This is a very helpful guide for anyone who is an Entrepreneur, Actor, Artist, Director etc or anyone who needs to put a face to front their business
The first thing to remember when it comes to your headshot is it's a shot of just your head - literally (& maybe your shoulders & upper chest, too...). Your face is the focus & point of the image & so it's important to get it right.
So here are a few tip to help you take your own headshots.
Tip 1 - Make sure your hair is tidy...
Use your favourite styling products & accessories - do whatever you need to do: your hair should be frizz-free. Tame it, or maybe you like the frizz, but just control that frizz with a manicured look. Guys, shave or trim nice & neat the night before you shoot.
Tip 2 - Clear Mascara - for stray hairs and frizz
Sometimes when you're taking pictures and your hair type is 'fine flyaway' or 'frizzy' hair, clear mascara can help hide any stray strands that stick out. There's nothing worse than having to remove stray hairs later in editing, so invest in some clear mascara and brush it on any distracting hairs to keep it in place.
Tip 3 - Makeup is important...
We're not talking full on face, but even if you don't wear makeup, get yourself some translucent or pressed powder that you can use to blot any oil and grease. Sometimes when you take photos, you can get sweaty, especially under studio lights and sweat doesn't translate too well on-camera. Sweat can cause highlights that might blow out in the image (white shiny spots and streaks caused by shine). So get yourself a little powder and if you have any blemishes, just use a light coverage powder or foundation. Lightly applied makeup can make a huge difference to your headshots.
Tip 4 - Make sure your lips are moisturised!
There's nothing worse than taking the 'perfect' photo of yourself and then you look closely & see dry lips! Having to fix this later in post-production can be difficult, time consuming and might leave your lips looking unnatural. Avoid the headache and just make sure your lips are smooth and moist.
Tip 5 - Wardrobe
You are your own wardrobe stylist: choose things that aren't crazy or flamboyant - nothing should distract from your face. Simple, smart or casual, just make it presentable and suitable for what you need the headshot for. Make sure your selection is well ironed, or steamed. Choose complementary colours. Avoid bold or loud patterns and prints. Similarly, you should avoid fine prints & patterns e.g. certain types of knitted materials: the lines can sometimes create distraction or generate 'noise' (moire) in the image. Be sure to use a lint remover if you have pets.
Now the nitty-gritty: what you're shooting on - you can shoot with a Phone, DSLR, Mirrorless, anything you have, as long as it can capture a clean sharp image. If your phone is old and it can't take a sharp image, I would suggest borrowing a friends phone that can. Your headshot image should be clean and clear.
Tip 6 - Remote Control
Invest in a remote control (you could do a self-timer, but that's a lot of running around when you are shooting on your own) I highly recommend a remote control. I got this one on Amazon but it only works if your camera has the capability to be remote released. So if you're buying one, just make sure the remote is compatible with the camera you are using it with, that's key. There are also remote triggers available for phones, again ensure you check compatibility with your device when choosing one.
Tip 8 - Lens
Next is the lens. I would recommend a 50mm lens if you have a camera that can have an interchangeable lens. It's an affordable lens and 50mm is close to the human eye. This is my 50mm lens. It's my least expensive lens but it works wonderfully. Again, when choosing a lens, you must ensure it is compatible with the camera that you are using.
Tip 9 - Setting up for your shoot:
When you're shooting give yourself a good amount of distance between yourself and the camera. You don't want to be too close to the camera because you're going to start to distort your face and things are going to appear bigger than usual. Give yourself at least two arms lengths of space.
Also, give yourself some distance between you and the wall. You can go up against the wall, but if you're trying to "pop out" and be surreal and 3D like, the further away you are from the wall the more depth and out of focus the background is going to be.
Tip 10 - Tripod
You will need a tripod with a solid base. You don't want to get something that's flimsy and breaks easily. I do recommend investing in a good tripod like this tripod and considering, that you're not shooting with someone else, you're shooting by yourself, you need all the help you can get, so get a good, solid tripod.
Tip 11 - Lighting
I would suggest natural light. You can do it at your house, your friend's house, somebody's place, somewhere where you can setup a tripod, and get access to the window. I like lighting that comes from front-on versus lighting from the side because when you have light from the side, it starts to create shadows, unless that works if you're going for a certain look, but for this purpose, you want to see your head and all your perfections.
You want natural light that fills in your face, it is key to an evenly exposed picture. Choose a time of day where you are getting the most light coming through the windows. I would also suggest using a whiteboard. You can get it from a stationary store anywhere, there is a whiteboard here on Amazon. It doesn't even have to be a board, but I prefer something solid and stable for easier positioning. You can also use a piece of cardboard paper, whatever, just get yourself some white flat surface that you can hold and bounce light. this is going to fill in the shadows, and it's also going to create a little glint in your eyes.
Tip 12 - Tidy Up
It is important to clear out whatever distractions are taking away from your head in the background. Now I’m not asking you to scrub and move furniture etc, but you do need to clean up everything that is going to be in the frame.
If you find that you have too much distraction in the background, you could easily invest in a dust-sheet that can serve as a nice backdrop. See link here for dust sheet, they’re cheap and will give you a nice clean background and at a fraction of the cost of an actual backdrop! As long as there is somewhere you can hang it from or stick it to. If you do use a material backdrop, remember to iron it if you find creases in it and drape it neatly.
Tip 13 - Poses:
So what pose are you serving this lens? You can give a full frontal face on, you can give a three-quarter shoulder, an essential tip when photographing the arm is the arm trick, which is you don't ever want to be squeezing your armpit together. If you just lift your arm up, it's going to be like, "Oh, skinny arm!" The skinny arm effect.
Turtle neck! I'm all about the turtle neck pose. What is the Turtle Neck? When you stick your chin out and down. So you don't have the turtle double-chin happening. Also, don't forget the position of the camera if you bring it lower it may give you a double chin, if you bring it higher it's going to make you look more slender, youthful and young.
Tip 14 - Camera Level
I prefer the camera at eye level. Eye Level gives a clear look into your eyes and just says more confidence. You know what I'm saying? However, feel free to create a few with different Camera levels, remember eye level and above never below.
Tip 15 - Expressions
After all that is said and done, you can have the most perfect photo, but if your eyes are dead your headshot is just ordinary. You have to make sure your eyes are engaged, which is really, really hard when you're shooting by yourself.
When you're shooting with a photographer, a really good photographer will be able to excite you and give you direction and just give you something to work with.
When you're by yourself you have to create all of that yourself. So if you need to take a moment and think of something real funny and serve it "sm-eyes." Your eyes need to smile. Your face doesn't need to, it could. You can give them like teeth, but if you give them teeth with no eyes like Chandler in Friends "The Engagement Picture"... Wrong, Wrong! All wrong!
So give the camera "sm-eyes." A trick I would try is to close your eyes, think of something funny and then open up.
So there you have it, 15 tips into creating your own headshots. If you would like to find out more about cameras and settings, and also photographing with your phone, please sign up to the mailing list and I will update you with more guides in our newsletters soon.
Remember to do you, be you, and stay true.
Useful link:
(Here is a link on Pinterest that may help you with poses).
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