Vail Fucci - The Headshot Doctor

10/30/2024

Tonight is a night that I will remember FOREVER! It was the last class in a 3 week series I taught for Arlington Community Education. Going into the evening it was already really bitter sweet. I was proud of all my students and how much they had learned in such a short period of time, but I was going to miss them just the same. I felt like we had just barely scratched the surface of what they could learn.

With 5 minutes left in the class, Armen asked if he could deliver some remarks. I said sure Armen. Armen was an English teacher at BB&N for many years. He said even though it was a class that only met 3 times, today is something of a graduation and so there is much to celebrate so he brought out cookies for everyone. And then he said he had written an ode that he wanted to share with everyone.

He pulled out this framed piece of poetry and read it aloud to the class. I was so moved. I thought about grabbing my phone to record it, but I just wanted to be present in the moment. To have someone write something like this about my teaching after only a few lessons was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Many asked when my next class would be. I told them I wasn't sure, but to gauge interest I asked that if they were interested in another class with me if they could raise their hand. EVERY STUDENT IN THE ROOM RAISED THEIR HAND! So even though I am crazy busy I assured them I would find some way to continue teaching them. I can't wait to see what they produce!

Thank you so much Arlington Community Ed for reaching out and asking me to be a teacher. It was wildly rewarding! And thank you so much Armen, this ode is going up on the wall in my studio!

10/23/2024

OH HOW I LOVE TEACHING PHOTOGRAPHY! I seriously can’t get the smile off my face! This evening I taught my 2nd digital photography class for Arlington Community Education. Today’s lesson covered white balance, ISO, RAW vs JPG, shutter priority mode, aperture priority mode, and when you’d want to use one vs the other. Tonight I heard so many of them exclaim, “Oh, THIS is why I bought a nice camera, to take photos like THIS!” It is so so so so so rewarding! This is such a wonderful and engaged group. They ask great questions and are so patient as I go around and help each student make sure they have the right settings. I am honestly sad that next week is the last class in this series.

ACE has asked me to teach more courses during their next session. I am not sure if my schedule will permit that this winter but hopefully I can make it work again in the spring. Thanks to my students for filling my heart with so much joy tonight!

10/11/2024

Thanks for the vote of confidence Chat GPT!

09/11/2024

When I decided to pivot from wedding photography to headshot photography one of the first groups I joined on facebook was Headshot Photography Mentorship with Rafal Wegiel. I was so impressed with his incredible style of work and openness to share how he was achieving these works of art. The second you see a Rafal Wegiel headshot you know he did it!

So needless to say I was overjoyed when I received a facebook message from Rafal asking if I'd like to be a guest on his podcast. We covered so many topics, like how to get into headshots, the pandemic, and the impact of AI on the industry and us personally with our workflows. One of my favorite parts was when we talked about connecting with our clients. Here's a link to the podcast. The "how to connect with your clients" part starts at 33 minutes in, I hope you find it useful. https://www.youtube.com/live/zE5PPxhzNwU?si=8nZVCXmEnquj69tb&t=1981

Rafal, I am so honored to have been on your podcast. Thank you for all you give the headshot community!

Interview with Vail Fucci►https://vailfucci.com►https://education.vailfucci.com►https://www.facebook.com/VailFucciPhotography►https://www.instagram.com/vailf...

08/05/2024

Hi All, Want to learn how to showcase your talents to potential clients? BTS (behind the scenes) and testimonial videos are one of the best ways to do that. Monday, August 5, at 1pm ET I will be doing a free talk with B&H on BTS videos with live Q&A session afterwards. Here's the link if you want to watch. https://www.youtube.com/live/lO8SKov0TaQ?si=zYNN9PlbuPvCEF_c
It will be recorded too and can be access afterwards at the same link. Hope to see you there!

Everyone loves to take a peek behind the curtain to see how things are done. Photographer Vail Fucci will teach you how to easily create high-quality and eng...

07/22/2024

One week from today I will be giving my first B&H Event Space talk for B&H Photo Video Pro Audio. I am BEYOND excited for this opportunity! I'll be talking about ways you can make more money while working fewer hours so you can have a better work-life balance.

This FREE presentation will be available to watch live here: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/eventDetails.jsp/id/4710
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you could help support me on my journey by clicking on the link and registering for the class. Please share the link with your friends too! The more people that watch the talk the better! Thank you so much!

07/09/2024

So VERY excited! I just opened my Kajabi account today! For years I've been wanting to make online courses to help other photographers on their own photography journey. This is the summer I am finally going to make it happen. Stay tuned for what I hope will be some super helpful content!

07/05/2024

Vanessa Joy has been someone I have looked up to in the photography industry for over 10 years. I can thankfully say that over that time she has become not just an inspiration, but a mentor, and even a friend. Today when I was looking at 17hats live events page and saw my class with B&H Photo Video Pro Audio right above Vanessa Joy Photography's Croatia Workshop, it was QUITE the moment for me. I thought back to the moment when I first met her and Rob Adams at CreativeLive in 2012, me totally fan girling out! And now I have a class featured right next to hers! I can't believe how far I have come!

