You Are Your Brand

Kansas City Photographer Kimberly Pimentel created  this Portrait of business  owner  Jason Williams.  

I’ve been creating portraits for Jason since 2017, and this year we also photographed his fiancé.  

Each time Jason is photographed it’s a journey. He  is a intellectual sensitive energetic man and I know when we photograph him it will be a lesson in branding.

Headshot portraits are the first step of creating your social media look. You have to present yourself in a professional way. Jason knows this and that’s why he chooses professional photographers to capture and create his yearly look.  We do business branding headshots for people who know that their look must be honest and professional in order to be effective.  They chose me to create the look for them. Because they can trust me with their image and know I will not let them down.

In order for branding to be effective the main rule of thumb is, it must be honest and Jason portrait’s encompass him completely and honestly.  He is his one man. There are no pretentious feelings when he sits for me. It’s all him 100 percent and in this honesty we create these intense portraits of him, for him.  

Im sure I’ll Photograph Jason next year and continue to capture him in branding portraits.  Watching him become more successful as we also grow our portrait business it’s a interesting symbiotic relationship and I’m glad I met him and and thankful he trusted me with making his portrait. I enjoy seeing people grow and become the portrait and embrace their self strengths. And creating portraits for them gives me a unique window to see them grow. 

We can assist you by creating a Professional Headshot that will capture you.  

 Kimberly Pimentel is  owner and Photographer at Pimentel Portfolio a Kansas City based Portrait business.

She is a member of the Professional Photographers ( PPA) of America, also, member of Professional Photographers of Greater Kansas City( PPGKC). 

She is also a Accredited Portrait Masters Photographer. Her images have been awarded and published.

And can be reached to set up your session at (913)687-1464

Planning Your 2019 Social Media Attack

If you haven’t already started planning then you are too late.  But, as we all know in retail it’s never too late to make that sale.  All it takes is some strategizing and well thought out planning.  Your Social Media strategy should be well thought out and planned, as well.   These are the top 5 things to consider about your Media Game Plan.

1. Advertising Media Library should be created prior to your year. This is the time to schedule your Professional attaché Portrait.  The New Year brings changes and we all look at doing things differently. We change services, we plan, we decide on new things. Be ready! Your clients want to see you attack the year too!

2.   Have Goals set for the Year.  Decide on a monthly and quarterly plan of media posts. This way you can gauge your progress and grow your sites.  As we all learn the algorithms of social media, as humans, we seek patterns.  Your clients will respond to the patterns you send them. So be consistent in your posts. Set patterns of these posts for best results. 

3.  The top five media outlets are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and  LinkedIn. Arrange a plan that involves all these platforms.

4.  Engage with your clients in Relevent ways. To stay engaged you must first establish a pattern, then keep the pattern interesting. Utilize different mediums. Video clips engage, are relevant, and create lasting imagery content for your clients. 

5.  Maintain a constant presence with your clients. Instead of telling them what you offer, be instead of service to them. Offer them advice from your professional knowledge. This will engage them, and engagement is the first step of the inquiry that leads to sales. 

In order for your targeted clients to request services from you, they have to have already seen you. This pregame strategy exists in every competitive endeavor. We look at the numbers of the previous year and make strategies on where, as a company, we slipped and where we grew. 

The game of Social Media is to always have Professionally created media, readily available previous to the time needed.  Have a plan and execute it. 

Media Headshots Done by Kansas City Phorographers Pimentel Portfolio LLC

Pimentel Portfolio LLC is a Kansas City Based Photography Business. We can be contacted for Portrait and Social Media imagery at (913)687-1464.

Marketing Yourself on Social Media

The beauty of today’s Social Media Market is that the world of Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat are FREE. And as a business owner FREE is GREAT. But, no one ever handed out a Manuel on how to market on social media the right  way. 

Here’s our top 5 points to consider when starting your buisness media presence. 

Headshot created by Kansas City Photographers Pimentel Portfolio LLC.

1. Your face is the face of your new Buisness. Get a professional headshot of yourself. Use your headshot for all your media outlets.  It often amazes us when we do sessions for clients and then go to look at thier media links and never see the images they paid for to be made in action.

2.  First appearances are everything !  Your mom used to tell you that and it’s true! As a representative of your business it’s up to you to display professionalism.  Have a professional Social Media Video made for your business.

3.  Be Neutral, Truth Hurts.  Ok this one is a bit political but hang in there. It’s for your own good. Be careful with your posts to be neutral. Don’t take this personally.  It just allows you to reach more customers who want to hire you.  

