A long while ago, back when digital was just taking off, I went to get a portrait done by a photographer who had opened a shop in one of the malls. I had never had a portrait taken of myself, except at school, and wanted to give one to my parents.
It was a painless experience, and the photog was very knowledgable about what he was doing. What surprised me was he was shooting with a Nikon 900, considered by most to be a consumer camera at the time. And it was his second one, as the first one crapped out within two months. But then he was using it a lot, so he probably reached the expected life of the camera way before anyone normally would. It turned out to be a very good picture, and I was quite pleased with the prices.
Then about two years ago, the museum where I volunteered as the Facilities Director had photos of all the staff done for their web page. The photog placed us in various parts of the museum, so the backgrounds would show off the exhibits as well. Mine was done in the Auto Gallery, which I happened to have spent a lot of time on getting it prepared for it's grand opening, so I felt that was highly appropriate. It took all of five minutes, and came out great.
I highly recomend getting your portrait done, and it doesn't have to be a formal one at that. Now, if I could figure out how to shrink mine down to avatar size...
P F McFarland by
br1078phot, on Flickr
PF