The Starter Guide to Getting a Great Professional Headshot

Putting your best foot forward professionally is about more than writing applications, résumés, and cover letters; it can also be about putting your best face forward. Even if you have zero interest in becoming an influencer, getting quality, recent photos taken of yourself can make your online presence more polished. Plus, as you move through your career, you may be asked for a photo of yourself more often than you anticipated.

We asked three professionals about how to get the best starter-headshots of your work life. Read on for tips.

Whom to Hire

Jehan Daugherty, the owner of Jehan Inc. Photography in Columbus, OH, specializes in marketing, branding, and professional headshots. She urges headshot seekers to do their research before hiring a photographer. Look through the person’s online portfolio to make sure you like their style and approach, and read any reviews or testimonials about the process.

“The lighting is most important,” Daugherty says. “If that does not flatter you, it’s not going to be a great photo. A professional photographer meets that [client’s] needs as far as getting the proper lighting, figuring out what they’re using their headshots for, and what type of background they need. Somebody that’s just doing it and is charging a cheap price isn’t asking all those questions because they don’t even know to ask.”

Cash-strapped students may not be able to purchase headshot photos, which is okay in the short-term. In their case, Annie Hopkins, the director of campus recruitment at Jopwell, urges them to find free options first.

“Students shouldn’t be paying money to have their headshots taken,” she says. “A lot of places like career fairs will have somebody doing free headshots. At conferences like NSBE, Jopwell is doing free headshots. At the very least, get a friend to do it in front of a blank wall or a neutral background.”

How Much to Pay

If you’re able to pay for quality headshots, make sure you know what you’re paying for before you book a photographer. Malcolm Brown, a New York City-based photographer and videographer, says “quality headshot" prices range between $200-$500 — usually depending on the kind of package you request.

For example, Daugherty’s packages range in price from $175-$550 and she says that cost is typical of her market. Her $175 package includes a 30-minute session and three images; the $550 session (her highest-tier package) is an hourlong session that includes 10 digital images.

“With [either] session, they would have the opportunity to change a jacket, tie, or even change their clothes completely,” she explains. “Some people need different looks because they want a more sterile look for corporate, but maybe they have a business and do speaking engagements, so they want to look more friendly and welcoming with their other outfits.”

When to Use It

Brown says his clientele is mostly comprised of entrepreneurs, small business owners, sole proprietors, and artists. Those groups are mostly looking for headshots for websites and social media — and increasingly for LinkedIn.

“LinkedIn has grown into more of a professional social media platform,” he says. “Those clients are business professionals from all likes, whether they’re interns, applying to schools, or are looking to maintain the image of their esteemed positions.”

Even if you’re still in school, you can get a jumpstart on building your professional profile with a headshot. Hopkins adds that these photos also come in handy for groups or presentations.

“If you are part of a club or are speaking at something and you want to use your picture, it’s nice to have it on hand,” she says. (The organizers of events will often ask you for a photo, so having one ready that you didn’t grab-and-crop from Facebook is a plus.)

What to Wear

Clothing

Brown offers two general rules for headshot attire: “No bare arms and no patterned clothing.” The former may be fine if you’re comfortable with a slightly more casual appearance, but the latter can be harder on the eyes in a small photo.

Bright colors are still great — bring on the blues, purples, and greens, he says — but avoid flesh-tone neutrals (like browns and beige) that can be hard to discern from your own skin tone. If you wear white and are worried about looking washed out if you have paler skin, you can add visual contrast by throwing a jacket on top. In any case, “jackets are unisex and recommended for corporate shoots.”

Whatever you wear, make sure that you plan it out in advance — and not just the day before.

“You need to know if something has to be ironed, or cleaned, or isn’t fitting right,” Daugherty says. “While I do retouch images, fixing clothing because it’s ill-fitting or wrinkled will cost you more time. Some people don’t retouch that at all, then you’re left with images you can’t use because your clothing doesn’t look appropriate.”

Makeup

Daugherty, whose services include light retouching, tells clients to come to the session with some makeup on because “studio lighting shows everything.” In general, however, she says people should skew on the side of conservative — though sporting a full-face can depend on the industry.

“If you are a makeup artist and are getting a professional headshot, you can be a little bit more dramatic,” she notes. (Plus, showing off your makeup skills might be part of the appeal.) “But if it’s a corporate professional, I advise them to go neutral. If you want, add a little pop of color — but nothing so distracting that people aren’t paying attention to you; they’re looking at how heavy your makeup is.”

Hair

Daugherty says deciding how to style your hair for a shoot can be “a touchy subject” (as New York City’s new anti-discrimination guidelines have shown). What is deemed “professional” can be highly subjective, so she tells clients to keep their industries in mind, but to come how they feel most comfortable.

“Think about the message you want to send and the ideas that a person is going to have about you before you walk into the room,” she says. “As we know, you can go certain places where certain things aren’t looked at the same — but that’s probably not where you want to work anyway. If somebody is making a judgment because you wear a hijab or because you’re a black woman that has natural hair, if you’re comfortable with yourself (and that’s more important than a particular job), then that’s not where you really want to work anyway.”

How to Pose

Body styling is a subjective matter. Everyone has an idea of which pose, facial expression, or head angle makes them look best. To cover all of the bases, Daugherty asks her clients to try several options.

“I have had people tell me, ‘This is my best side,’ and I make sure that I get that side, but I say, ‘Let’s just make sure we get some from the other side, too, so you have options,’” she says. “It’s better to do it now than for them to come back later like, ‘Oh, I should have tried that and seen what it looked like.’”

Come willing to deviate from your typical “side” — even if you swear you know best. It is easier to get all of your options at one time, rather than suffer from buyer’s remorse, or having to book a redo.

Where to Pose

The point of a headshot is to make your website or professional profile look more polished, so it’s okay to keep your background simple. Brown says if you’re photographed indoors, a clean paper backdrop is generally best. This is doubly true for LinkedIn photos, he says, as the crop area doesn’t allow for much wiggle room.

Considering an outdoors photoshoot? That’s fine — but no one will think you’re boring if you stick to the usual.

“Outdoors is more of a personality choice, but it’s not a bad idea to have an outdoors headshot as an alternative,” he adds. “What matters most in a headshot is your expression. Your confidence in the shot will read the same regardless of whether the background is an outdoor landscape or a paper backdrop.”

What to Do After the Session

Daugherty says many clients tend to like the photos she takes at the end of each session. By that point, they’ve “warmed up” to the process and their body language reflects it — the clenched shoulders and pained expressions melt away.

If that’s you, don’t worry! First, a good photographer will help you feel better. Brown reiterates that “picking the right photographer is imperative, as it is their job to bring that confidence out of the client.” And Daugherty says it’s natural for some people to be more comfortable having their photo taken than others.

To make sure everyone likes the results, she takes a few photos at the beginning of the shoot and then shows people so that they can see, Do I need to make a different expression? Maybe I don’t like my shirt unbuttoned at the top? She also sends clients photo options before the final to make sure they are happy with the selection.

“When I send over the information for headshots (at the beginning of the process), I advise them that retouching includes whitening and brightening teeth and eyes and smoothing skin,” Daugherty explains. She also corresponds with clients at least once after the retouch to make any tweaks. If they ask her to remove a mole or birthmark at that time, she will. “But most of the time, people are pretty comfortable with those signature marks. You want to look your best — but as much like yourself as possible.”

“Keep in mind that your headshot is an investment for you,” she says. “It’s almost like your visual résumé. With social media being such a big opportunity for employers to look up who is applying for jobs, it’s the first opportunity you have to make your presence known.”