Tony Estrella – author of Comatose

I recently had the pleasure of doing Tony Estrella’s headshot. Tony is an author and contacted me as he needed a headshot of himself for the Publishizer’s website, where you can pre-order his new book ‘Comatose’! 

I love doing headshots and personal branded shoots. It is so interesting to get to know the person I am shooting and chat about what they do. Tony and I quickly got chatting about his new book ‘Comatose’. The book follows the lives of four strangers who are trying to cheat death. A link between lucid dreaming and comas leads to unexpected alliances in a life-threatening race for survival.

What intrigued me most about Tony’s story is that he literally dreamt the story! Over an 8 year period he took notes of his dreams and these notes became the base of the plot, characters, and key scenes. 

How amazing is that! What unique talent to have. I always wondered how authors get inspired to write a novel, and I am totally in awe of Tony’s story and how ‘Comatose’ was created and written. 

A headshot is not just a headshot. It is so important to know the person in order to create the right setup, lighting and most importantly catch the right expression. From chatting with Tony, it was pretty clear that he cannot stop smiling. He simply is a happy guy! There was no way he could not smile in the picture. If he didn’t smile it wouldn’t be Tony!

‘Comatose’

Being a portrait photographer means that I lean so much about everything and anything through the people I photograph. It was a privilege to spend an afternoon with Tony and learn so much about what it means to be an author and a healthcare futurist like him. I am thrilled to have had the privilege to learn about the process he went through to write ‘Comatose’.

Tony has just launched he’s pre-sales campaign for “Comatose” and he has been selected as a semi-finalist by the William Faulkner-William Wisdom writing competition in the U.S. 

If you are curious to know more about Tony’s book, read the synopsis or do a pre-order of his book, just look at Publishizer’s site for ‘Comatose’. Any pre-order during August will come with a signed copy!. 

Can’t help but add below portrait of Tony. Being a portrait photographer it is hard to not shoot and edit a more portrait styled image. Clearly the shots that Tony will use for his personal branding are the ones where he is smiling. But below portrait simply shows how different you can style a shoot using posing, lighting and editing.

If you need a headshot or a personal banding shoot, you can read more about these kind of photo session here and you can see my headshot gallery here. Or simply call me on 9754 1759 to chat about it.

An honour to photograph someone

When Pia asked me whether I could do some natural portraits of her, I knew it was a very special request, and I was very honoured that she asked me. Why? Because Pia hates having her picture taken. She told me she has always felt very uncomfortable in front of the camera and have therefore always avoided any camera with a vengeance.

When you photograph a face – you photograph the soul behind it

I am devoted to make people feel comfortable in front of the camera, simply because having a good portrait is so important. Your age and look doesn’t matter! Don’t wait for the ‘right time’. The right time is today – now. Make this point of life special and capture what you look like right now. Tomorrow it is history. Today never comes back.

A good portrait is  is not a ‘selfie’ – it is not a blurred capture with a phone.

A good portrait is a capture of who you are. If I could, I would make it mandatory for everyone to have their portrait taken. It is something you will treasure for ever and something that will  become your legacy – something your children and their children will treasure forever.

Look at this lovely lady, mother of four and grandmother of nine!

As you can see Pia rocked her portrait session. She may hate being in front of the camera, but as you can see in her series of portraits, it is not necessary to look into the camera and say ‘cheese’ to get a good picture.

In fact, once we started walking, talking and photographing, Pia pretty much forgot she was having her pictures taken. She walked on the beach, posed in sand dunes and flowers… She even posed in front of a restaurant without any issue:)

How to make your portrait session a success

The trick is to be yourself

Wear what you like to wear.

Wear what identifies you.

Select a location that is you. Somewhere you feel comfortable.

And then leave it up to me to capture some beautiful portraits that show who you really are.

Are you interested in a portrait session just for you? Something that fits  your personal brand, then do get in touch or check out my personal branding page for more information.