Once you’ve reached out and contacted your professional headshot photographer, you’ll probably have a lot of questions in your mind about how to get the images looking their best. You haven’t got a doubt about the portrait photographer you have provided the task with, but we often get asked about what our clients can do to get the best from their pictures.
Photography Headshot Advice
To help, we’ve put together a quick article with a few useful pieces of advice to help you arrive looking great, prepared and most importantly – stress-free.
Research
Look back at old photos of yourself. Find out what colour clothes, and hairstyle work for you. Do you look better with make up? Perhaps you like the image you convey when you have some facial hair? Which side is your ‘best side’? Is there a specific angle that flatters your face? What poses make you convey the type of person you want to be seen as?
Clothing
Depending on the purpose of the image, the outfit here may vary. In general, you will want to dress professionally, however semi casual or casual may also be suitable. Don’t wear clothes that you don’t feel comfortable in – be true to yourself.
For corporate headshots:
Avoid: large jewellery, big logos (unless part of your brand), wearing a vest (for guys) as this can show through in photos.
Do: choose plain colours, iron clothes, use a lint roller
Hair / Facial Hair
Get a haircut a few days 2-5 days before the shoot. This allows the hair to settle and look natural when shooting. Decide if you prefer to be freshly shaven, or if you prefer stubble. Try to time your desired stubble / beard length to the date of the photoshoot.
Relax
Try and avoid booking the shoot on a day where you have many other appointments, or if unavoidable – at least give yourself plenty of time before and after the shoot so that you arrive as relaxed as possible.
Skin
As well as relaxing and getting plenty of sleep, make sure you drink plenty of water in the days leading up to the shoot to keep the skin hydrated.
Get plenty of the sleep in the days leading up to your shoot – aim for 8 hours per night for the week leading up to the shoot. This will prevent dark circles under your eyes.
Do not apply any lotion or moisturiser to your face the day of the shoot or you may end up with shiny ‘hot spots’ on your images.
Glasses
Clean your glasses before you arrive and have a cloth handy to clean them right before the shoot. We will take photos of you with and without glasses – this gives us the option to merge photos if there is a reflection – something that often occurs with varifocal glasses.
Above all, a headshot photoshoot should not be a stressful experience. At Photography MK, we aim to make all our portrait photoshoots relaxed and stress-free.