In my class, A Profitable Pivot, I will be going over a variety of tools that have made it possible for me to run a profitable headshot and event photography business while still taking care of my family of 4, maintaining a good work-life balance. 17hats plays a big part in that and I will talk about it during my talk. You can register for my free class that will be on B&H Event Space here https://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/eventDetails.jsp/id/4710

06/27/2024

I'm excited to share with everyone my second class for B&H Photo Video Pro Audio's B&H Event Space that will take place on August 5, at 1pm ET, BTS Reels: Gain Clients and Followers with Behind The Scenes Videos.

Everyone loves to take a peek behind the curtain to see how things are done. In this class, you will learn how to easily create high-quality and engaging behind-the-scenes reels for your social media, website, and clients. Using smartphones, the cameras you already own, and sports and action video cameras like the DJI Osmo Pocket 3, you'll master the art of capturing captivating content. We will also cover the use of gimbals, tripods, basic hand-held techniques, time-lapse, motion-lapse, and slow-motion to enhance your videos.

Click on the link below to register for this free online class.

BTS Reels: Gain Clients and Followers with Behind The Scenes Videos

06/25/2024

For years I have seen stunning portraits come up in my LinkedIn feed taken by Jon Meadows of High-End Headshots. This past week I had the opportunity to go down to DC to experience one of his sessions for myself.

I particularly wanted one of his dramatic super closeups that always stop me in my tracks, or rather, my scroll. I was astonished how quickly Jon was able to get these shots out of me. At the end of the session, picking which images to buy was both easy and hard at the same time. Jon made the process of narrowing down the shots really easy, but at the end of the day letting any of my favorites go was soooo tough! These 3 ended up being my favorites. I am so thrilled with how they came out. The ones on black make me feel confident and beautiful every time I look at them. The one on pink perfectly captures the personality I am known for. Jon miraculously got me to have my real giant ear to ear smile without me scrunching up my face too much.

In addition to getting the images of my dreams, seeing how Jon gets these images right in camera was a priceless experience for me.

Thank you Jon for these truly high-end headshots!

06/20/2024

I am beyond excited to share with you that on July 29th, at 1pm ET, I will be doing my first of a series of presentations for B&H Photo Video Pro Audio’s B&H Event Space. Teaching a class for B&H is something I have dreamt about for years. I watched so many of my Idols present there: Vanessa Joy, Joe McNally, Rick Friedman, Peter Hurley, Scott Robert Lim, Will Cadena and many many more! To now be amongst them is beyond an honor. I am so excited to get to pay it forward and teach new generations of photographers in this class how they can be a full-time photographer and still maintain a good work-life balance and actually make good money doing it!

I need to say a giant thank you to Abe Curland. I have been an affiliate for B&H for some time now and he has been an incredible person to work with. When I finally got to meet him in person at WPPI 2024 he asked me what I love to do. I said other than shoot photography, I love to teach photography! He said “oh I will have to introduce you to our education team.” The very next morning while I was shooting at the WPPI step and repeat for Spot My Photos he had a member of their education team watching me. Stephanie then tapped me on my shoulder and gave me her card and said, let’s get in touch. It was all I could do to keep my composure!

A second GIANT thank you goes out to Ryan Jacobs of SpotMyPhotos. Time and time again SpotMyPhotos results in me doing cooler and cooler things. I am now doing things I never could have even dreamed of being possible because of this amazing platform you have created. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and making a product that has truly launched my business to incredible heights.

Be sure to register for the class and watch it live if you can!

Making A Profitable Pivot: Switching Genres So You Can Make More Money, Work Fewer Hours, and Have a Better Work-Life Balance

05/17/2024

What a birthday week it has been!! First I got to shoot the 150 most influential Bostonians for Boston Magazine, then Chronicle on WCVB Channel 5 featured me in a piece on TV, then I turned 43 this weekend and had a lovely birthday and Mother’s Day. Then for the absolute icing on the cake within the last 24 hours I have had Vanessa Joy, Rick Friedman, Will Cadena, and Peter Hurley call ME. These 4 people are without question some of the best photographers and well known photography educators on the planet. This evening I thought back on the days I would watch them in awe on platforms like Creative Live, Fstoppers, SLR lounge, Portrait Masters, AdoramaTV, and B&H. To know that they are people I can now count on not only as mentors but also as friends truly blows my mind. I am so thankful to them and to so many others for helping me get to where I am today and where I will be in the future. Those 4 are only a fraction of the photographers who have had a huge impact on me that I also want to give a shout out to. Kevin Thai Jon Meadows Vanessa Burns Gary Hughes Shawn Black Jenn Alton Leia Onofrey Kenna Klosterman Elena Coyne Duane Furlong Ryan Jacobs Abe Curland Sue Bryce Photographer Joe McNally and so so so many others on Headshot Crew. My success is also your success. When we support one another we make the industry as a whole better.

I am so thankful for those who have helped me and am so glad I get to help and support others on their photography journey as well. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think my photography journey would result in so many incredible experiences when I was first starting my business in 2010. So to those out there reading this, dream big! With a lot of hard work, support, and a bit of luck, those dreams may become a reality for you too!