Why good Headshots matter and how can you get them?
Why Headshots matter:
“With the recent Pandemic changing the way we do business with far less in-person face to face meetings, less travel, more video calls having a good Headshot that makes a solid first impression is increasingly important.”
The word “Headshot” alone is enough to strike fear into the seasoned corporate warrior - after all it does sound all rather violent. In reality there’s an increasing need to have decent quality headshots that serve as your avatars be that on company websites, social media and networking platforms, on print materials or perhaps with press releases or in the media. With the recent Pandemic changing the way we do business with far less in-person face to face meetings, less travel, more video calls having a good Headshot that makes a solid first impression is increasingly important.
Nathan is an author from New Zealand - he uses his headshot on book covers
Control is Key:
The beauty of the headshot is that you, the person sitting, can control all aspects of - that means you can choose your outfit, the type of lighting, the vibe that the photo gives off and of course you have time to get it right. Actors are often cast for roles based on headshots - so it absolutely makes sense to have photos that are engaging.
Irrational fear of Photos
“Let’s be honest; most of us don’t like having out photograph taken ”
Let’s be honest; most of us don’t like having out photograph taken - if we stop to think why then we might find some clues: often in our childhoods parents or relatives would involuntarily shove cameras in our faces - the results of these well-intentioned yet also quality-compromised moments were usually not particularly pleasing to us, of course grandmothers would coo over the results but these weren’t how we saw ourselves. For most of us our first encounter with professional photography would have been with school photos - the battery farm of photography where there was limited time and very little interaction between photographer and subject. The mobile phone has changed some of this - we now take more photos more often and indeed some of us have learned through repeated practice what our best angles are when taking a selfie - yet sadly this knowledge doesn’t help much with headshots except perhaps if we know which our “better side” is. The wonder of the human face is that it is asymmetrical - the two sides of our faces are quite different and so we are faced with a choice when it comes to headshots - which side we have facing the camera. This is where working with an experienced professional photographer is useful - the pro photographer is used to working with people, s/he can help us feel at ease and can also objectively tell us what kind of pose and positioning works best for the given application - note that I say works best rather than “that they like” - because like is not really a useful metric. Fulfilling a brief is the goal.
Cristina is a Finance Director in FinTech - a business that is very much online
What’s the brief?
Before we start with anything creative (and I include taking headshots in that) it pays to set out a vision of what is to be achieved - that comes in the form of a brief which has varying degrees of information on depending on what’s needed - it may be something as simple as: Business professional headshots, light background or it may go into detail about things like black and white, the exact shade of background, orientation, pixel size long edge and output format. Some people like to talk about some adjectives they want to transmit and for a photographer these are very useful. Headshots are a creative process and if you’re not a professional model it’s wise to take a little more time to work with your photographer, relax in front of camera and get the results you need.
How long does it take?
“it’s wiser to set aside an hour to work with a photographer ”
For a professional model who is used to working on camera in many cases 10-15 minutes shooting are enough - for us mere mortals who aren’t used to taking directions on camera who may get tense and start to overthink it’s wiser to set aside an hour to work with a photographer - In my experience it often takes up to 40 minutes for a subject to fully relax in front of camera so that we can get the kind of results that work in a professional setting.
What lighting is best?
As a photographer I will always suggest natural light as a first choice because it doesn’t look too forced - of course I do have a set of mobile lights that I use for certain types of shoot but that does somewhat limit the locations that we can use to shoot headshots. It’s worth noting that different cultures have different expectations for headshots so it’s worth checking out what others are doing and discussing how those types of images were created with your photographer.
Mariam is a Lawyer with the European Business Association in Georgia
“Good professionals usually have a list of great locations and know when the light will be good - listen to their advice to get the best possible results.”
How much is this all going to cost?
As with any market you’ll find a variety of offers - not all of them equal. As usual you will find that you get what you pay for - a true professional will not only be happy to talk with you and help you get ready but will also be doing the post-processing of the image to the required specifications - so that rush job 15 minutes for $40 won’t seem such a good idea when you get substandard results and need to repeat the process - as a run of thumb I’d suggest a budget of at least $150 to get absolutely perfect headshots taken in a consultative shoot that gives you time to review the results and shoot and re-shoot until you get the results you need. If you want to do a few costume and location changes then book a couple of hours with a professional photographer and make an experience out of it. Good professionals usually have a list of great locations and know when the light will be good - listen to their advice to get the best possible results.
What can Headshots do for me?
Good professional Headshots will bring instant attention - I’ve seen clients get many hundreds of likes when they share their new headshots on social media, this in turn brings with it an increase in opportunities. Lawyers winning new clients, musicians receiving new bookings, some people even get job offers after sharing their headshots. Sounds crazy? Maybe - but let’s just say that Facebook and Instagram are programmed to recognise and boost posts wither some people good quality headshots serve as a self-esteem boost, on more than one occasion I’ve heard clients say that they’d never seen themselves like this - and so of course self-empowerment is a beautiful thing for all of us - hmmm, maybe I need some new headshots?
What location is best?
The most suitable location for shooting headshots depends very much on your brief - however in my experience a casual setting with more interesting backgrounds or better yet a variety of potential backgrounds is a good idea so that you have a variety of type of shot to choose from.
What to do with headshots when you’ve go them?
There’s a huge temptation to share all the images you have at once - that would be a mistake - it’s far better to choose one or two images that you like to update social profiles with, then as time progresses you can swap your photos out with other shots you like thus prolonging the positive effects of your great new headshots.
Vazha is a computer programmer in Germany, his headshot helped him get a better job