I can’t count the number of times I’ve clicked on the ‘About Me’ page of an otherwise professional website and cringed at the out-of-focus snapshot being used for the headshot. Why go to all the trouble of designing a nice website only to let it down with a lackluster photo?
I was in Auckland recently and saw a huge promotional billboard for a local Member of Parliament – with an absolutely terrible photo that was both backfocused and badly lit. It was clearly a point-and-shoot snapshot that the head had been cropped from and blown up beyond what the resolution could handle. What a shame.
What is a ‘professional’ image?
Michelle Sullivan, web designer and blogger. Photo by Sharon Blance
Promotional headshots are so important to anyone who needs to project a professional image: corporates, politicians, real estate agents, personal trainers, MCs, public speakers, actors, entertainers, authors and writers, and, of course, photographers.
And when I say these people need a ‘professional image’, that doesn’t necessarily mean ‘conservative’. An entertainer or stage performer may want a quirky or comedic headshot to suit their style, but it still needs to look professional – correctly focused, well lit, well posed, high res.
An experienced professional headshot photographer will know how to bring out the best in you. They’ll select what lens to use and what angle to shoot from to best flatter your features, as well as an appropriate lighting setup. Lighting design can be used to flatter particular face shapes (e.g. broad-lighting vs short-lighting) as well as to convey a feeling (e.g. moody softbox look vs. hard-edged cross-lighting).
A professionally executed headshot – where pose, composition and lighting are all carefully orchestrated – will give the right impression to the viewer: “This is a person who will conduct themselves in a professional manner and do things properly. I trust them with my money/project.”
Creating trust with your headshot
A promotional headshot is about trust, and fostering trust on the part of the viewer.
If you were hiring a performer or MC to entertain at your 100 guest, 1940s-themed 40th birthday bash, would you trust the one with the blurry snapshot photo, or the one with the professionally lit, sharp and well composed photo?
The first photo says “I do things on the cheap and get away with the least amount of effort required.” The second says “I place great importance on, and invest the time and money in, doing things properly and to a high standard.”
Having a sharp, well-lit and well-composed photo isn’t just so people can see what you look like – it’s also so they can place trust in your professionalism.
Conveying the right image
A promotional headshot is also about image – and conveying the right one. This is dependent on the line of work of the subject and the image they wish to portray. I view ‘image’ here as the flavour or personality in the photo. All headshots should be professional (technically well executed), regardless of the chosen image desired to portray.
Here’s a couple of examples:
Award-winning New Zealand novelist Rachael King needed updated headshots for the ensuing promotional marketing machine that would accompany the release of her new book Magpie Hall (which, by the way, is a fantastic novel). Rachael writes deeply engrossing, detail-rich novels with elements of mystery, tragedy and intrigue. She wanted a good, solid promotional headshot suitable for use in magazines, newspapers, point-of-sale displays and on her newly designed website. But she didn’t want to look ‘too boring’, as she’s not a conservative person by nature.
I created professionally executed headshots of her that captured her sense of fun and personality. Rachael loves the photos so much that she insists that magazines and newspapers use them rather than sending a photographer to take their own.
Let’s look at a more corporate example. My partner Brence Coghill works for a software development company. The company decided to make ‘personal profiles’ on their management staff to make available to potential clients, so that clients could read about the skills and experience of the team members – essentially an exercise in creating trust (there’s that word again!) showing clients that the people they’d be hiring are professionals who would do the job properly.
Staff were asked to submit headshots for their profiles. Brence asked if I would create a headshot for him, as the only headshot that had been done at his company was snapped by the receptionist and he wanted something more professional. I set up studio lights and took a series of corporate style headshots, and we selected the best one for his profile.
Who would you trust with your important software project – the guy who was lined up against an office wall and snapped with a point-and-shoot camera, or this guy:
When Brence submitted his photo some of the other staff members were jealous that he looked so professional in comparison to their photos. “No fair,” one guy protested, “Brence looks like the CEO!”
Image is everything, and for people who need to create trust in their potential clients, your promotional headshot should speak volumes. It needs to say “I’m professional. I care about doing things properly. I won’t let you down.”
What does your current headshot say?
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