Do Nots:

• No Pure Whites … opposite problem of blacks and can draw the eyes.
  

  Don’t sweat your wardrobe, sweat and shine are no nos for professional headshots

  Avoid pure whites if you can, sometimes men will wear pure white dress shirts, they are better if they are a bit off white. But it can be okay for men to have a pure white dress shirt.

• No Tight Repeating Patterns … these can create Moire. These are wavy lines that can look really awful when you overlay one repeating pattern (on your clothing) with another (the camera sensor or display screens).  Many men’s shirts, costing hundreds of dollars and looking amazing to the eyes, have tight repeating color or knit patterns which can produce the wavy lines.  Avoid knit or printed tightly repeating patterns.
• Necklines that seem to open downward … can seem overly sensual or nude, avoid
• No Skin toned clothing … can seem overly sensual or nude, avoid
  

  Notice how wide subjects may appears wearing black.  Avoid flat back in portraits.  Black visually adds significant weight most of the time in portraits.

• No Blacks … Especially not as outer wear. We tell everyone, many do not listen.  Black adds weight in photographs.  Eyes see differently than cameras.   Only certain blacks with some sheen or certain patterns photograph showing a form other than HUGE.  This is not what the eyes see.   Safest to avoid black in most cases for photos.  If you bring black, bring other choices.  Usually, blacks do not work when they dominate the garment.  They may work as inner wear. If they will be used as outer wear, you should have darker skin, or the material should have some sheen or gloss, flat black is usually no bueno.
• No Lighter colored outerwear … draws attention away from face and can create other issues. Outerwear should be two to three shades darker than your skin tone
• Bright Colors … Only appropriate in small doses, usually in inner wear, though maybe okay in some cases when the bright colors are just a small bit of pattern in otherwise appropriate headshot wear. Bright colors should be avoided in outerwear as the base color and in large expanses of innerwear.  They can be okay in men’s ties, or as a bits of décor patterned onto a dress for example.
• Too Tight … these pull and look awful. If too loose, we can pin tighter, if too tight, it just pulls and is very though to fix
  

  Moire in digital photo of digital photo. Most pronounced in wavy lines seen in the suit. Tight repeating patterns can create morie in otherwise beautiful to eye fabrics.

• Shine … do not moisturize with any lotion which leaves you shiny. Shine does not photograph well.  Make sure any moisturize has fully absorbed in well before your sitting.
• Wax Eyebrows within 3 days of your session … This creates a styling mismatch in textures which can be noticeable and is difficult to remedy even with editing
• Sunburn or Tan Unevenly … take care the days before your sitting not to ruin your complexion with our beautiful sunshine.

Wardrobe’s Intent in a Professional Headshot

To frame the face and draw the viewers eyes to the face.

Appropriate wardrobe for most professional headshots involves covering of arms and having a flattering neckline being of a color that doesn’t draw attention from the face and cut in a flattering style which frames the face nicely and leads eyes to the face.

If they notice what you are wearing, it’s a fail as a professional headshot.

Wardrobe for Men

In General:  Dress appropriate to your message, if you are a CEO of a Bank, Suits and Ties are probably the way to go.  If you work the counter at a bicycle shot, maybe a dark polo may be in order.

What works well:  Power suits, like those we see politicians wearing, work very well.  Politicians are ever before camera and almost always dress alike in power suits, as they are most flattering to the camera.   IE Navy Blue or Grey suits without pattern or texture as outerwear, and inner wear with flattering necklines and little to no pattern.  Ties can be worn with practically any color which flatters your other wear and your personal coloring as they are small and do not usually detract.

Men’s shirts (as inner wear) are best off slightly off white.  Pure bright white can ‘ghost out’ and draw attention away from the face.

In today’s more casual environments, many people are foregoing the power suit or ties.  When dropping the suit, the shirt becomes the outerwear.  Shirts which cover at least the upper arms and even longer sleeves work best.  Again darker blues and dark greys work best, with no pattern or texture.  V necks tend to be more flattering like a polo, button down shirts (which have faux V necks) also work well.  T shirts are usually too informal for most.