4. Don’t be repetitive on your media business posts. You know you hate it when a buddy post his football party pics on Facebook and the same one on Instagram. Switch it up a bit. 

5.  Media presence is the knock on the door in today’s selling world. And quite frankly it’s no longer a “Hi! This is me!” But a “ Hi, this is what I can produce for you !” Be yourself and show your stuff!  

The opportunity to grow yourself comes hand in hand with growing your business base. Network, chat, meet and greet as many people as you can. And remember EVERYONE is a potential client. 

Cheers! 

Pimentel Portfolio LLC is an Award Winning, Published, Kansas City based, creative group that specializes in Portraits and  Creating Marketing Profile Videos. 

They can be contacted and inquiries made at  (913)687-1464. 

Staying Connected to the Creative.

As a Business owner and an entrepreneur there are consistent elements of workflow that must be achieved with every clients Portraits.  As we all know, a successful business must have a consistent product to be achieved repeatedly in order to have what we call “staying power”. 

The rules of workflow for portrait photography, combined with lighting rules and posing rules, all become a language of work in our studio and editing space. And these elements create our ability to our staying power.

Here lies the conundrum; in order to remain in the creative spirit, and to let our ideals flow as a Company, we have to keep igniting our Creative side.  This can be done in many ways.  We find that music, the sister art to the visual arts, is a very impactful way of getting the creative ball rolling.  

 When creating the Artistic piceces it’s easy to just let inspiration flow. And the process becomes more of a release from the workflow of the Portrait side of our business.  These pieces are just the beginning of the creative journey. 

“Symphony of Tides”  

What starts as a simple collage of two Lovers we shot at a lighting seminar, soon became a means of transporting my ideals into a shawdowy dream place; the place I like to think all my artistic ideals live. Using seascapes from a trip to the east coast, a place that signifies freedom for me, and a double-exposed black and white silhouette layered into the image to signify the dualness of two people finding love; all resulted in a true “Symphony of Tides”. 

When I create these images there are no rules, no guidelines, just the pure creative thought-flow that hopefully inspires others to look at things differently.

Kimberly Pimentel is a Photographer and owner of her Kansas City based Portrait Buisness called Pimentel Portfolio LLC.  

Kansas City Business Owner Media Portrait

Portrait of Kansas City Business Owner Dawn Hupp.  Anytime we do a Portrait for someone we learn about them, and we learn from them.  Dawn is a millennial entrepreneur who owns Houndstooth Planning Company in Kansas City.  

Image done by Kimberly Pimentel owner of Pimentel Portfolio LLC, for Dawn Hupp Kansas City Buisness owner . 

As we culled through her portrait gallery, we chatted about images and being women  business owners.  She asked me what my opinion was on the above image being a sureshot Media Portrait.  I told her I loved the image but I saw the ones where she was looking straight at camera as being more approachable and powerful .  She thought about that for a moment and said

'Yeah, but I'm a millinial and we do things differently.'

As business owners it's essential that we do whats good for the process not just the moment.  Be yourself and trust your decisions.  And trust that gut instinct that you have to value yourself and place a high value on your self worth and what you do.   

   When your ready to let us create a powerful media for your platform we are ready! 

Pimentel Portfolio LLC, is a Kansas City  based portrait Photographer Buisness. Contact us at (913) 687-1464

Portrait Session for Kansas City Buisness Owner

  We were fortunate to shoot with Marlene Ollier a Local Kansas City Buisness owner.  Aesthetician and Owner of The Clearest Hydrafacial Skin Care, Marlene called us after being gifted a Portrait session for her birthday. 

We consulted with Marlene and determined that she was interested in shooting in Historical Dearborn Missouri's downtown. 

The client Marlene Ollier and Photographer Kimberly Pimentel owner of Kansas City Buisness PimentelPortfolio LLC 

After we knew the location. We scouted the area.  This step of location scouting is a imperative step in your session workflow. It allows your creative team to develop a pathway of creating.  

Below is a image of the Hotel in Dearborn MO. That remains a iconic landmark in this small town with history that dates back to the Civil War.  

  The owner of the above Hotel and a city matron of the area  both came up to us during the shoot. We chatted about history and Due to our researching the area and knowing some town facts, they shared more knowledge and we were invited to shoot thier again.

This step of researching and communication, is imperative as a professional photographer to let people in the area know who you are and what you are doing. Remain within the public areas of a location. Stay on public sidewalks and be respectful of the area. 

