What type of headshot do you need??

What is a headshot?

A professional headshot typically means a corporate or business portrait of a person showing their head and shoulders, most often for busienss ‘about us’ pages or for social media profiles. Sometimes called a 'head and shoulders' portrait or a ‘profile portraits’. Actors headshots may show a little more character or mood and business headshots are a little more, well corporate I suppose.

Clients sometimes ask for a 3/4 length portrait or even full length. This is something to discuss on first contact. But for things like profiles or Linkedin portraits you really want to see the person so having the photo too wide showing the location or more body only makes the picture smaller.

Other things to consider before the headshot session is the 'style' of the headshot.

The studio headshot

Headshot portrait photographed in a studio environment, with a plain background and strobe lights. As a professional photographer I would bring these to a clients office but can also be shot in a physical studio. The lighting can be fairly 'traditional' or maybe you’d like to use natural lighting, or you can go a little edgy- something that would be discussed before hand. People often like their staff to come across as personable and friendly which is fine but takes a little more time, to make people feel comfortable and relaxed. Studio sessions are more 'controllable with the lighting and setting so its often a good way to get consistant results, especially if you might have new starters at a later date and need their headshots to match the rest.

Office Headshot / Environmental portrait

Headshots in and around the office

This would be a headshot shot in and around the office working environment or factory. The background of the portrait could feature the office space, choose an interesting wall or area. You may also want to  throw the background out of focus to give a suggestion of the office without it being too literal. People sometimes like having their staff working or perhaps animated in a meeting.

These shots can be a nice way of giving the images more of a context, and show off a little of the companys brand. If the office is modern and has cool interiors then you might want to show that if its relevant.

Headshot portraits outsideor on location

This is often a good solution, weather permitting in the UK;-)

Not every office is photogenic or indeed has the space so creating the headshots outside is a nice option. You may want to celebrate the area in which the office is situated in. You might be in the business district and want to show that off this with the edgy buildings and glazing or in the cool area of Shorditch and want to show this in some way. It might simply be a headshot in a green space that gives a nice feel. Even just having people near a nice wall works really well. Simple is best in my opinion.