What Makes A Good Headshot?

What Makes A Good Headshot?

I get asked this question a lot, what makes a good headshot? It’s not complicated but too often I see people not execute this well enough. If you don’t know what goes into making a photograph amazing it can be really easy to miss the boat entirely. And a bad photograph can be the determining factor in whether or not someone is looking to trust you.

Trust is the keyword there! We want people to trust you. A good headshot instills confidence that you know what you’re doing and you’re an expert in your field. I’ve been photographing people for close to a decade now and here are my takeaways.

Good lighting

we want to see your face! Let me repeat that again, we want to see your face. A creative portrait, with fun, colored, or even dramatic lighting is not a professional headshot. Your headshot needs to be well-lit, a little bit of shadow off to the side can add dynamic contrast to the image (so that it’s not flat looking) but we still need it to be bright and evenly lit. Find a photographer who knows how to use light well and all your pictures will look amazing without a doubt.

No trendy editing

Trends are trends for a reason and we don’t want that with your headshot. Look for a photographer who can deliver you clean crisp, true-to-colour images. We want the greens to look green (not brown) and the blues to be blue. And most importantly we want your skin tones to be accurate. No muted tones and nothing overly saturated. Don’t make your images orange! I know that’s currently the trend, to really warm up the images. But a good headshot should be an accurate representation of you. If you want to use trendy editing in your marketing material save it for that, not for your headshot. Trends come and go, we want your headshot to be as classic and as timeless as possible.

Distraction-free

Eliminate the busy and fussy background, seamless backdrops are a great way of achieving this look. But I often like using the space that’s around me for headshots also. If we are to use the space around us, make sure that little things are hidden or tucked away. In post-production, if there’s a light switch on the wall and it’s catching my eye too much I’ll edit it out. It’s little things like that that go a long way. Trust me! The same thing will apply to your clothing. Keep it simple, we want your face and smile to be the highlight of the image, not your clothing. Your clothing is an extension of you, it showcases your personality. But a true headshot places the emphasis on your face, that’s the most important part.

You!

Yes, you play a factor in what makes a good headshot, believe it or not. I want you smiling a looking at the camera, even if you don’t like smiling with your teeth. By the way, teeth showing is not a requirement. I still need you to have a friendly and pleasant demeanor. I know it’s hard to smile on cue, especially if you’re someone who is not comfortable in front of the camera. But a good photographer will know exactly how to get a genuine smile out of you so that it doesn’t look forced. So relax, and place your trust in them. I know I have many tricks up my sleeve on how to obtain this effortless and natural look. When you are relaxed, you will get the photos you need and want!

Retouching

And last but not least, professional retouching. I get asked all the time how much retouching I do, do I do any at all? A professional headshot photographer should be taking the time to individually edit and retouch your photos. Personally, I never batch edit, every single image get’s the time and attention it deserves. We want to aim for naturally edited photos, sensing a theme here? We want it to look like you! With face-tune filters in today’s world, this has gotten harder to navigate. But the goal is to make you look like the very best version of yourself.

A good headshot should always fix skin imperfections, uneven skin tones, and potentially other problem areas that have been pointed out to me by my client. I will also smooth out skin textures and soften deep lines and wrinkles. Notice I didn’t say Photoshop out, lots of clients ask me to, but I won’t do it. Otherwise, frankly, you’ll look fake and plastic, it’s not a good look. It’s just creepy. Besides the face, I’ll clear up flyaways and anything else that I see that’s distracting or that I know is a client’s insecurity.

Finally, please make sure the photographer you’re working with knows how to fix glass glare. If you wear glasses we often get a reflection in our camera. When that happens we can’t actually see your eyes, and it’s important that we do. It is my number one pet peeve as a photographer when I see a professional headshot and there is a glass glare!

I hope that gave you some insight and guidance into what makes a good headshot. Place your trust in a pro and you won’t actually have to worry about a single one of the things I just mentioned. That’s our job and our jobs are to make you look good so that you’re proud to share your headshot everywhere you go. But when hiring someone these are the key things to look out for.

Book your next headshot session with Edmonton portrait photographer Rhiannon here!