An Indie Musician's Guide to World Domination

…or at least help you convince your friends you have them.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a bit of fun creating over-the-top profile pictures for the guys in my band and a few other people. More than anything, it’s been an excuse to play with Photoshop and Lightroom and to try my hand at creating (or recreating) specific effects. In case you haven’t seen them, here are a few of the ones I’ve done thus far:

I’ve received so many comments and personal requests that I’ve decided to open my experiment up to the public – which means YOU. If you’d like a Brian Buchanan Original profile photo, here’s what I need from you:

1. A handful of photos of you, dressed however you like, preferably against a reasonably uniform background. If you want fireballs shooting out of your hands, think about that when you’re taking the picture – I can’t change your pose after the fact. Also, remember: this is supposed to be dramatic and over-the-top, so feel free to put on some weird makeup or an unusual outfit – I promise I won’t laugh at you. If you send me a shot of yourself sitting on the couch in a ratty sweatsuit, my options are somewhat limited. (On the other hand, if your dream is to get a crazy bondage-queen photo mocked up, you should probably just do it yourself – my intention here is to create profile photos your friends AND FAMILY can enjoy). 

Remember, the higher the resolution of your photos the better, and decent lighting makes my life a whole lot easier. If there’s a specific background you’d like, send it along.
2. PATIENCE. I have a feeling I’ll be doing a fair number of these things, and they really do take time. This also isn’t my job, so a lot of other things will take priority over this little side-project (like, say… writing music and playing shows). I will get it done, but it may take a while, so anyone with difficulty delaying gratification please don’t bother applying. I won’t answer emails pestering me about getting it done.
3. $45. Paid to my PayPal account preferrably. Most of the shots I’ve made so far took me three or more hours of tinkering, so I figure $15 an hour is pretty reasonable for this kind of custom photo manipulation and graphic design. I’ll more than likely spend more than three hours on your photo, but I’m not going to charge you for my OCD tendencies. Again, I’m working this in around all the other stuff that keeps me busy, so I won’t be held to a specific timeline: it’ll get done as soon as time allows. If, for some reason, you ABSOLUTELY NEED IT DONE RIGHT NOW and can’t wait for me to fit you into the queue, it’s possible I can expedite the process but it’ll cost ya extra, mmmmkay?

Here’s my disclaimer: I retain the right to make decisions about the final product, and if I really just can’t make your suggestions work, I may go off in a totally different direction. This is creative work, and I’m not going to bang my head against a wall for hours just because you REALLY want to ride a broomstick through the Black Forest or something. I will provide you with something cool, and I have confidence that you’ll like it, but some ideas are more difficult than others, and without a specific photo shoot some concepts just aren’t possible. At least, not for $45.

All interested parties contact me at brian@enterthehaggis.com and we’ll work out the gory details.