Tips for a successful portrait day experience

First, what is a headshot?

A headshot is a capture and reflection of you. Or, at least, the you that you are at the office. I like to think of headshots using the principles of confidence, competence, and approachability. You want to showcase all of these qualities in your portrait, just like you would during an important meeting or interview.

Some think looking confident in their portrait means they need to have a serious expression. This sacrifices approachability, however. To look more approachable, some may dress more casually. This of course may harm the perception of their competence. We tweak each of these dials to capture the best representation of you.

When making decisions leading up to and during your portrait, think about your confidence, competence, and approachability, and which you'd like to lean towards more.

Attire

We recommend dressing as nicely or slightly nicer than you do for the office. Solid colors or large patterns work best for portraits; try to avoid small or busy patterns.

Generally speaking, wearing more than one layer makes for a nicer portrait. Consider incorporating a nice jacket, cardigan, shawl, etc. This is especially recommended for the purpose of avoiding bare shoulders if you are opting for a sleeveless top.

Similarly, if you will be wearing a dress shirt, we highly recommend adding a jacket. Including a tie is up to you, based on how formal or approachable you would like your portrait to be, but shirt/jacket with no tie looks much nicer in portraits than shirt/tie with no jacket.

Make sure your clothes are freshly laundered and free of wrinkles and pet hair. Please refer to your employer for any specific attire requirements.

Makeup

If you wear make-up we recommend doing just slightly more than your normal routine. You still want to look like yourself, so don’t go overboard, but it is true that a slightly heavier coverage generally photographs well. Consider bringing some of the basics to the shoot for last-minute touch-ups.

Hair

We recommend visiting the salon or barber for your normal cut approximately a week before portraits.

Unless you change your style often and you're very familiar with how your hair likes to behave, we recommend not changing your every-day style for the shoot. For example, avoid straitening your naturally curly hair or curling your naturally straight hair the morning of — Often this leads to it not behaving how you expect and/or not feeling like you look like yourself. When in doubt, just do what you do any other morning! Perhaps with just a bit of hair gel or spray.

Smiling

As noted above, looking approachable is an important component of your portrait, and there's no better way to look approachable than to smile!

We don't recommend a serious expression for anyone. A softer, subtler smiler does wonders for approachability without damaging confidence.

Play around with all your different smile 'levels.' Don't be afraid to switch it up and show your teeth, or try a softer smile in a few shots. You'll likely get to review your images immediately and pick the one that works best for you, so don't worry if one shot doesn't turn out to be the one you love.

Relax!

Finally, simply remember to relax! You don't have to do anything special when getting your portrait taken — the photographer will completely direct you into a flattering position and ensure there aren't any details out of place. There will be a lint roller, combs, a mirror, and oil absorbing sheets available for your convenience. In most cases you'll get to review and select your favorite photo immediately from several options taken.

As silly as it sounds, just remembering to breathe and relax is one of the most important things to do and leads to the best, most natural portraits. Try not to overthink it — You'll be just fine!

"Do you edit the photos?"

By default, we edit each person's portrait to look their best. This includes removing fly-aways and blemishes, evening out complexion, and subtly whitening teeth. We want you to say "That looks like me on a great day!" not "That looks like a stranger who's been airbrushed for a magazine."

We do not typically edit more permanent features such as scars unless specifically requested to. Talk to the photographer if you have any concerns or questions.

I look forward to seeing you on portrait day,

—Blake, Owner/Photographer