What you wear for your headshot is very important. Your outfit should fit… both you and your industry. You should love what you are wearing, if you don’t, go out and buy a new outfit. And make sure it is industry appropriate.

You will want to take your headshot in a very well lit environment. You should face a light source, natural light is best, like a large window. Choose a neutral solid color background if possible. And preferably a background that is very different from your outfit. For example, if you are wearing blue, don’t stand in front of a blue wall, choose a white wall. Contrast is good!

Make sure you are not looking directly into the sun or any thing that would make you squint.

A good smile is always in style, but a happy non-smiling headshot is great as well. Just make sure you don’t have “RBF” if you decide to go with a non-smiling headshot. This should be industry appropriate as well… If you are a teacher you will probably want to smile so that you don’t scare your students, whereas if you are a professional boxer, maybe a more serious headshot would do the trick.

If you have an iPhone or similar phone that is 5 years or newer you have everything you need to take a good headshot. A DSLR camera works great as well. Set the timer on your camera of choice or hand it to a friend and snap away. Take as many photos as it takes to get THE photo you love.

Headshots are pretty much always shot in portrait orientation, meaning a vertical photo. The photo should be taller than wider. Headshots are also typically ”chest & up” photos so make sure your camera is framing you properly. You don’t want to have to zoom in too far to crop the photo as it will diminish the photo quality. If you already have a photo you love that meets our criteria, but it was taken in landscape orientation feel free to submit it. We will crop it accordingly.

Remember, this is your headshot and you need to love it. So keep trying until you do. You will also be your own worst critic, so show your headshot to someone you trust and if they love it… trust them.

Everyone has a “side” so try it with your left shoulder forward slightly and then try your right. Try looking straight at the camera and then tilt your chin up slightly. Different angles make a world of difference. The goal is to capture something you are proud of and that represents your and your industry well.

Once you have a photo you love, send it to us and we will take care of the rest. We will professionally retouch your photo to make sure you look your absolute best without making you look fake. We will replace your photo background to your choosing and send it back to you.