Most people think that a headshot is a quick photograph of someone dressed in a suit or business attire against a gray background. Yes, that was the case in the past and in some cases, this style of a headshot is still very much needed and wanted.
With the rise of cell phones and affordable cameras, people started to capture their own images and using them as headshots. Why should I pay a professional? I can do it myself decently enough. Right? And if you can, that’s great. More power to you. But this trend has created a rise of not-so-professional headshots representing many business owners on social media.
So pose s question to you. Does your headshot represent you well as a business owner?
You see, there is more to a headshot than a quick capture. What do you do? What is your target client? Are you a happy business owner or a serious one? All of these questions and more come to mind when we are looking at a capturing the best headshot for a client.
Let’s say that you are a friendly makeup artist. You make people happy and look good, and so your headshot better look good as well, right? As a makeup artist, you should probably have makeup on and it should show you smiling because of the emotion you are trying to invoke in your customers.
On the other hand, if you are a realtor and your day is surrounded by houses and architecture, you spend a lot of time outside, a great headshot of you should probably be against some architectural background or outdoors, like the one below.
She is a realtor and capturing her headshot inside her firm right by her firm’s logo made a lot of sense and told her story as a business leader.
As the last example, I will give you an attorney who focuses on trial and personal injury cases. In his firm, he is the owner of the company, but also a firm and strong attorney who will protect you and defend you.
So in this case, if he was smiling it would probably be weird, right? Well, depends on the person and on the kind of smile. If he wants to come across as a friendly attorney to his clients, then smiling is ok. The below image is a great example of this especially since his smile is very light.