In any event, outer wear colors should typically be 2 to 3 shades darker than your skin tone.

Wardrobe for Women

General:  Dress appropriately to your industry and position.

What works well as outer wear:  Business suits and Blazers, or longer sleeved dresses or blouses.

For the main tone, Darker Greys, Navy Blue work best and sometimes Darker Purple shades for red heads, all with no texture or small repeating patterns.  Larger patterns, that are fairly subtle may work.  Just so long as the patterns do not overly grab attention and are not small, like pin stripes or other small patterns which we discussed in the “Do Nots”.

Darker non patterned, with the right flattering cut and neckline are usually safest bets.

Inner wear:  Inner wear should have a flattering neckline that closes in a V or is near enough the neck to clearly delineate a closing décolleté.  If the neckline is too low, or opens outward toward the bottom, it can appear too sensual for a professional headshot.

Colors in inner wear you have more options, depending on how much of the inner wear is showing.  The inner wear frames the face and shows neckline.  If the color is too bright and splashy, it will stop being a lure and become a main attraction.  If it is the main attraction, it needs to be toned down.  You can have some splashes of larger non tightly repeating pattern in your inner wear, so long as it doesn’t take over the image.

What to bring

When in doubt, bring more wardrobe or call the studio.

We will mix and match and text what you bring as we’ve scheduled enough time for our in-studio sessions as many people require a bit of hands on help with this.  So feel free to bring more wardrobe to the studio if you are able.

Bring some hair product and styling tools for touch up.

Women, bring powder to take down shine.

A Professional Headshot’s Purpose

Generally, a professional headshot’s purpose is to act as a virtual billboard, drawing in clients, opportunities and appropriate business connections.

While a headshot is strictly a 2 dimensional optical illusion, it is a powerful and effective personal or business branding tool, whose message must be carefully controlled to have the desired effect of creating more business, landing new job opportunities, building a personal brand, etc.

This is accomplished by controlling the headshot’s message by eliminating distracting details and focusing on your expression of your professionalism.

The Message

The intended message for most professional headshots is a blend of demonstrating confidence and approachability.

Anything that detracts from your personal or company brand is a fail for a professional headshot.

For example, if they notice what you are wearing, and you are not working for an apparel company or the like, the headshot is a fail.  Viewers should be drawn directly to your expression and connect with you as a person when viewing your headshot.  Choose your styling accordingly.

Depending on your position within a company or your industry, the message may be appropriately different for each person.  For example, the CEO of a Bank and that of a Cruise line may look considerably different, as would a receptionist from an accountant at the same firm, and so on.

Ability to loosen someone up and show us something that looks alive, and not so stiff, as many posed shots will look, is high art.

There are no people in photos, so stay loose. It’s an optical illusion, there’s no dog here, just a screen you are looking at. The looser you stay, the better that photo will look…

While we believe we see people in photos, truth is: there are no people in photographs.  In photographs, we often believe we see people and other recognizable items and forms.  This seeing is entirely an optical illusion.

There are no people in our Zoom screens, or drawers, shoe boxes and hard drives full of photos.

We are viewing and being fooled by powerful optical illusions, this seeing of people and forms where only display medias exist.

In reality, there is nobody actually there in the photos.

Photos are all optical illusions of multidimensional subject which are usually printed on 2D paper or displayed on 2D screens.

Photography means writing (graph) with light (photo) and is strictly an art form.

Photographers use this art form to transcribe into two dimensions optical illusions of deeper dimensionalities encountered in living.

Nobody, none of us, are two dimensional.  Yet, most photographs are 2D only.

There is simply no one there and cannot be.

Still the illusions are very powerful, and function quite effectively as bill boards in business headshots, and as memory queues for family reunions or business meetings and so on.

These photographic ‘likenesses’ of our multidimensional lives, are perceive as real, when in fact they are pure art form and chicanery played on us by artists and our mind’s eye quite literally magically fooling us.

The great art, is having the subjects in photos appear to come alive.

This requires among other things, the right expression.  While there is huge technical skill required in photography, certainly, expression sells the photo or kills it.

Thus, loosening up subjects is key to having subjects seem alive and appear relatable.

