Meet Justin
The other 90% is what’s happening on your face — and that’s what I spent three years training to coach out of you. This is the long version of how I got here, and why every session works the way it does.
How I Got Here
I was a mechanic. For almost a decade. I built and modified cars — Volvos, mostly. I went to community college, then to engineering school, then dropped out two years in when my wife took a research position at the University of Illinois and I followed her there. I tried to transfer in. They didn’t accept me. Twice.
Then COVID hit. Everything shut down. I was sitting at home, in a town I didn’t know, with a half-finished degree and no real plan. I’d been taking pictures since I was a kid — landscapes, my cat, that kind of thing.
During lockdown I started watching photography videos. A lot of them. I bought a proper camera with a $5,000 distribution from a small air filter business I was running on the side. I started trying to figure it out on my own. It didn’t go well.
Then my wife said something I needed to hear: “Just go to Peter Hurley’s intensive in New York. Learn directly from the source.”
The Turning Point
I spent three days in Peter Hurley’s studio in NYC. He taught me lighting, posing, the technical stuff — but the real lesson was the one I never expected. The most important thing in a headshot isn’t the camera. It isn’t the lighting. It’s the expression. The face. The micro-adjustments most people have never thought about consciously.
I went home and applied what I’d learned. Then kept going back. Over three years of continued training with Peter, I earned Mentor status in the Headshot Crew — a designation given to the photographers Peter trusts to teach his method to others.
Along the way, I also studied under Pete Coco, Trevor Walker, Joel Grimes, and others — different angles on the same craft. But the throughline was always the same: the camera does about 10% of the work. The other 90% is coaching the human in front of it.
If you have bad lighting but a great expression, the photo still works. If you have perfect lighting and a frown, it doesn’t. That’s the whole game.
Training & Credentials
Peter Hurley Headshot Crew Mentor
Three years of direct training under Peter Hurley in New York City. Mentor status is awarded to photographers Peter trusts to teach his method to others.
Continued Education
Ongoing studies under Pete Coco, Trevor Walker, Joel Grimes, and other senior headshot photographers. Photography classes in high school and ongoing technical refinement since 2019.
5,000+ Headshots Delivered
Since 2019. Across individuals, corporate teams, actors, and people who walked in convinced they weren’t photogenic. Especially those people.
In-Home Studio, Geneva IL
A real space — not a commercial rental. Calm pace. Zero pressure. The single most-mentioned thing in my reviews.
Direction & Expression Coaching
The thing most photographers skip. You don’t need to know how to pose, what to do with your face, or how to look confident on demand. That’s the work I do — and it’s coachable for anyone.
Honest, Straightforward Pricing
Pricing is on the page. The session price is the session price. At the gallery review you’ll have the option to add more images if you want them — most clients do once they see the work — but nothing past the session price is required.
Off Camera
I’m not the high-energy, bubbly photographer who fills the room with chatter. I’m the calm one. Quiet, often. Calculated. A little stoic. My reviews don’t say “fun and bubbly” — they say “made me feel completely at ease.” That’s not a marketing line. That’s genuinely how the room feels because that’s how I am.
When I’m not in the studio, I’m mountain biking, playing video games with my wife (we’ve been gaming together since we met — it’s a big part of our marriage), traveling with our small kids, or going to amusement parks to ride roller coasters. I used to wrench on Volvos and run a car club; now I drive an EV and refuse to touch a car engine. Life moves.
What I bring into every session is whoever I actually am that day. No performance. No fake energy. If you’re an introvert who hates having your picture taken, that’s probably going to work in your favor — because so am I, and I figured out how to do this anyway.
Why This Work
You’ve seen them. Bottom-of-the-barrel team photos with bad lighting, everyone in the same pose, same forced smile, no one looking confident or professional. The kind of photos that make a real company look smaller and less serious than it is.
That’s what I’m working against. Every individual session, every team booking, every retainer program — the goal is to make people look as confident, approachable, and professional as they actually are. Not the cheesy version. The real version. The one their colleagues, clients, and casting directors should be seeing.
Questions People Ask
How long have you been doing this?
Since 2019. I ramped up during COVID, trained directly under Peter Hurley over three years, and have delivered 5,000+ headshots since then.
Are you really a Mentor in the Headshot Crew?
Yes. The Headshot Crew is Peter Hurley’s community of headshot photographers. Mentor status is given to those Peter trusts to teach the method to others.
Where did you go to school for photography?
I didn’t — not formally. I took photography classes in high school, but my real training is three years under Peter Hurley plus continued studies under Pete Coco, Trevor Walker, Joel Grimes, and others. I went to school for mechanical engineering before COVID redirected my whole life.
What did you do before photography?
I was a mechanic for almost a decade. I built and modified cars — Volvos mostly — and ran a car club in my twenties. I ran an air filter business leading up to and during COVID and used my first distribution to buy a true pro camera to replace my cheap digital camera. That’s how this whole thing started.
Do you only photograph in Geneva?
The studio is in Geneva, IL. Individual sessions happen there. Corporate sessions and event work happen on-location across Chicago, the suburbs, NW Indiana, Madison/Milwaukee, and Central Illinois.
Why headshots specifically? Why not weddings or families?
I tried other portrait work early on. It wasn’t for me. Headshots are a specific craft — direction, coaching, expression — and I’m built for that work in a way I’m not built for high-energy family sessions. Knowing what you’re not good at is half the job.
The studio is in Geneva, IL. Most sessions get booked 1-2 weeks out for individuals, 3-4 weeks for corporate. Pick a path and let’s talk.
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