You’ve probably admired the stock photos that your business muses have on their websites – of themselves. How do they get those great shots in which they look so poised and professional? Is their best friend snapping pictures on her iPhone?
More than likely, that person hired a professional photographer and set an appointment devoted to taking pictures. Stock images of yourself can be used in countless ways: in blog posts, on your website, in email updates, on promotional materials, on social media channels, and more. When your business brand is built around you as a person, your prospective clients want to identify with you. We want to do business with a human, not a logo. When you imagine hiring a coach or a social media consultant or marketer, you probably imagine someone who is friendly, knowledgeable, and warm. You imagine working with a person with a face.
Photos go a long way toward presenting the type of person you are to work with, whether you are a lawyer or a tattoo artist. Since you are a professional, you want professional photos to convey your uniqueness within your industry. If the idea of spending money on photographs is strange, remember that these photos are an investment in your business and marketing materials. You want good lighting, high quality clothes, good makeup, at a neutral-but-interesting venue, and a skilled photographer. If you’re never had a photoshoot before, the prospect may be daunting. But never fear! All it takes is some communication and planning. I crowdsourced some best practices for preparing for a photoshoot, and here is what I learned:
Work with your photographer:
“Be patient. Don’t ask to see pictures as they’re taken. The big secret is that you’ll likely only get a teeny-tiny handful of good ones (two? five?) from hundreds of hundreds of shots. The more you can stand being taken, the more usable results.” – Christine Bower
“Occasionally I’ll show my client a shot in the middle of the shoot if they look super fabulous in it and I think it’ll boost their confidence. But I always hate it when the model constantly asks to check – it’s ruining the flow of the shoot. You’re probably only going to get like 3-10 really excellent shots out of it. That’s totally normal and a large part of the photo-taking process, don’t stress about it.” –Mari Provencher
Venue:
“We just walked around downtown – she knew which walls and locations to stop at. The table one was just a random table outside of a salon. I bet you could find a cafe that wouldn’t be crowded during a week day – I’d just call and check that it’s ok to shoot there beforehand.” – Sarah Morgan
“Don’t do anything in someone else’s place of business unless you call ahead. There’ll be lights, piles of stuff, alternate cameras [editor’s note – not always!] so be mindful people might stroll off with some. Tip very well if you’re invading someone’s time/space like that and they work for tips.” – Christine Bower
“I did mine in a Breather room — this is available only in NYC, SF, and Boston. Some swanky coworking spaces will rent a conference room to an outsider for $40 an hour or whatnot.
There’s also the “city park” thing, where you’re in focus and all the people in the park are blurred in the background. The idea is to look as though this is a park that working people eat lunch and look over their papers in, as opposed to “Why is she wearing a blazer to barbecue/play softball.”
I also did some cafe photos in a cafe I had been a very good customer of for a year. I just went at a quiet time, the photographer took a couple of quick photos as though maybe he was just my buddy or something, and then I asked the owner if we could take more photos. Given the go-ahead, the photographer set up a light and we did it for real. In and out in 20 min.” – Jen Dziura
“Book a venue with good soft natural light so it’s harder to take bad photos. Somewhere with a skylight is often a great bet. Or somewhere with big windows. Or shoot outside on a cloudy day.” – Mari Provencher
“One thing I would strongly advise is to have a planning session with your photographer friend before the shoot so you are both on the same page of what you want and you can utilize her expertise into planning your shoot. Also make a list of the types of photos you’ll need (vertical, horizontal, pointing at something, etc). You’re going to have so much fun!” – Naomi Nakamura
Clothes, Hair, and Makeup:
“Do multiple outfits so you have options. Colors that you feel great in. Shapes that feel good to wear (i.e. You aren’t going to feel the need to be constantly tugging/adjusting/sucking it in). If you have something ‘signature’-a piece of jewelry, a blazer, a scarf that is just quintessentially you, by all means have that as part of at least one outfit.” – Casey Erin Clark
“The outfits that look better on camera aren’t always your favorites in person. You can even test this by snapping selfies in your home mirror–sometimes a certain fabric (SHINY) doesn’t photograph happily or something that looks badass when you’re in motion is shapeless in a still shot (<–my biggest issue since I love oversized clothes and dramatic shapes).” – Sarah JJ Caffey
“Wear your hair in a way that is natural to you so you recognize yourself. Wear matte makeup – even eyeshadow – because shiny looks weird in photos. Wear a color you usually wear, even if it is black. You can add a pop of color with a necklace.” – Olive Henley
“Check the clothing in advance – I once had my own head shots taken, and I wore some professional clothes and some “casual” clothes, and when I looked at the “casual” ones later I was shocked at how inadvertently sexual they were. I did NOT realize how low the neckline on that green shirt was, or how it would read against our various backgrounds. Got a little too ‘lady of the night’ to be any use for work.” – Mari Provencher
Body:
“The biggest “one weird trick” I learned through multiple headshot shoots – the quickest way to take photos that are stiff and unnatural is to stop breathing–which we all tend to do when we just ‘pose.’ Ideally, your photographer will give you some direction and keep you chatting as she shoots you. But if not, check in with yourself every few minutes and breathe!” – Casey Erin Clark
“Spend some time in front of a mirror figuring out what poses look good and getting used to how they feel. Often the best looking poses feel unnatural and it takes a little time to get used to having a normal look on your face while in them.” – Mary Cyn
“I always tell models to squeeze their shoulder blades together. It feels unnatural and like you’re sticking your boobs out way too much, but I promise it doesn’t read that way on camera. Also, when your photo is being taken move a little bit between shots – tilt your head a different way, laugh, smile, pull faces if it helps you relax – your photographer will be looking for all the little microexpressions in between these things more than the standard posed, smiling look.” – Mari Provencher
“Being photogenic is a skill, and you have the power to master it just as well as those models and celebrities you see in the magazines. It just takes a little practice, finesse, and knowledge about what looks good on camera—and what doesn’t.” – Heidi Hapanowicz (professional photographer recommended by Naomi Nakaumra)
“The best way to pose for any picture is to first feel the emotion you want to get across. Are you posing to look interested in your laptop? Find something interesting in your laptop, or imagine you’re doing something interesting and let your body and face fall into its natural motions. Trying to look sad? Nothing better than thinking of something legitimately sad and letting yourself be vulnerable in front of the camera. This way will always be believable, and once we get to believable, we can get to it looking really good.” – Sam Czeh
Remember they’re just pictures!
Though these are a lot of recommendations, don’t forget to enjoy getting your pictures done! Spend some time thinking the tone you want to set for your business, about clothes that you like and an appropriate venue, then trust your photography and relax. Remember, you want your photos to look like you.
For folks in the Washington, DC area, I look forward to getting pictures taken by Sam Czeh. I also recommend Tamzin Smith.
(Image of Sam Czeh taken by @ease)