Putting people at ease is truly key to the art form.  A subject at ease makes for images which are inviting and allow and one’s inner beauty and charm to shine out where they may be celebrated by all.

This is a beauty and charm many of us instinctively clamp down on, on first sight of camera and lens focused in our direction.

Isn’t this typically what happens when lenses and cameras turn our way?

We clench and tighten and look usually just uncomfortably uneasy.

Seeing beauty and communicating the truth of this vision with sufficient veracity and charm is one way artful photographers capture our beauty and charm more deeply.

Photographers have an energy and banter to pull these expressions out of subjects.  Each has his own way, and we photographers learn from and adapt from what we see each other doing.  It’s a kind of life long learning.  It both changes with time, culture, fashion, etc, and some of it stays relatively the same.

One such artful travel photographer I’ve run across the techniques of is Mehmet Genç.

Travel Photographer Captures What Happens When People Around The World Are Told They Are Beautiful

Mehmet Genç is a Turkish travel photographer who goes by the name of Rotasiz Seyyah (roughly translated as “nomad without a route”). His pictures are stunning but one project in particular will really put a smile on your face. He calls it “You Are So Beautiful” and the idea is simple. Genç tells the…

One tool in his ‘bag of magic tricks’ is telling people “You Are So Beautiful,” then photographing their reactions.

Every great photographer of people has a personal style and method to bring out people’s inner beauty.

When you hear or see something that works or may work, try it.

A note of caution, try new tricks with safe audiences before jumping full in with delicate subjects.  Some things need practice to work.   And, not all tricks work equally well for all photographers.  Find what works best for you, while experimenting delicately.

People are fragile before the camera.  Be kind, be respectful, be careful.

Keep trying to make what ever trick you are trying your own. Over time, your skills and results will grow.

If you are being photographed by a seasoned professional who knows his craft, don’t be surprised if he surprises you.

And remember, in art, there are many failed canvases and almost rans for every finished piece you’ll ever see in galleries, people’s homes or perhaps in your own.

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

To see more of what Mehmet is up to, you might check out his Instagram where he goes by the handle Rotasız Seyyah.

Professional Headshot Photography On-Location in Office Setting

Hate having your pictures taken?

You’re not alone.  Most people, unless they are professional models, feel shy or a bit uneasy in front of cameras.

This anxiety may feel heightened when there is an urgency to have professional photographs taken for some direct purpose, as may be the case with professional headshots for work or career, or perhaps for dating photos, boudoir portraits, etc.

Your main trick is to work with the right professional photographer.   At a minimum, your photographer should be someone who understand shadows and light.  Someone who is committed to capturing the perfect angle and pose for your face and body type. Someone who understands that photography is an art – and when you sit for the camera, your photograph should positively and effectively reflect your unique personality.

You can learn a great deal about a photographer’s ability and style by looking at their existing work.  Check out their relevant portfolios.  Does the existing body of the photographer’s work demonstrate people in a light similar to how you wish to be portrayed?

Beyond that, have a conversation with the studio.  Photography of people is very much a people business.  Does you photographer have smooth enough people skills to win you over during a phone call?  This is more important than you may have considered.  If you are able to relate to your photographer over the phone, chances are they will be able to interact effectively with you when you are in studio, making it more likely to get that perfect expression during your portrait sitting.

Aside from bringing appropriate wardrobe and styling choices, which your photographer should have prepped you on before your session, here a few things you can do to prepare yourself  reduce your anxiety and increase your likelihood of best outcomes.

1. Take a breath

A photograph is a representation of you, but it doesn’t define who you are.  It certainly won’t alter the way you look.  While just a moment in time, in the right hands and used the right way, professional photographs will inspire others to see your inner beauty, passion, or other strengths.  Basically, whatever emotion or sensibility you wish to convey.  In point of fact, many of our professional photography clients feel very much better about their personal appearance, after experiencing how well their portrait expressions are received.    Whether it’s a headshot for a corporate promotion or going to be seen by thousands on the back of your latest novel, you deserve to feel confident.  So just relax, take a breath.  Stay loose. It will help.

