Tips for Business Headshot Preparation: A Photographer's Perspective
Introduction
As a professional headshot photographer, I understand the significance of a professional headshot in today's business world. High-quality headshots can leave a lasting impression and elevate both your professional and personal brands. In this article, I'll be sharing valuable tips from a photographer's perspective to help you prepare for your corporate headshots, business portraits, or professional headshots, ensuring exceptional results that align with your goals and expectations.
The Importance of Corporate Headshots
Corporate headshots, or business headshots as they are often called, hold immense value as they serve as a visual representation of your professional identity. They enhance your credibility, approachability, and expertise, making them indispensable for networking, job applications, corporate branding and marketing, and personal branding. By investing in high-quality headshots, you're taking a crucial step toward building a strong professional image.
Understanding Your Goals and Expectations
Before we proceed with the headshot session, it's vital for me as your headshot photographer to understand your specific goals and expectations. This helps me tailor the session to your preferences, taking into account any prior experiences you may have had. We will discuss the overall look and feel, and the message you would like to convey, whether it's a more casual and approachable vibe or something a bit more formal. By aligning our visions, we can create exceptional headshots that authentically represent your professional persona.
Preparing for the Photoshoot
To ensure you look and feel your best in the headshots, there are a few steps you can take beforehand. I offer my clients a comprehensive preparation guide, where I cover everything from clothing and jewelry to hair styling and makeup. Here are a few brief thoughts on preparing for your headshot session:
Pay attention to grooming and appearance. I recommend scheduling a haircut or trim at least one week prior to your session, ensuring a fresh and polished look. For gentlemen, consider shaving or grooming facial hair neatly. My advice is to shave the night before your session so as to avoid razor burn. Ladies, please opt for natural and professional-looking makeup that enhances your features without overpowering them.
In addition, please try on the clothing that you intend to wear for your headshot session at least a few days prior. We want to make sure that everything fits appropriately. If they don’t fit as you expect, at least you have a bit of time to find other options.
Please get ample rest. This should go without saying, but we live in an extraordinarily busy world, and we have lots of responsibilities and time commitments. It is vital that you get proper rest since you don’t want to appear exhausted, drawn, or disinterested in your photos.
These small details make a significant impact on the final outcome.
Your Location or My Studio
As a photographer, I understand the importance of selecting the right location for your corporate headshots. While I am always happy to have clients come to my headshot studio in Lancaster Pennsylvania, sometimes it makes more sense for me to come to you.
Traveling to your office or off-site conference location alleviates impediments to productivity. Since I bring all of the necessary equipment to make incredible headshots of your team, the process can be quite simple. I only require a few outlets and reasonable space to work in.
If you have opted to come to my studio in Lancaster PA, please plan accordingly. I do my best to point out landmarks, parking lots, and convenient methods of travel. However, please don't assume that traffic will cooperate, or that you know exactly where you are going. Please refer to the preparation guide as well as any correspondence to confirm the address and other pertinent details.
Collaborating with Me, Your Headshot Photographer
Clear and effective communication between us is crucial for a successful headshot session. Please share your vision, goals, objections, and any specific preferences you have in mind. By understanding your objectives, I can adjust my approach and provide valuable guidance throughout the process. I encourage you to review my headshot images on my website to get a sense of my style and ensure that it resonates with your vision.
I welcome your questions and look forward to engaging with you either via email, telephone, Zoom consultation, or via the chat widget on my website.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if I can be of assistance.
Posing and Body Language Guidance
During the session, I will guide you on posing and body language, and also direct you into incredible expressions. I'll provide tips for achieving natural and confident postures that reflect your professional personality. I pride myself on creating a relaxed and comfortable environment, allowing your true self to shine through. The basic tenets of my work are confidence, approachability, competence, and trust. We will spend the majority of our time focusing on those elements, as they are paramount in headshot photography.
Ensuring a Successful Photoshoot Experience
To get the most out of your headshot session, it's essential to feel at ease and be yourself. I appreciate that you are engaging in an activity that can feel unnatural. Take solace in the fact that I recognize that and work diligently to alleviate that burden. I prefer to create a dynamic environment filled with music, laughter, and enough guidance to help you achieve your headshot goals.
One of the most overlooked dimensions of professional photography is the experience. Many people who require professional headshots may be apprehensive, lack confidence, or simply don’t see themselves as everyone else does. In these cases, a great portrait is much more than a picture.
Professional photographers, particularly headshot specialists like myself, offer a premium experience. Everything we say and do is designed to make you feel comfortable, relaxed, and more confident. Personally, I offer nuanced coaching and direction so that your images demonstrate your professionalism and authenticity while remaining true to your personality.
I encourage you to have a bit of faith and trust the process. This process is about capturing professional pictures that truly represent you, your firm, your team, and/or your brand. Remember, this is not about perfection; it's about conveying confidence, professionalism, and approachability.
Reviewing and Selecting the Best Shots
We will review the images together. While popular opinion often sways our feelings, it can actually be both helpful AND harmful to involve family, colleagues, or friends in the decision-making process.
We value the opinions of our family and friends. But they see you as someone completely familiar to them already. Any evaluation of pictures doesn’t come from an unbiased perspective, and often they aren’t familiar with nuances of facial expressions, or the muscles used to create those expressions.
