The Environmental Portrait

 

The Environmental Portrait

The headshot versus an environmental portrait brings an additional element to your photo. It provides context, using props or in a location, enhances your stature, shows an insight to your personality and gives a narrative to your brand. Here are the tips to incorporate in your environmental picture.

1.  Find a location that tells your story.  For example, if you work on Capitol Hill find somewhere inside or outside the Capitol.  If you are a musician, use your instrument as a prop, if you are a speaker use your podium and powerpoint slide in your photo.

2.   Using composition techniques that avoid distracting elements but emphasizes you.  The focus is on you, make sure you are prominent in the composition.  Do all the elements in the frame enrich the photo?

3. Lighting is vital.  Soft natural light is best, but it can be enhanced with proper flash or other lighting tools.

4.  Is your pose and expression engaging?  Are you projecting an authentic emotion?  Do you look comfortable?  Your image helps to project your confidence, friendliness and approachability.

Chef Michel Richard 

One of my favorite images from year2 ago, is the portrait of Chef Michel Richard.  He was always comfortable in photos, he had a warm personality, he knew how to pose, smile and exude confidence.  

 

5. Post-Production of your image is vital.  Photo files directly out of the camera always need a little help.  Color enhancements, proper focus, emphasizing the light should be subtle without being too extreme.  It takes skill and patience to properly adjust the image.

It is all about collaboration with a photographer that makes your photo.  Creative efforts between the two of you, finding a location, using props, and knowing how to authentically pose are the key concepts to your successful image.

See my portfolio www.LLLevin.com  Ask me anything larrylevin@verizon.net

A few more selected images:

Selfie with Basketball Official Mentor Bill Dixon.
Set up the composition, lighting and let someone else push the button!

 Four techniques to get a better portrait photo.

Your portrait is your proof of your professionalism, character, confidence, approachability and friendliness.  In today’s environment—social media, LinkedIn, or company websites—a high quality portrait is a necessity.   You want to be recognized as a trusted professional, create your visual identity and gain a comfort level with potential clients or employer.   

There are many factors that go into making your portrait.  You need to consider the photographic skill and creativity of the photographer.  Additionally, you need to work and be comfortable with the person making your portrait.

1.        Lighting    Soft lighting that enhances your skin tone, reducing harsh shadows and highlights is best.  

2.        Composition   Balanced within the frame, that draws focus to your eyes and face. A clean background that is unobstructive and not distractive. 

3.        Sharpness & Focus   Your eyes should be sharp and the background a little fuzzy so the focus is on you.

4.        Connection   Your natural and authentic smile, facial expression and relaxed pose create that connection allowing your personality to come through.

The assignment was to do staff portraits.  Each person had 10-minute intervals.  There was a makeup artist to assist each person.  So within our shoot time, we had to quickly develop a rapport, alleviate the shyness and figure out how to get the best expression. A lighting setup, a large camera, and a fun and friendly photographer can be intimidating.  Quickly figuring out each person’s best qualities, gaining confidence and catching the natural expression is what a professional photographer does.  

Make no mistake, some people can get it done in one frame.  Some may take a bit longer.  It all works out. The selected imaged is adjusted in post-production.  And everyone is pleased.

Ask me anything, larrylevin@verizon.net

See my website www.LLLevin.com

Inspirational Basketball: The Treviso Special Olympics International Unified Basketball Tournament

June 2025

For the twelfth time in so many years, teams gathered in a small Italian city to inspire the world. Thirty-seven teams from around the world came to play basketball. Not your ordinary type of teams, but Special Olympics Unified teams. Unified sports combine teammates with and without intellectual disabilities. This simple concept breaks down barriers, promotes social inclusion, and highlights each participant's abilities.

Treviso, Italy, a sports mecca, hosted over 450 athletes, including teams not only from Italy but from Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland and USA. Over 74 games were played over the two days on 4 courts, both outside (in the Italian sun and 85-degree temperatures) and two indoor courts. There were six levels of competition. Teams played against teams with similar abilities.

The beauty of this event is more than just about competition, It provides a showcase of inclusion, where athletes with varied backgrounds and skills can thrive and develop lifelong connections.

I was honored to be a part of this tournament as a volunteer referee and make these photos to document this event.

All Photography Copyright 2025 Laurence L. Levin. No publication rights granted without written permission.