2. Warm-up

It’ll take a few shots before a photographer is able to capture the perfect pose, lighting and facial expression.  Be prepared to just go with the flow.  As you warm-up, the photographs do and will get better and better.  Just keep at it a bit with your  photographer and who knows?  You might even be the perfect model material.

3. Relax your body

Get ready to move.  At first it might feel awkward, but you’re bound to get the hang of it.  Follow the directions, and keep a light, positive attitude.  ‘Cross your arms.  Tilt your head.  Now look up.’ The requests are going to come fast and furious.  Just ease on into it.  Do the best you can and the results will usually be much better than you expected.

4. Smiling is optional

If smiling is not your thing, don’t sweat it.  We are professional photographers who know how to capture the best expression to fit your needs for the portrait.  So if you want a smile, you’ll get it.  Just listen to the prompts and react.  Trust us. We’ll get that perfect shot.  So far, we always have.  Unless you break our camera… Just kidding.  Smiling yet?  Mostly, working with folk who don’t like cameras make up the bulk of our business.  It’s just what we do.  Only about 10% of our clients will just come in and smile.  Perhaps 30% can sort of do it to varying degrees.  Most of us, we need a bit of help with being expressive in front of the camera.  Getting genuine expressions is most of the photography we do, all day, with 70-90% of our clients… As noted early on, most of us are camera shy…. Many of us just hate cameras.  Smile for the camera or no, we, as headshot professionals, should know how to photograph you and have you looking great. So, smile if you like, or we’ll crack you up if we must have a smile.  Look at your selected photographer’s work.  Are the smiles and expressions genuine?  Are the the people portrayed in the portfolio people who look a bit like you, or are they all models?  When you talk to the photographer, are they professional, and personable?  You won’t smile for someone you do not like.  Make sure you have respect for and an appropriate sense of warmth towards your selected photographer.

5. Photography is truly an art

My goal as a professional photographer of people, is to capture the best representation of you, for your needs, by artfully using all the business, technical and people skills I have.  That’s pretty much the point of what we do. To make you look amazing, so that your photograph demands proper attention, requires art.   It cannot be done just technically.  Don’t believe me?  Found any technology yet that can make you smile every time?  Getting a reaction out of people takes art.  Choosing the right tie to go with that paisley jacket takes art.  And so on.  As portrait artists, we creatively incorporate you, our client, into our art when our studio is commissioned to photograph your portrait.  Whenever working with an artist, always expect the best in outcomes, which often surprise as we are creating something new and previously unseen.  Allow our passion give you courage and then delight in your portraits which we have created together with you.  Our craft is evolving all the time, driven by innovative artists.  That being said, make sure any photographer you wish to hire is firmly routed in business realities.  That is, hire an artist who understands that they have certain obligations as business people to deliver a useful product.  Look at your prospective photographer’s existing work.  Is the aesthetic suitable to your taste?  Do they behave in a professional way?   On the flip side, make sure that someone all business you are considering to hire as your photographer has that artist side.  For example, can you imagine hiring a someone all business, like a CPA Auditor, as your photographer?  No, you need an artist, with strong technical and business skills to get the job done.

Now that wasn’t too bad. You’re probably feeling better all ready.

If it seems our studio may fit your bill, please give us a call at 480-703-9823 to schedule that next photo session or with any further questions you may have.

The edited version of this glamour headshot is on the right

To edit or not to edit your headshot?

In our Phoenix headshot photography studios, we are often asked about the need and or desirability of editing headshots.

Much passion and opinion surrounds this topic of editing photographs, portraits and headshots.

Also referred to as enhancing, post processing, editing, Photoshop and other similar terms, there is a great deal of conjecture and misunderstanding surrounding this topic.

Perhaps this stems from the power of images in the form of photographs.  We have all heard for example that ‘a picture is worth a 1000 words.’  This suggests significant power in a photograph.  Too much power for us to invest in something not real?

Many of us, regardless of how often our eyes have fooled us in the past, as in when we view a magician’s trick seeing something we know cannot be so, say and even believe in our core that ‘seeing is believing.’