Client Marlene Ollier And Lighting assistant Roxane Henrici enjoy a giggle before the shoot.

We all enjoyed our journey back in time in this quaint Missouri City.  I encourage you to read of this city and learn about it's history.  And thank you Dearborn Missouri for allowing us to capture another moment in your cities history.

Pimentel Portfolio LLC is a Portrait Photography Buisness located in Kansas City Missouri. We can be contacted at (913)687-1464. Our work can be viewed at our website www.pimentelportfolio.com

Cheers!!!

Kansas City Photographer on Entrepreneurship.

    Do what you love in life, and you'll love your life. Entrepreneurs often walk to the best of a different drum.  They live life facing challenges of career moves and often self doubt thier creative skills.

     People will doubt your ideals and question your paths at times. I still cringe when I think of someone telling me  " yeah someday that might be a business for you!", or things like " I've seen you do way better". Comments like these and self doubt can lead some entrepreneurs to kick their dreams to the wayside.  

    But at the end of my day running my Photography Portrait business I know two  definitive things:  

   1. It's my dream  

   2. It's what I love to do

and what it all boils down to in life is "what you create is a biproduct of who you are and your love to create. "

I feel lucky everyday to do what I do.  I meet interesting people learn about them and capture their energy in a portrait session. I couldn't ask for a better medium for my creative inner nature.

Pimentel Portfolio Studio creating a Look for a client.

We all walk through our lives placing markers on events that are meaningful to us.  Journeys we've been on good and trying. We all look back on memories. The thoughts we carry with us become postcards of the mind. 

When your lucky enough to be doing a Profession that you love, you soon realize how the pieces of the puzzle fit so well. When  your engaged in tasks that allow you to create and be in your element the workflow is rewarding instead of daunting.

Tether shooting a session for Male Model Jacoby of Kansas City.

Life does move so fast it's a challenge  to keep up the pace at times. But, I have realized that if you are involved in a career that you Love you will Love your Career.

     Nothing's ever perfect and it all takes work and commitment to the goal. But, heres my list of three pivotal steps, to increasing your life happiness ratio.

   First, find what you love to do. Really think about this. Some of us take decades to find this key. Try on many hats and explore.

  Build a a footpath to your goal. look at others journeys. Learn and research your ideals. Educate yourself as much as possible. The most beautiful of bridges have crumbled when the dreamer forgot to see the river nearby and how it flooded occasionally.

Surround yourself with a Army of associates, family and creatives. You need have to have sounding boards for your visions, in all facets. From the accountant, the banker, the lawyer the spouse the best friend all will become your extension into your new world, and all are necessary.

Entrepreneurs face difficulties daily when starting new ventures. I have made mistakes on my path, have doubted my art, my self. But defeating attitudes breed defeated ideals. I choose these days to wake up each morning and think of ideals and plans to make Pimentel Portfolio bigger and better.  For now it's my creative niche but someday I would love to help others pursue their dreams. Everyone deserves to see a dream come true. For me right now this path is a dream. I can't wait to see where it leads me.

What is Shutterfest?

Remember the night before your birthday as a kid?  How you would lay in bed thinking about all the cool presents  you were going to get the next day? Well, that combined with sleepless nights, more new professional acquaintances you've ever met, and endless photographic shoots kind of explains Shutterfest.

Shutterfest swag

We, from PimentelPortfolio, had never been to a Shutterfest convention before. So, we packed everything we've ever used to shoot, and I mean EVERYTHING, including two Military grade parachutes we use for concept shoots. 

Back of our Outback Subaru 

So we started our  journey to St Louis Union Station; home base of Shutterfest and Photographic Guru Sal Cincotta, a world renowned St. Louis photographer and Papa to the Shutterfest Convention.

On our way discussing our plans

We Arrived and met Dorothy, the queen of all shutter festers. 

We arrived at Union Station in St Louis and saw carloads of other photographers unloading bag after bag of gear. We had arrived!! We were in Utopia!! The sidewalks were already filled with people starting to set up shoots.

Union Station 

Elevator madness

We hustled into the Hotel to check in. I turned around and there stood Editorial and fashion photographer Michael Corsentino. We exchanged salutations and then in another turn I spied New York Fashion Photographer and Author of the book "Photographing Men", Jeff Rojas. At this point we knew this was going to be a great week!

Opening Of the Games

And what a week it was!  We went to classes throughout the day with some of the Industries Top Dogs, people like Craig Lamere, Kerri Jean and Justin Houng. After classes we mingled and then ran back to our room to prep for what the festers call "After hour" shoots.

