How to get a great headshot.

What makes a good headshot? Is it just a case of saying “Say Cheese”?

The answer is that it depends on how you are going to use the image. If you need a shot for your personal Facebook page then usually a smiling shot works great. If we are talking about a business headshot then the answer may be different so in this article I am going to share with you what I think makes a great headshot.

• Expression. Let’s start with what I think is the most important component. Your expression needs to speak to the viewer and it needs to communicate the right message. Are you trying to come across as trusting, friendly, confident, knowledgeable, etc? Your image will form a first impression that can’t be undone so it needs to be right from the start so make sure you get it right.

• Lighting. The way your light someone’s face can change the mood and the feel of the image. It can also be flattering to specific features if you can craft the light to do so. This is something I see people get wrong all the time. They use light that is too hard and really unflattering so make sure you use soft light all the way.

• Posing. Why would posing be required to get a headshot? The way you stand affects every other part of your body, including shoulders and neck which are part of your headshot. So make sure that the way you stand and the way you pose is complementing to the overall look.

• Wardrobe/Hair/Makeup. These are huge! Did you know that your eye will automatically look at the brightest part of a photo first? If you look at images of successful business people you will notice that the clothes they are wearing compliment the photo. They don’t take over the photo. Do you also notice that successful women don’t seem to be wearing makeup? They are but it is applied so well that it appears that they are not wearing any. All these things are unconscious changes that lift the quality of the image.

• Camera, lenses, lights, photoshop, etc. I included these here in order to exclude them. That may sound like a strange sentence but the truth is that a good headshot photographer can get a great photo using nothing but a smartphone. This is because the equipment is only a tool. It’s not the tool but the knowledge of how to use that tool that is important.

Of course, the best way to get a headshot photograph is to see a headshot photographer. Even photographers have their photo taken by other photographers. It’s not expensive and you are guided the whole way. It’s an investment in you.

Want to know how I can help with your headshot or commercial photography. Click HERE

What is diffused light?

You often hear photographers refer to ‘diffused light’ and you may be wondering what this is and why it’s needed. Diffused light is simply taking a source of light and changing the characteristics. Some of these characteristics could be brightness, size and shape. A source of light is usually small. If you can imagine a flashlight being pointed straight at a AA battery, you will then notice you get some hard shadows behind the battery. This is because light travels in a straight line and cannot illuminate behind the battery. If we then introduce some card-sized diffusion material such as tracing paper, the source of the light becomes bigger. At this point, the diffuser takes over from the flashlight and it is now the source of illumination for our AA battery. But the source is now bigger which means it can illuminate it from more angles. It can now see a little more around the battery than the flashlight could. It’s a little like standing still in front of something and moving your head slightly from side to side. You will see a little more around your subject. Because of this effect, you will get soft shadows. The larger your diffused light source (in relation to your subject) the softer the light and shadows. A perfect example of this is on a cloudy day. All hard shadows are gone because it is not being illuminated by the sun, it is being illuminated by the clouds which take the light from the sun and diffuse it. All of this results in hard light being transformed into more a glow. The 2 images below demonstrate this.

Image with no diffuser

Image with diffuser (tissue paper)

There are a lot of reasons for wanting to do this. The main one is when photographing people. Soft light is more flattering on the skin because it can hide imperfection in the skin.

This is not the only option of course as they also used to get rid of shadows all together and softly illuminate products.

Diffusers come in all shapes, sizes and prices. Sometimes a white wall that you can bounce light off is all you need. Other times you may require massive octa-boxes costing thousands of dollars. But to get started head over to your local art supplier and get yourself some tracing paper or a white translucent shower curtain and experiment to see what kind of results you get.

Why is commercial photography necessary?

Most people don’t really understand the reason why a commercial photographer is required. Of course, big businesses and successful marketers know exactly why you should use them and have been using them for a long time to help sell their product as well as increasing brand awareness. So why do they use commercial photographers? Because it works! Commercial photography goes beyond taking an image of a product or a person. The actual taking of the photograph is only a small part of the process that usually occurs towards the end of the process. That is because the image itself is normally engineered a long time before the photographer clicks the button. The reason for this is that the intent of the image is to have an effect on potential buyers. There is a very high level of psychology that take place to make sure that the image evokes a response. The main reason for this is to push the client into buying the product or the service. This is something that smaller business don’t always understand and it is a bit of secret for those that do.

It is not unusual for large companies to spend upwards of $250,000.00 on one single campaign in some cases more. Why do they do this? Because they can make back the money many times over.

Spending this level of money is not required in most cases but it does illustrate the point that it works. We have had postitive ROI (Return On Investment) on shoots with budget as little as $500. So the next time you are looking through a magazine and see an image of a delicious lamb chop or a bowl of pasta and your mouth starts to water you will know that there was a team of people working in the background to get you to react that way.

What could professional photography do for your business? Maybe we can help. Get in touch for a obligation free chat.

Turbo charge your online presence. TIP #1 - Social media banner

Banners are a fantastic way to add loads of credibility to your online presence. Not to mention standing out from the rest. The main issue with social media these days is that there is so much noise that it has become extremely difficult to stand out. By adding a banner in your profile you can add content that straightens your brand. My banner below immediately communicates what my profile is about. This example is my facebook profile but profile banners exist in most social media networks like Facebook and LinkedIn.

It’s been suggested that we remember around 10% of what we hear, 20% of what we read and 80% of what we see so make this image count and ensure that it speaks for you.

THE SCIENCE OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I’m sure you’ve heard this line “You’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression”.  Well, it now seems that we have some proof that this is actually true.  A Princeton University study by psychologist Alex Todorov and co-author of the study Janine Willis found that the your initial impression is made very early on. The study consisted of about 200 people being shown images of 66 faces for different durations.  The durations where 100 milliseconds, 500 milliseconds and a full second.  After being shown the images the observers were asked to rate if they thought the faces looked trustworthy or not.  They were also asked how confident they were about their rating.  The experiment also included other ratings like likeability and competence.  

The results of the experiment found that not only did the people not change their minds but as they were asked to look at the images for a longer period it actually reinforced their initial rating.  It has been suggested in other studies that this is due to your brain trying to reinforce that it is in fact correct.

This is even more important in today’s life because very often your first impression to someone else occurs digitally.  That is, someone sees a photo of you on social media, resume, email, or other medium and instantly forms an opinion of you.  This becomes even more important when there is something riding on you making a good impression.  A job interview is a good example of this.  This image is representing you when you are not there and if it’s going to be your first attempt to get through the door you better make sure it’s a good one. 

We regularly see people that use a selfie to represent themselves online.  When going head to head with another candidate that has a professional photo on their site…..  you’ve probably already lost.  We recommend having a professional photo taken that not only captures you at your best but is also in the style that matches your requirements.  A professional head shot is not easy to get right.  We normally spend around 30-45 minutes with each individual working and coaching them on pose, expression, hair & make, wardrobe and much more.

You’ve spent so much money on that new suit for you interview so why not invest a fraction of that on a hidden advantage? I can help you get that advantage. Click HERE

Want to learn more about the study. Check it out here.

https://www.princeton.edu/news/2006/08/22/snap-judgments-decide-faces-character-psychologist-finds