Add to this the feeling among many that somehow a photograph is itself a truth and somehow that ‘the camera does not lie.’  This saying has been around as early as 1859, just 20 years after photography’s invention.

The truth is, every photograph is itself a ‘truth’ which by its very nature is a lie.

The true part is that every photographic recording device operates on a set of physical principles.

However, every camera also operates a bit differently than every other camera.  So, two cameras taking a photo of the same event at the same time will produce two different results.

So, this ‘truth’ a camera produces is clearly not an absolute truth, yes?

As an example, look at the photographic example shown here.  Neither the photo on the left, nor the photo on the right is actually the girl in question.  The blue in the background for example is from a blue wig, not her hair and not the background.  The makeup is not the girls skin but applied to her skin.  The device you are viewing this image on will make it appear different than if you view it on another device.  And, the girl will not in voodoo fashion feel a thing were you to destroy or abuse either the image on the left or the right.  That is, the photo itself is very clearly not the girl…

But maybe that was too obtuse…

If the photo had been taken with a different camera, the colors would have been different.  If the photo had been taken with a different lens, the image would be entirely different.  If the shutter speed were slower or faster, the photo would have been markedly different.

Each camera, sensor and lens combination record different intensities of light, color, contrast, distortion, and the list goes on.

In short, no photograph is a 100% identical representation of the person or thing being photographed, ever.

So what does editing do for your headshot?

Well, editing can do a great many things to your headshot, depending on what is desired artistically, graphically, and practically.  That is, editing done well enhances the effectiveness of your portraits and photographs, making them in effect, ‘more real’.

How can editing make a photography more real?

This seems counter intuitive and yet it is often, in the case of many headshots, a case where we make the headshot look more like the actual person we are photographing.

In the case of a glamour photo as here, we enhance the glamour of the photo.  While you may look at the unretouched image for a second or two, normally, and the edited one say for 3-6 seconds… what we have done is increase your engagement with the photo which has been edited.

If the photo had been the actual girl, you would have given this lovely lady a few minutes or several seconds of look, given the opportunity, yes?

We make the photo behave more like the person, while controlling the message.

What is this controlling the message?

Here the message was beauty of the girl, her glamour and the talent of the makeup stylist.  So we enhanced that message both compositionally and editorially, to lead the eyes where we desire they flow in the headshot and to control the feel.  Thus, we have delivered the message more powerfully.  This is a photo of a beautiful girl with glamorous makeup.  Bam.

Should you edit your headshot?

It’s a personal choice and with professional photographers is usually included as an add on package or service.  Editing dose take time and add expense to your headshot portrait.

Editing can almost always improve the overall impact of your headshot portrait.  If you can afford it in your budget and you value your image, a professionally, artfully, and mindfully edited portrait will be more effective than one which is unedited.  Hands down, almost every time in most circumstances.  See also Should Headshots be edited using Photoshop?

The one instance where editing can hurt a headshot is where the editor is not skillful and experienced enough to edit your portrait, without over editing or poorly editing.  As with anything, something can be done poorly.

While price isn’t always an indication of quality, low price almost always indicates corners being cut.  The best way to know if a photographer is capable is too look at the quality of their work with a critical eye when selecting your headshot photographer.  Then, if you can afford it, or have a career where your personal brand and image are important, go for world class editing and photography, you’ll be glad you did.

Okay, so you’ve followed along… and maybe still skeptical about the truth of edited photos… Notice the edited version of the photo here?  Look closely at the nose, see the fine blonde baby hair along the nose?  Editing here allows you to more clearly see the fine baby hairs… thus a feature of ‘more real’.  Just an example, that editing is not necessarily about misleading.  To view edited version of portrait larger, click here.

People are so much more interesting than their portraits.  Editing, done well, helps make the portraits a touch more interesting.  More like an aspect of the real you.

What exactly goes into the planning for a professionally photographed headshot portrait sitting?

Usually, a client will have called or emailed after having been referred or found our headshot photography website.  That is, no one just walks in for a headshot.  We communicate and prepare accordingly.  Both the client is prepared for the session, and the studio, time and resources are prepared for the client on our side.

The first question I ask is usually, how did you find us?

