Professional corporate headshots and portraits are often used interchangeably by people. It is true that a headshot is a type of portrait but it is not a traditional type of portrait. There are a few key differences between the two types of photographs that you should be aware of before hiring a professional photographer to take your headshots or portraits.
Let’s define what a headshot is
A headshot photograph can refer to any business or corporate photo for nearly any situation but it typically means a professionally lit and composed photo of someone’s face, neck and shoulders although, the actual composition of a headshot can vary somewhat.
Historically, the idea of having a headshot was always associated with actors and CEOs of large companies. This was due to actors requiring to send a printed headshot photo of themselves in the resume. In the case of corporate headshots, they were mostly used for printed materials such as yearly reports or advertising or editorial use.
Fast forward to today, and everyone has a social presence on the internet. Wether it is Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram or any other social medial site, your online profile is a representation of you. These social media sites are were initially used for “social” purposes but now, they have grown to be a part of who you are. So in a sense, social media is a representation of your personal brand. A headshot photo for this context would be what you look like on the internet when people search you up online.
The purpose of using headshots today is to convey a message about your brand. You’ve heard the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” Unfortunately, that is exactly we humans do so we need to make sure that the photo you are using as your headshot, is exactly aligned to the impression you want to make.
Ok, so we’ve explained what a headshot is in principle but what does a good headshot look like? Well, there are many styles for headshot photography so you need to do a little research to make sure your photographer’s style matches your expectation. This is easy to do as most photographers will provide a sample gallery on their website.
So with that said, let me tell you what I think makes a good headshot. The photo needs to include the whole face of the person as well as the top part of the their shoulders. It should only come down to the chest area and not more. That would get you a technically correct headshot photo.
Now comes the hard part which is expression, look and posing. This is where the photographer earns their money. Anyone can take a headshot photo. The hard part is to take a great headshot photo where someone’s expression comes through so strong that it provokes a reaction. That reaction can be anything you want it to be. You might want to be seen as authoritative, friendly, approachable, confident or any other characteristic.
A good headshot photographer understands this well and is a master in expression. It is by far the hardest thing to learn about headshot photography and the thing that makes the biggest difference between a good headshot photo and an amazing photo.
Dan Cantero
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