. Wardrobe is yours; the decisions are mine to make with you.
The build and the shoot
Ninety minutes to two hours, two to three looks, one or two locations. You will be directed the entire time. Where to stand, where to look, what to do with your hands. Nobody arrives knowing how to be photographed, and you are not expected to.
Delivery
Proofs go to a private gallery for you to select from. Ten images come back fully retouched in 7–10 business days, delivered as full-resolution originals for print plus web-sized files for sharing.
What's included
- Pre-session concept conversation and written direction
- Location scouting within the Kansas City metro
- 90–120 minutes of directed shooting
- 2–3 styled looks
- 1–2 locations
- Full direction on set — posing, movement, expression
- Private proofing gallery for your selections
- 10 fully retouched final images
- Full-resolution originals for print, plus web-sized files
- Delivery in 7–10 business days from selection
What's not included
- Hair and makeup artistry
- Wardrobe purchase or rental
- Travel beyond a 20-mile radius of Overland Park
- Retouched images beyond the ten included
- Commercial or advertising licensing
- Framing on any print ordered afterward
The price
$895
50% non-refundable retainer holds the date. The balance is due before the session.
7–10 business days from your selections to final delivery.
Year-round. Travel within 20 miles of Overland Park is included; beyond that it is quoted per trip before booking.
What this format is
Constructed, directed, single-subject editorial work. One person, one built world, planned in advance and executed on a schedule. It is not documentary. It is not event coverage. It is not candid. If you want unposed, I would rather say so here than take your retainer.
Revisions and refunds
Each selected image includes one round of retouching adjustments — color, tone, crop, cleanup. Direction and concept are agreed before the shoot, so the work is not re-shot on the basis of a change of mind. If a technical failure on my side makes an image unusable, I re-shoot it at no cost. The retainer is not refundable once the date is held. All of this is stated in the agreement you sign before anything is charged.
Before you book
Who is this for?
People who have a version of themselves they have never seen a picture of. Who suspect they are more interesting than their photographs suggest. Who want to be built into something rather than snapped. It is not for anyone who wants candid, documentary, or 'just make me look natural' — that is deliberate work of a different kind and I am the wrong photographer for it.
What do I wear?
You get written wardrobe direction after the concept conversation — specific garments, colors and fabrics that hold up under the light I am building, and the ones that will fight it. Wardrobe is yours to supply. Most people already own more of the right thing than they think.
What if I'm not photogenic?
Nobody is photogenic on their own. Being photographed well is something that happens to you, not something you produce. You will be directed for the entire session — that is most of what you are paying for.
Can we shoot somewhere specific?
Yes, if the location can carry the concept and can be legally accessed. Locations requiring a paid permit or venue fee are billed at cost and agreed in writing before the date is reserved.
Do I get the raw files?
No. You receive the finished work — full-resolution retouched originals plus web-sized files. The unedited captures are not delivered, in the same way a painter does not hand over the underdrawing.
Can I use these commercially?
Yes. Every portrait and headshot session includes the Professional Use license: worldwide, in perpetuity, on your own profiles and website, your employer's site and biography page, speaker and press materials, and book jackets. Commercial Advertising — paid media, third-party campaigns, product advertising and resale — is quoted separately in writing.
What if it rains or the location falls through?
We move the date, or we move the world. Weather and access are planned for in advance with a fallback location held for every outdoor concept. A reschedule caused by weather or a location failing does not cost you anything.
What if I need to reschedule?
Tell me as early as you can and we find another date. The retainer moves with you to the new date. It is not refundable, because the date it reserved is one I turned other work away for.
How do I pay?
A 50% retainer reserves the date and is paid by card against a written agreement you sign electronically. The balance is due before the session. Nothing is charged before you have seen the terms in full.