A Day in the Life of Hawaii (1982)

The cover of the 224 page coffee table book. Cover photo by Dan Dry, assigned my me.

A project I worked on early in my career. Thanks to Rick Smolan for inviting me and helping to jumpstart my wonderful career. So many lessons learned from both Rick and David Elliott Cohen. Made great friends and three months living in Hawai’i and exploring Maui, Moloka’i and Oahu. Now you know why my love affair with Hawai’i

From Rick Smolan:
Forty years ago a strange thing happened on the world's news fronts. In London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, El Salvador, and Beirut, in the Amazon jungle, and on the Afghanistan border, fifty of the world's foremost Photojournalists, the world-weary khaki clad lensmen asnd lenswomen of the press, packed their cameras and canvas shoulder bags and boarded planes to the middle of the Pacific ocean to take on one of the most unusual and challenging assignments of the careers: to capture the entire state of Hawaii on film in the course of a single 24 hour period.
Photojournalist, Rick Smolan, editor, David Cohen, designer Leslie Smolan and project director Jennifer Erwitt gave the photographers unusual instruction: Don’t try to make the definitive statement about Hawaii. Don’t concentrate on the rich, the famous or the powerful. Avoid clichés. instead do the hardest thing of all: make extraordinary pictures of ordinary events.
The award winning one hour PBS TV special (below), directed by Sandy Smolan, captures how the A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HAWAII Team pulled off a project that publishing 35 publishers had turned down, insisting it would never work. Click on the link below to go on assignment with members of the most illustrious photography team ever assembled. 
• Go dancing in Waikiki with top German cameraman Gerd Ludwig. 
• Join a Hulu school in progress on the island of Molokai with US newspaper photographer of the year Dan Dry, 
• Climb 14,000 feet to the summit of Mauna Kea with Time Photographer Shelly Katz, 
• Come face-to-face with the Murray eel 60 feet below the surface of the Pacific with National Geographic David Doubilet, 
• Visit the Hawaiian Cowboys of the 224,000 acre Parker Ranch with Pulitzer Prize winner Eddie Adams, 
• Ride a perfect 10 foot wave on the Bonzai pipeline with Surfing Magazine's Aaron Chang. 
The several hundred color and black-and-white pictures in A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HAWAII were chosen from almost 60,000 shot during a single day. None is 24 hours older or younger than any other and no picture was shot for any purpose other than to document the harmonies and paradoxes of life in Hawaii as it was lived on this one day. 
But even 60,000 images, barely hint of the infinite moments that passed through the beaches and hills in homes and hearts of Hawaii on that day. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HAWAII belongs to them -- to each smile, each silence, each crashing wave, saved only in memory.
#photography #photoshoot #photojournalism

Meet Fran, Best Buddies Ambassador & TV Spokesperson

 

Fran Sheinberg, Best Buddies Global Ambassador

The accolades and the opportunities are piling up for Fran Sheinberg. At the Best Buddies Leadership Conference in July, she was honored as the Best Buddies Jobs Employee of the Year. Her work at the Promise Child Development Center in Texas was cited for her commitment, passion and work ethic that has made an indelible impression with her community.

On stage receiving her award with AWE Wrestler Paul Wight, and Best Buddies Founder Anthony k. Shriver

Fran is on the autism spectrum. She stated, when she was young, doctors and teachers told her parents, she was "different, slow and delayed." With little outside encouragement, Fran was determined to prove everyone wrong. Although, she had difficulty communicating with people, Fran found an outlet. She started to write and perform raps. With this new ability to express herself, she found a way to share her feelings and put a smile on people's faces. Her stage name is Flava Fran.

Performing one of her Raps on stage at the Indiana University Auditorium.

This October Jersey Mike's Sub Franchise System has joined Best Buddies to allow customer's to "round-up" their check to donate to Best Buddies. The Jersey Mike's TV commercial features Fran! Click on the link:  Fran's Jersey Mike's Commercial

Fran with Joey Shriver and Anthony Shriver

As a photographer, I get to meet the most incredible and inspiring people. Nearly 30 years of documenting the activities and mission of one of the most magnificent organizations that makes a different in helping people achieve their full potential. Best Buddies please help them by volunteering and donating. www.BestBuddies.org

Copyright 2023 Laurence L. Levin

All Rights Reserved. No publishing or usage granted without permission.

