A headshot is a headshot, right?

Well, there are many kinds of headshots for many kinds of purposes.

The first question to ask when looking for headshot photographers or for a headshot portrait is what is this headshot for?

That is, what is this headshot’s purpose?

Surprisingly or not, a headshot for one purpose is often ill suited for a headshot for another purpose.

What are some possible headshot purposes?

Before we delve into this, let us look into possible use categories for headshots and then we will discuss a bit on each genre of headshot’s purpose and how that purpose is accomplished.

Possible Headshot Uses

• Corporate Executive Headshots
• Professional Business Headshots
• Artistic & Ego Headshots
• Modeling Headshots
• Acting Headshots
• Social Media & Dating Headshots

The links above and below have example galleries to quickly view the feel between the differences in these headshot genres.  Click the links to view the styles which interest you further.

Whats a Corporate Executive Headshot

Corporate Executive Headshots are very much like Professional Business Headshots.  The main difference being career field, position within the organisation or size of the company.

With Corporate and Executive Headshots, there is just a bit more formality, often more power and frequently a perception of higher prestige.

Who needs a Corporate Executive Headshot

• Higher Level Corporate Executives
• Corporate Executives of any level at posh companies where brand image is valued
• Doctors, Lawyers, Marketing and Sales Professionals and any Successful High Income Professionals and Executives

These headshots are doing the job of demonstrating professional acumen, prowess, and finesse.

Basically, these are a more formal type of Professional Business Headshot that through their look and feel just feel that much more posh, successful and project confidence, applicability and success.

What’s a Professional Business Headshot

Professional Business Headshots are very like Corporate Executive Headshots.  The main difference is that those seeking Professional Business Headshots aren’t usually in the types of careers, positions or formal surroundings of the Corporate Executive types.

Basically, this is a bit less formal, and may not necessarily have the career maturity or prestige projection requirements of the Corporate Executive types.

This is not to say that in modern America today, there aren’t indeed many Corporate CEO’s who are looking for a more dressed down, less formal, more approachable headshot.

These headshots are just a bit more egalitarian feeling.

Who needs a Professional Business Headshot

• Any Executive who wishes to have a more laid back or less formal feel to their headshot
• Any Business Person who wishes to have a Professional Headshot for work, business card, or Professional Social Media like LinkedIn

If you are working for a living, a quality Professional Business Headshot can help your career.

The job of the Professional Business Headshot is much like that of the Corporate Exectutive Headshot in that it must primarily demonstrate confidence and approachability.

What ever else it says about you needs to be tuned to your particular place within your field.

For example, if you are cruise ship entertainment director, you probably wish to have a look which says you are bit fun.

If you work at a bank, perhaps you wish to show a more laid back feel to your professional headshot portrait.

This is the portrait you will use to enhance your future career prospects by use on business cards, Social Media networking sites like LinkedIn, and on your company web pages, brochures and news releases.

What’s an Artisic & Ego Headshot

Artistic & Ego Headshots are for models and individuals who desire having really interesting portrait headshots for themselves.

These headshots look really cool, really hot, really pretty, really fun, really exciting, really sensual, or just plain nice.

Who needs Artistic & Ego Headshots

Done at a high end, where results are breathtaking, this can be a pricey undertaking requiring styling for wardrobe, props, hair and makeup.

Who needs these is anyone wishing to create a lasting iconic memory of themselves or a loved one.

These make great wall hanging portraits, and are cool giveaways to loved ones and friends.

They can be quite glamorous or devilishly handsome, or deeply full of character or other energy which says something interesting, deep and lovely about the person being so portrayed.

Everyone who can afford to invest in themselves and loved ones should consider Artistic or Ego Headshots

What’s a Modeling Headshot

Modeling Headshot with a Beauty Galmour Headshot Feel

Modeling Headshots are is a wide open headshot genre as anyone can be a model and models can be called on to model anything or anyone.   Not just the beautiful people are models.  There are many models who look quite average or even plain who work as models.

As the genre is so very large, this is a wide open headshot field.  That is, these headshots can be all over the map in terms of pushing modeling to their infinite limits.  Put another way, a modeling headshot can be just about any great professionally crafted headshot.

Still, we all like headshots of the pretty and handsome, don’t we all though?

So, there is quite a bit of Glamour or Beauty Headshot photography that goes on with Model headshots.

Who needs Modeling Headshots

Mainly models and those wishing to develop portfolios in order to become models need Modeling Headshots.

The job of the Modeling Headshot is to demonstrate the beauty, range, character or something otherwise really cool looking about the model.

These images can be heavily retouched or not, though every model should have at least one headshot that is not so heavily retouched so the client doing the booking has a clear idea of how the model looks coming in the door.

What’s an Acting Headshot

Acting Headshots are for Actors and Actresses to self promote to their Fan Bases and to Casting Directors and Acting Agents.

The Acting Headshot has several purposes and often cannot do all it needs to accomplish with only one headshot.

Why can’t an actor have only one headshot?

An Actor’s Headshot needs to demonstrate range.

Acting Headshots can look beautiful or handsome, certainly, but just plain good looks will not get you the acting job.  Perhaps you need to look mean, or dangerous.

Who needs an Acting Headshot

Actors and Actresses always need headshots that show their current look as well as demonstrating a range of emotion or character appropriate to the parts they are seeking.

If you show up for a casting call and don’t look like your headshot, or cannot act like your headshot, you may be dismissed, as the casting director may have selected you to portray a particular range they saw you capable of in your Professional Acting Headshot.

What’s a Social Media or Dating Headshot

Social Media & Dating Headshots are for use on Dating Sites and for postings on Social Media Sites.  This can be for LinkedIn if the headshot has a more business like feel, or on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or the like for any shot you feel may be appropriate to so share.

Never share a non business feeling headshot on LinkedIn, it can effect your career in unexpected ways.

Dating and Social Media Headshots should generally look like you at your very best.  They can be heavily edited so long as you still look like you.

As you are showing these to the world, they do need to look pretty much like you as, people may meet you and may comment, if not to you, to those around you about this discrepancy.  This said, editing can be fairly thoroughly done, so long as the image still looks like you, no one count’s your acne break out, for example when they look across the table at you into your eyes.

These also may not go full glamour, as for a dating site, while it’s okay to put in a glamour or beauty headshot, just leaving a beauty shot out there sets the bar kind of high for yourself on real dates.

Look your best, and make it look like you at your best, approachable, friendly, fun, confidence is nice, more so if you are a dude.

Who needs Social Media & Dating Headshots?

Anyone who has a Social Medial presence should use one headshot to brand all their public social media.  Do not be switching publicly searchable headshots of yourself see (What happens to your professional headshot image search results when you change your photograph even briefly).

Then you will pop up in a way has you looking your best when someone does an ego search of your name.

Or are you dating?

If you are dating, you need a great headshot of yourself, looking your attractive best to insure you have the best in dating outcomes.

The headshot should look like you at your very best and be warm, confident, friendly and inviting, all while looking like you.

Your professional headshot photography artist can help you with what ever your headshot needs.

Be sure they know what your headshots are for, as you have seen, there are quite a few ways your headshot can go.