On the other hand, relying on your headshot photographer is a smarter idea. Admittedly, by the time we review your new headshot pictures together, we would have only known each other for a short while. However, you either made the conscious decision to work with me because of my expertise and specialty, or your manager/management did. In either case, it’s fair to say I know a thing or two about professional headshots and facial expressions and am well-equipped to ensure that you not only get the most out of your headshot session but that you also end up with images that work harder than you do. As such, I am available to provide my professional opinion and guide you in making the final choices.
Understanding the Editing and Retouching Process
After selecting your desired headshots, the editing and retouching process begins. It's essential to strike a balance between enhancing the images and maintaining authenticity.
This is as good a place as any to remind you that just because professional photographers and retouchers are capable of making specific alterations to your images, it doesn’t mean they should. I have always been of the mindset that Photoshop is a noun, not a verb. In the world of professional headshot photography, it’s not that less is more. Rather, it’s a question of maintaining authenticity and realism. It is exceptionally easy to over-retouch images, or as some folks call it “airbrushing.” No one wants to look less than they are or appear fake, especially walking into a room of colleagues and decision-makers.
My goal is to present you in the best possible light while ensuring that the headshots remain true to who you are. This involves subtle adjustments and removing distractions. Of course, I do welcome conversations with my clients about their specific needs.
Most professional photographers work with a dedicated retoucher. In other words, their sole responsibility is to polish and refine your pictures according to the specifications outlined for them. After my retoucher has done their job, I will review and quality control the pictures, make final adjustments, and then send the images off to you.
Leveraging the Headshots for Different Purposes
Your business headshots have various applications across different platforms and marketing materials. They can be used on online professional profiles like LinkedIn, Google, social media like Twitter and Facebook, business cards (traditional or digital), and other branding and marketing collateral. Ensure that you maintain consistency in your visual branding by using the same headshots across all platforms. This enhances your professionalism and helps build recognition among your audience.
As I often discuss with my clients, in light of the various uses and platforms to display your headshot picture, choosing the right headshot for each use case is difficult. You may not want to use an image with an enthusiastic smile when you are giving a presentation containing unhappy news or less-than-stellar performance numbers. On the other hand, you may not want to look so stern when you are presenting incredibly positive information. We must choose the right tool for the job. And, since a professional profile photo is an asset, we should leverage those assets based on the circumstances.
Maintaining Consistency and Updating Headshots
As your professional journey progresses, it's crucial to update your headshots regularly. This ensures that your visual representation remains current and aligned with your professional growth.
I receive a lot of requests to make headshots on location, at company offices, events, conferences, and expos. It is more efficient and financially feasible to coordinate with internal team members to schedule headshot updates, creating a unified and consistent look across your organization.
Consider the advantages of having a professional headshot specialist come to your office, and provide advanced facial expression coaching, direction, an instant review of the images, and a first-class experience.
- You don’t need to go far. Perhaps just down the hall
- The total cost is amortized across the number of people photographed
- There is no impediment to productivity
- The experience is faster, more fun, and far easier than you might expect
- Orchestrating a company headshot day can be far more efficient if things are planned for and scheduled in advance
- The fee paid for professional headshot photography is not an expense. Rather, it is an investment, with very real ROI (return on investment)
- Your people will be presented as a unified team of polished professionals, with consistent images that are representative of both your brand and the individuality of your team members
As much as we hate to admit it, Father time stops for no man. This means we will inevitably get older and wiser. We also change our style from time to time. Sometimes we alter our clothing, our hairstyles, we gain or lose weight, etc. This is why I recommend updating your professional headshot every 1 ½ to 2 years, or when your appearance has changed to the point where your last headshot would be a misrepresentation.
Before you crucify me over that last statement, please be aware that you don’t, and for the most part, won’t see yourself as others do. We will not remain 20 years old forever, and despite our best efforts to avoid the aging process, we must accept that we have not yet found the fountain of youth. Consequently, sticking with the same headshot for 5, 10, 20 years is as bad an idea as removing wrinkles and birthmarks from your skin.
I can sense you giving me the evil eye right about now. So, I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that your headshot isn’t about you. It’s about how others receive and perceive you. If you walk into a room and don’t look like the image you have posted/offered, it makes you seem as if either you are hiding something, or at the very least, you are intentionally deceiving people. Neither are endearing qualities, and people will wonder what else you are being untruthful about.
Conclusion
By following these tips from a headshot photographer's perspective, you can prepare or plan effectively for your company headshots, business headshots, or other professional headshots. Remember to communicate your goals and expectations, pay attention to the details, and trust the guidance provided. By collaborating closely with your photographer, you can achieve headshots that authentically represent your professional brand, your unique personality, and your individuality, as well as the unity of your team.
This is entirely dependent on whether you are having your headshot made in my studio or at your location/office. At my Lancaster Pennsylvania photography studio, Your session time is unlimited. I don't put time limits on my sessions so as to avoid any pressure whatsoever. That being said, I have found that the vast majority of my clients tend to finish within 2 hours. I only book two headshot sessions per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You will not be rushed out because of another appointment right after yours. I want you to have plenty of time to relax in front of the camera and get to that sweet spot where you feel comfortable.
In the event that I am coming to your location to work with your team members, I will block off the entire day for your headshot photography needs. Since I do my best to avoid being an impediment to your productivity and schedule, I aim to provide each team member with the high-quality images that I am known for in as little time as possible.