We even posed for a couple self portraits

. 

The time flew by.  We had arranged a few shoots, concentrating our game on the Male Models, who we really wanted to photograph.

Aspiring actor Ryan Rodriguez, image we captured 

We met some pretty amazing people along the way.

St. Louis Model Jason Williams 

I honed my skills and was surrounded by so many other crazy creative photographers, so many that at several times our radio controlled flashes went completely ghost in the machine from others signals.

Shooting a late night session 

With Model Jason Williams.

We danced the night away to a 90's themed party, running outside to catch some air and boom there was a shoot in session with 100's of photogs all clicking away.

90s 🎉 

Epic shoot set up by the Tonkins amazing photogs

I grabbed the camera I had on hand and started shooting.  It was fun. It was freedom. I wasn't shooting for anybody but myself and I was not bogged down by equipment; just me and my iPhone 📱.

A scene to remember 

We even took a class with the master himself, Sal Cincotta, and it was, as he says, "Epic". We learned how to see greatness and capture it in the Cincotta style. We were humbled and engaged to the coolness of this.

With The Godfather of Shutterfest, Sal Cincotta, in downtown St. Louis.

The next few days we met more cool models, and other Shutterfest legends.

Models mingle with the photogs

Meeting new friends; where's KC?

Larry and us share a laugh

We met a few local models that we will return to St. Louis to shoot.

exchanging ideal with model Kelsey Eckelkamp 

After two days of Shutterfest, the business of the buisness began with Shutterfest Extreme; an intensive with several speakers.

Who taught us Branding and Marketing hints. 

We gained some self confidence 

Man did we gain some confidence. It was intense to be surrounded by other creatives who all spoke the same language. For a kid who's Always felt like an outsider, for once I was inside the loop and it was.... well It was Shutterfest!!!!!!

The Photographer 

We will return next year and we will be attending Lunacy, the spinoff Photo experience to Shutterfest, in Las Vegas.

And.. we can't wait!!! 

Tips for A Smooth as Jazz Portrait Session

Ok, you have consulted with the team of Creatives. You have your date and time of shoot nailed down. Now what?

Here's a few tips to make the day of the shoot easier.

1. Discuss what you want in a image. Make sure you and your creative are on the same page as to what type of images you are wanting.  Sure the creative part will be in the interpretation and execution of the images, but have a open communication on the images and it you have questions call your creatives. 

2.  We will email you the week before your shoot finalizing the time and date as a reminder. Make sure you know what to expect how to get there what time the basics. 

3.  What to wear ? What to wear? Don't panic. First ask for suggestions. We suggest the following, wear solid colors , patterns can create issues and for colors darker color translate better but a pop of color can be greate. Try and bring 3 outfits so we can look discuss and create. If we are creating a set of looks we will suggest a casual look, a buisness casual and perhaps evening look. If you find you really are in need of a look you don't have I suggest having a personal shopper such as a service that Nordtrusms offers. Where a staff will put together a rack of looks for you based on your needs / wants. 

Preparing to feel like star ! Start practicing your autographs you are going to have fun and be treated like Brad Pitt and Anjie. Really in all honesty this will be your day we are sure for this. 

Contact me at 

Kimberly@KimberlyPimentel.com

Instagram at Pimentelportfolio

Website at www.pimentelportolio.com

Studio Shoot for Business Look

Today's Business Portrait Shoot with Kansas City Business Owner Dawn Hupp owner of Houndstooth Planning. 

When you decide to do your Business Portrait you want to make sure you choose a Photographer who can capture your personal style elements.  

Your Business Portrait is a Visual calling  card it's the first thing some of your clients will look at as they reference you.  

Kimberly Pimentel of Pimentel Portfolio shooting client images.

A few key things to do to ensure your shoot is top notch.  Talk with your photographer prior about wardrobe.  We suggest clients bring 3 outfits so we have a few options darker colors works best, but a pop of color here or there is a nice element for the eye. A contemporary piece of jewlery or your favorite watch or professional handwriting tool is always a plus.

Prior to your shoot ladies and gents a day at the nail Salon and a trip to your hair care Pro is a must.  Also get plenty of sleep before your shoot and hydrate and eat well. Photoshoots can be fun and should make you feel like a Star!

Cute ice breaker shot a before the shoot "No Paperazzi Please Pose!"

Contact us at Pimentel Portfolio to discuss your image campaign. 

Email at Kimberly@kimberlypimentel.com

Instagram at

PimentelPortfolio

http://pimentelportfolio.com/