3 TIPS FOR TAKING BETTER HEADSHOTS AT HOME
So often I see professionals using a phone selfie, a cropped image of themselves at a wedding or an out of date headshot on their LinkedIn profile. Come on! You’re better than that, so your LinkedIn headshot should reflect your value.
Sometimes it might not be possible, or affordable, to hire a professional headshot photographer to take your LinkedIn profile photo, so here are three quick tips on how to take your own headshot - even without professional equipment. All you’ll need is a phone with a decent enough camera (anything made in the last five years will be fine), some nice, natural light (stay away from artificial light as most home or commercial properties have lights that are either too orange or too green), a large piece of white card, and a tripod. As a disclaimer, the results you get with this method won’t be ground breaking photography, and I doubt any photographer will be worried about you taking their job. But it’ll do in a pinch.
LOCATION
Find yourself a simple white or grey wall near a large window with enough space to stand in so you’re not too cramped in a corner. The last thing you want is to look hemmed into a corner in your professional headshot. Position yourself so the light isn’t directly on one side, you don’t want the entirety of one side of your face to be in shadow, so make sure there’s at the very least a triangle of light on the cheek opposite the light source. If you can, prop up your large sheet of white card so it’s on the darker side of your face, lifting those shadows up so you don’t look like a creature from a horror movie. For this you can use a pillow case, white shirt, or similar hung at head height, just so long as it can act as a reflector to bounce some light back onto your face.
CAMERA
Prop your phone/camera up on a small tripod/gorilla pod - you can pick these up for less than £20 online, or from your local camera store. Your phone might have to be on a table or high chair, or of course it’s even easier if your friend/loved one/child/neighbour holds the phone for you. You want the height of the phone to be just below the level of your chin, but angled slightly up so that you dominate the frame - if you have the camera higher than your head, it’ll look like you’re in a weak position in the frame - not a look you want in a corporate LinkedIn headshot. Frame the shot so that you include a decent portion of your shoulders, but not below the elbow, so that you have a good amount of space around your head, but not so much that you look tiny in the frame. Set the timer (or have your companion click the shutter) and get yourself in position. You’ll need a few tries at this, so don’t worry if you suddenly find yourself taking hundreds of shots.
EXPRESSION
Your face is going to be the clincher here. You’re going to have to practice posing in a way that looks natural. But its ok, I’m here to help you. First of all, let’s avoid looking like we’ve just seen a ghost - so, no wide open eyes, yes they may be your best asset, windows to your soul etc, but being able to see white around your iris will make you look terrified. So, squinch a little - just raise the bottom eyelids enough to make it look like you’re confident and warm. Feel free to smile, if you’;re confident about your teeth, go for a full wide smile, but even a little wry smile can make all the difference. You want to make sure you’re not blank faced in your headshot, so having a thought in your head is a good idea - maybe put a podcast on in the background, or listen to a comedian - having a through in your head that you let yourself react to is good. Don’t try and pose too seriously.
Now, you may have the most chiseled jawbone in your street, but we all need a little tip to help our jaws to look more defined - imagine you’re a turtle, and pop your chin out. Don’t lift your chin up, keep that face and on the same plane, but jut it out towards the camera an inch. It’ll make all the difference.
These quick tips will help you get a better headshot at home, but of course, if you want to invest in your image, I would always recommend seeking out a professional headshot photographer. Feel free to head over to my business headshot page to see some of my work, and see how good a LinkedIn photograph could be.