While the answer to this question provides useful marketing information, it also tells me what the client may already know or not know about available service options.  This makes interaction on all the following questions more efficient in terms of calibrating the amount of information I will need to convey to properly prep the client.

For example, if we’ve been found via a having searched for ‘headshot photographers in Phoenix, Arizona‘, the client may have just used the phone number on Google+ and may in fact know very little about our actual services.  Others of you will have surfed our Phoenix Headshots Photo Gallery, and maybe looking for something similar, and so on.

Once this baseline is established, we can dig into the specifics of what each client is looking for.

8 Key Professional Headshot Questions

Wardrobe selection of hospital scrubs along with subdued makeup sytling keeps focus on cliniqual professionalism for a licensed massage thereapist

• What is this headshot going to be used for
• How will the headshot be displayed and viewed
• What size will the headshot be seen or used
• What is your position, career, relationship with intended viewers
• What is your aspiration for what comes next
• What is your coloring and look
• How adept are you at self styling
• What are you planning to wear

What will this headshot be used for

This is a key question.  Possible answers are for a dating profile, modeling portfolio, business headshot for a recently published article, cover of a book, business social media, etc.

Based on the answer to this question, the session could go any number of different ways, and this question will set the tone and direction for all the following questions.

How will this headshot be displayed and viewed

Some headshots are intended for use on a website, or business cards or printed on modeling comp cards, or as an ego portrait, etc.

This information provides key details for how we will shoot and style the headshot and will set the tone for much of the rest of our questions and direction for how to prep our client to be ready for a great outcome.

For example, something for a social media headshot for a business person will be cropped square by most social media sites like LinkedIn.

Or, someone planning to use the shot on a corporate or business website, will beg the question, what is the color scheme for the existing website, in order to coordinate our background and wardrobe choices later to blend with the final use intentions.

What size will the headshot be seen and viewed

Often clients will like one headshot to perform a variety of tasks.   While this isn’t always practical, knowing ahead of time helps greatly in planning the headshot and in selecting the final image to be used.

For example, a headshot on social media will be seen very small, tiny in fact when viewed by a hand held mobile device.  A portrait which looks very nice 8×10 may lose detail, like a smile seen large may turn into a horrible frown when seen small.  This happens VERY frequently.

We must know the size range of the final product to make sure we select the right portrait for the client’s need, and that the image will in fact be effective across that range of sizes.

Otherwise, we need to use two separate images to achieve the end.  What works on a bill board, will often not work on a smaller scale.  This effects editing, styling and any number of other options.

What is your position, career, relationship with intended viewers

This tells us a great deal about what the expression, pose and wardrobe will be when planning our headshot.

It also gives indication about the appropriate headshot budget.

What is your aspiration for what comes next

Often the headshot is for what comes next.  Sometime there is no next.

For example, an actor needing a headshot for a particular role they are going for or a professional sale person looking to get a promotion will have different needs than someone looking to just maintain a well established stable position within a firm or business., etc.

This is key to how we instruct the client in what to wear and in the headshot expression we target to achieve for maximum effectiveness.

A headshot is sending key messages about the subject.  We need this information to make the headshot optimally effective.

What is your coloring and look

A delicate question, yet vital as this effects our palette for backgrounds and styling as well as our lighting and editing choices.

Here we are looking to know if we are dealing with someone who is pasty white, dark skinned, bald, etc.

We are also looking to know if we have someone young or more mature and any special concerns the client may have about their look.

How adept are you at self styling

Usually, this is more of an issue with women.  Professional makeup application is often head and shoulders above what one can achieve personally.  However, for many cases, depending on what we already know about the client from the prior questions, we can give some basic instruction, and or recommend professional styling be commissioned.

What are you planning to wear

Finally, we go to what the client is planning to wear, and make appropriate suggestions.  We really cannot get to this question effectively until we have most of the rest of the information in place in order to make the best recommendation to achieve the best outcome for our client’s professional headshot sittings.

A custom headshot experience should include a discussion with your professional headshot photographer about these aspects.  Otherwise, they are just taking pictures and are not adding the correct value they aught based on superior experience with the headshot process and outcomes.