Help Choosing The Right Headshot Style
There are more choices to make about your image than you might think. Should you smile? What should you wear? Should you be inside or outside? Should you shoot in front of a back drop or in your workplace?
What is your headshot for?
"Let's be clear: In the big picture of ultimate reality, what you wear neither defines who you are as a person nor determines your value as a human being," says Darlene Price, president of Well Said, Inc., and author of "Well Said! Presentations and Conversations That Get Results." "However, in the temporal realm of mere mortals, fair or not, people judge us by the way we look and that includes the way we dress."
- Business Insider: Here’s How Your Clothing Affects Your Success
You should be ready to communicate the following to the photographer:
- What is your intention for your headshot? Where will you use
it? Online? In print? Will it be to represent you for business, to family or potential dates? Be ready to tell your photographer who your intended audience is and how you will be sharing the image with them. - What do you want people to think about you when making their first impression? Do you want them to know you are powerful, trustworthy, professional? (business) Are you fun, daring, family oriented? (dating) Do you need just a clear representation of your looks? (Theatrical)
- If for business, be prepared to tell your photographer a little about what you do and about your company. The company’s mission and brand can help the photographer guide you through picking your outfit and the right style of headshot.
- Be ready to discuss outfits and color schemes, so Vadim can help you choose the right background.
Women should be ready to talk about the right makeup with a makeup artist to match the image they want to project. If they are doing their own makeup, they should be aware of how different styles of makeup can change people’s perceptions and impressions of a person: business makeup. These are not glamour shots, and sometimes less is more - especially for actor’s headshot makeup, where you want natural makeup, so casting agents and their crew can envision you in various roles. The wrong makeup can make it look like you would only fit one type of role. Here is a good article about makeup for headshots and what to avoid.
What kind of headshot style suits you?
Answering the questions above can help Vadim understand which choices will be best in determining which style would best achieve your goals. Institutions like financial advisers may want to take a more traditional approach at desks or in a studio, giving the appearance of stability and having been around for a long time. A technology start up may want to go with a more modern approach, capturing their staff outside in exciting color schemes to give an air of innovation and creativity. The style is ultimately a matter of personal preference, but being prepared to tell the photographer about what you want to achieve will lead to capturing the perfect image to project the right representation to others.