Instagram @larrylevin

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Rated #1  DC Event Photographer by Peerspace

Tips for Updating Your LinkedIn Profile Photo

Portrait Session

You have heard it many times, your personal photo is a vital asset to your LinkedIn profile. Your photo is the impression you want people to have of you.  We live in a visual society, so quality images are vital. Your portrait should exude confidence, approachability, and friendliness.

 A 'good' photographer knows how to get that feeling out of you. Yet it is a two-way street, your photo session is a collaboration between you and the photographer. You need to feel relaxed during your session. Know your best side, how your smile looks, and your best pose. Let the photographer help you capture your authentic self.  

Finding that photographer is important.  Just like choosing any professional, get personal referrals, view their portfolio, and talk to them.  Do you like what you see in their work?  When talking to them, do you get the confidence they will do a good job for you?  What are their rates and your rights to the photos?  Is it a good deal for you?

The next question is how often should you update your LinkedIn photo and other social media portraits?  There are no set guidelines but a list of considerations you can follow when to decide to change your profile image: 

-A change in your life:

Job promotion, job hunting, career change, newly married, birth of a baby

-A change in your appearance:

Hair style, facial hair, new glasses, change in body (you been working out), weight loss or gain, or any cosmetic improvements.  

-Does your profile image still represent you?  Or you think it just needs to be changed.  

You want a high-quality image that is technically correct; In focus, good exposure, well composed, that shows your best side.  This photo might just be your only chance to make a good first impression. This is true for LinkedIn and your dating sites.   

A nice way to start the new year, post a new photo.  Or at the start of each season, show a new look each spring, summer, fall and winter.  You don’t want to be too obsessive, do what works for you.   

What about your business profile images, and your LinkedIn banner photo?

·      Do you have new services or products to highlight?

·      Celebration of events, business events, or holidays?

·      Feature your company’s mission.

·      Promotion of a charity or cause your business supports.

·      Show you or your staff in action.

The reason to add these photos is to show that a real human is behind your business.  You are personal, caring, and trustworthy; A wonderful characteristic to attract and keep clients/customers.  Additionally, these photos show that your business is improving, and growing, giving your customers the confidence in you.

Quality & interesting photos engages your audience.  The key for your photos, be appropriate to your intended market, be significant and pertinent.  

Copyright 2023 Laurence L. Levin

All Rights Reserved. No publishing or usage granted without permission.

Instagram @larrylevin

LinkedIN Laurence L. Levin 

Facebook Larry Levin 

Rated #1  DC Event Photographer by Peerspace

 

Photographing Diplomats: The Potomac Exchange

 

Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, India

The Potomac Exchange is a 50-year-old Washington, DC membership-based organization that brings business leaders and foreign ambassadors together. Its mission is to create a dialog of understanding, initiate business relationships, and network for an “off-the-record” luncheon.  As the official photographer for The Potomac Exchange, my goal is to document interesting moments.

Christina Markus Lassen is the Ambassador of Denmark luncheon at the Top of the Hay, Hay-Adams Hotel, Washington, DC

While photographing these luncheons, usually in a wonderful room with limited space, it is vital to understand several key elements: Be respectful of the decorum. It is a luncheon meeting, walk cautiously, give the servers the room they need to maneuver. Find angles that emphasize the speakers, avoiding distractions. Lighting is always an issue, bright sunlight coming through the window, or not enough light because the room is dimly lit, knowing how to make proper camera adjustments and doing good postproduction is required to give the client exceptional pictures. Have a smile on your face. Lastly, one of the first lessons learned from the great New York Times Photographer George Tames, as a DC photographer, what is heard in the room, stays in the room. Confidentiality is sacred.  

Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdés of Chile. Ambassador Yerzhan Ashikbayev of Kazakhstan, Ambassador Francisco Duarte Lopes of Portugal

Being a photographer is privilege. As a photographer, one is a witness to many interesting and significant events, and you get to share what you photograph with many people. The most important skill a photographer can bring to their clients is the expertise of making images that the story. 

Copyright 2023 Laurence L. Levin

All Rights Reserved. No publishing or usage granted without permission.

Instagram @larrylevin

LinkedIN Laurence L. Levin 

Facebook Larry Levin 

Rated #1  DC Event Photographer by Peerspace