The Art of You in sixty seconds.
Whether your life is beautiful, busy, or brutal, every moment matters & is worth documenting.
At The Portrait Lab, we turn these moments into works of art.
Individuals | Fine Art | Senior Portraits | Maternity | Dancers | Bridals | Engagement | Birthdays | Families | Musicians | Bands | Children | Budoir | Friends | Athletes | Fashion | Models | Pets | Corporate Headshots | Business Groups | Parties | Events | Conferences | Just Because
What to Expect
We offer a truly revolutionary 60-second portrait session that captures you in ways never before possible. Using a wild combination of tech and a decade of creative development, we'll capture over 100 stunning portraits of you where the lighting, backdrops and editing are constantly changing. Honestly, you just have to see it to believe it.
(Once you book your session, you’ll be sent a video walking you through the entire process, giving you all the direction you’ll need to prepare you for your photoshoot.)
How it Works
Do your photoshoot in our studio
Get a link to download ALL of your photos
Show off your portraits forever and ever ✨
For the Good… and Bad.
Bear with us on this one cause it’s a wild thought. Typically, we as humans, only have our pictures taken in the good moments… the birthdays, the holidays, anniversaries, graduations, new jobs, new sport teams, etc.
But we’ve found some of the most poignant, powerful portraits are often taken in the hardest of times, even the worst of times. The loss of a loved one. The loss of a job. Divorce. Financial hardship. Traumatic event. Terminal illness. Utter failure. The worst year ever.
For the same reason we take before/after photos when it comes to weight loss, we think it’s important to document our rock bottom as it represents a new beginning, a new chapter, a reset… a new you. It can only go up from here, right?
We’ve photographed some of the biggest names in the world using the exact same creative process you’ll experience.
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Carrie Underwood
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Chris Stapleton
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Mark Cuban
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Spike Lee
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Lauren Daigle
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Logan Paul
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Ryan Tedder
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Gary Vee
FAQs
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Our founder, Jeremy Cowart, has spent the last 20 years in the Factory in Franklin, TN inventing everything about our process. During your 60-second shoot, we will photograph you with over 8 rotating lighting setups (at our last count). This means, you’ll get flattering beauty light, overhead dramatic light, side rembrandt lighting (both sides), back light moody lighting and more. ALL AT ONCE. This multi-light process is already one of a kind.
To take the chaos a step further, Jeremy has personally created over 200 backdrops (using both AI and his own physical artwork) that will magically sync with the lighting behind you on a $100,000 state-of-the-art 10x11 foot LED wall.
THEN, Jeremy has invented a wicked fast system where all your portraits get edited differently too. Some might be black and white and the rest will have various color overlays, contrast, and tone. Some will feel like they’re straight out of an indie film, some will have a modern day higher contrast feel and everything in between.
To put the icing on the cake, Jeremy uses various glass, prisms and foreground elements to give every portrait their own fingerprint, making any one image literally impossible to reproduce, thus stamping each portrait as it’s own work of art.
We can’t highlight this fact enough: we’re not aware of ANY photo studio on planet earth offering a similar creative process.
So when we combine the art of YOU with OUR world-class creative process, the results are…… extraordinary.
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Yes and no.
We are NOT going to direct you during the shoot itself.
This is a very intentional decision. After directing literally over 2,000 of these photoshoots ourselves, we realized that all the shoots looked too similar because we were directing people the same way.
This isn’t about us. It’s about you.
But don't worry, once you book your portrait, you'll receive a long email from us and a video from our founder Jeremy Cowart, giving you all the tips and inspiration you'll need for your shoot.
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Congrats! That makes you normal and human. We know you’ve likely never done this before, you’re not a model and you feel awkward in front of the camera. Literally everyone says these things when they come in. It's just an awkward thing to stand with a camera pointed at your face. We recommend practicing at home in front of the bathroom mirror with your phone. Not kidding. It helps, trust us.
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For better or worse, yes. You will see literally every photo we take. Even the bad ones. We used to cull every photoshoot and get rid of the images that don't work. (Btw we realized that on average, one qaurter of every shoot is worthy of deleting).
But with the high volume that we'll now be shooting every day, this is simply not possible. So you will receive a gallery of literally everything.
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We are not a headshot studio. We don’t even like the word headshot. There are endless other places around town you can go to get a headshot. BUT. We can still do your headshot in the first few seconds if that’s really what you want. Then we’ll use the rest of your minute to go deeper and get a timeless portrait of you.
A headshot is something you throw up temporarily on Linkedin or for your acting career.
A portrait stands the test of time because it marks this current chapter in your life.
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Yes, we love props and highly encourage it. Most people don’t bring props, which is fine. But we’ve seen some really cool results with good props.
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You can wear whatever you’d like. Remember, these photos are for you to have forever. So we don’t want to sway you one way or another.
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The only thing we'd say regarding makeup is get rid of that shine. Don't look too oily or sweaty. We've realized over the course of thousands of photoshoots that we prefer a matte look with all our flashing lights.
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Yes! We have already photographed a lot of kids for this process and kids are doing great. What ages? It entirely depends on the kid and their willingness to do it. But in theory, ages 3 and up are workable from what we’ve experienced so far. Just keep in mind, we're on a timer. 60 seconds is all we've got to work with.
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The Portrait Lab is located in The Factory in Franklin, TN. We’ll send you very specific instructions once you book a portrait.
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Absolutely not. These shoots are for all ages, body shapes and sizes, old and young. All are welcome. If you’re a model however, these are great shoots for your modeling portfolio.
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You can use them however you’d like with a few commercial use exceptions. Book covers or album covers or general advertising would be negotiated separately. But please use them for headshots, social media, general publicity and whatever else you’d like.
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Up to 8 people max. The LED screen can’t fit more people than that.
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Yes, we do this often. In fact, it's some of our favorite shoots. Just email us at hello @ the portrait lab .co to let us know the dates you're thinking and how many are in your party.
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We frequently have people just not show up to their appointments. This is incredibly inconsiderate because sometimes we'll stay in the studio for a long time, only for the person to not show up. We have lives too. Be respectful. If you have to cancel or reschedule, simply do so with the click of one button in your confirmation email. It's free. : )
Testimonials
“The Portrait Lab team are the ultimate creative professionals. They’re experimental and decisive. They’re innovative and relatable. They worked quickly yet in a very conversational way. In the portrait session, my photographer made me feel like I mattered without wasting any time.”
— Rob Vischer
"One of the most introspective and cathartic experiences I've ever been surprised by. I anticipated nerves because I come from the preference of standing in front of a firing squad over the camera. What I did not anticipate was seeing myself in a proverbial different light while he utilized his command of light. The process was refreshingly relaxed and my photographer was engaging and showed authentic interest in who I am and why I was there. Seeing yourself as someone else sees you, even just for a moment, is revitalizing. The pictures are beautiful and by the end of your time you feel like you actually belong in them.”
— Katie Beth Gill
“Having the experience of working with a photographer that has positively impacted my life over the years was a surreal moment in my life. This session represents all the challenges life has thrown at me over the years and refocusing my attention to the positive aspects of my life.”
— Jared Hernandez
“This process is freakin' GENIUS. My shoot was... insane. Amazing. Surreal. Ethereal. Brilliant. I can't come up with the words to fully describe my photoshoot.”
- Meghan