Here are 10 great tips to help get ready for your headshot. Follow these steps and your session will be a breeze.
1. Relax and have fun
Getting your picture taken should be fun. Choose a photographer you connect with and has amazing work. You should feel amazing during and after your session, and the images should also look amazing. Let the photographer guide you and just have fun being a model! Great photographers genuinely love people, they love making their clients happy, and they love making them feel and look spectacular. This is what you should expect, so just relax and have fun!
2. Get enough rest
Make sure you get a good night sleep before your session. Try not to stay up too late. This way you will have that nice well rested look. If you’re going to take a nap, give yourself some time to fully wake up before your session.
3. Avoid alcohol
I love a nice glass of Eagle Rare whiskey or a craft Porter occasionally, but the night before your session it's best to avoid alcohol. Alcohol may affect your skin tone and also create an unrested look. You want to look well rested and ready to take on anything.
4. Have a lite meal
Have a lite meal or snack before your session (check your teeth!). Fasting is also okay, but never show up to a session starving. Also avoid heavy or large meals before the session. Hunger and satiety have a massive effect on our mood, engagement, comfort, motivation, and sometimes our appearance. It’s best to avoid these issues all together.
5. What to wear
What you wear is important but don’t get stressed out; I’m here to help! Solid colors work great for headshots. A nice blouse or suit. Feel free to have several outfits available, but make sure to let your photographer know you want to do this. Keep it simple, nice, and neutral. If you choose patterns, make sure there is nothing distracting like logos, images, or complexity. These will distract from the most important thing; you! Your clothes should be ironed and or dry cleaned. For group portraits you don’t have to match outfits, but outfits and shoes should have a matching vibe (elegant, professional, casual etc.) and if you’re a company or team with different uniform styles, make sure everyone is wearing the same uniform for the group portrait.
6. Makeup
The natural-look works great with headshots. Unless you’re specifically avoiding makeup all together, go for full and even coverage. But it’s up to you how you want it. A great photographer will capture your best look no matter what. Make sure your makeup is how you want it before the session. Bring anything you think you will need to maintain the look you’re going for. Your photographer should offer full post-production retouching for headshots. Make sure this is the case, and ask them what they do for full retouching. Your makeup will look even more amazing on the images you selected for retouching, so don’t stress about it!
7. Hair style
Choose a hair style that conveys the attitude and perception you want people to have of you. Classic, professional, and elegant hairstyles are always a great choice for a headshot. If you’re going to try out a new hairstyle, haircut, or any new change to your appearance, do it a week before the shoot and not the day before or the same day. This gives any newly exposed skin to get some color for guys, and for women it gives you time to learn your new hairstyle so you can have 100% confidence on the day of the shoot. It’s always good to give yourself time to settle into a new look, and that confidence will show in your images.
8. Facial expression
A recent Forbes article regarding LinkedIn profile images suggests your face should be 60-80% of your headshot. I agree with this. It’s important for people to connect with you in your headshot. Your face is what people want to see, and if you add too much of your body in the image, your face is much harder to see as it shrinks. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner often has a nice tight headshot, and you can easily see a warm and charming expression on his face. This is a great expression, and the expression of someone that I would want to work for, or hire. Your photographer should be pulling these expressions out of you. This is what you’re truly paying for. If you don’t want to smile, then don’t force it, but if you feel one coming, embrace it. You shouldn’t feel forced with your expression. An excellent photographer absolutely loves to connect with people. They love to capture the absolute best things about you in an image. And then they get to share it with you! It really is quite an amazing privilege to be able to do this for others.
9. Posing guide
Trust your photographer. They should know exactly how to pose you to get a great shot. Your photographer will coach you and guide you so that you get amazing images. Your photographer should understand what vectors suit your body perfectly, and give you the direction to achieve this. Look at any amazing photographer’s headshot portfolio and know that each image was posed carefully to achieve that look.
10. Share your appreciation
If your photographer did an amazing job, let everyone know. Make sure to give them a 5-star review on Google or their platform of choice. Doing this will mean the world to them, and the best compliment you could ever give. This is very important to them. If you have any concerns always communicate them to your photographer. Give them a chance to address them and earn a 5-star review. Great photographers will always want this, and it’s how they became great.
These are my top tips to nailing your headshot. Most importantly, just enjoy yourself and have fun connecting with your photographer!
