New Headshots or Root Canal?
When was the last time you felt good about an image of yourself? Many people would rather have root canal than have their headshot taken. They procrastinate, use a photo from years ago, or one from their cousin’s wedding, or worse yet a vacation photo. The procrastination often leads to more anxiety (that’s a topic for another post), and more people viewing that image that really isn’t the best of you.
For LinkedIn or our business website, we want our image to show the best of ourselves and reflect our brand (yes, you do have a brand, whether deliberate or not), our experience, energy, competence – and for most people, approachability. The image should be memorable (in a good way) and speak to the audience we want to see that image. The look and feel of the image should be contextually appropriate to you, your business/profession – for example, the look for a criminal attorney should be different than that for a career coach. The image of the criminal attorney needs to look more serious, powerful – conveying that he/she is ready to do battle in a smart way. On the other hand, the image of the career coach needs to convey some empathy, understanding, approachability, and competence.
To achieve this look, the photographer should not only understand this, but also be skilled in using the key elements of creating a great headshot: lighting, expression/pose, background. Of these, the most important is expression. When we meet someone in person, the first thing we notice is their face – their eyes, mouth, expression – they (and we) most often immediately smile to some degree, and our conscious/sub-conscious is already reacting. We have a gut feel – studies have shown that upon seeing a person (or their image), we make a judgement call on their trustworthiness and competence in as little as 80 milliseconds!
The expression in an image is even more important as it’s a moment in time – there’s no voice, no animation – we want to capture that moment that conveys the right message – creating the best 1st impression. But few of us actually look in the mirror to see how we look from a expression perspective, unless you’re an actor. We smile because it’s a natural reaction, but being in front of a camera and smiling feels all sorts of weird – people start over thinking what to do, and worry about all the things they don’t like about how they look.
It's the photographers’ job to help people navigate through these challenges, feel more comfortable in front of the camera, direct/coach them, and capture that moment that draws the viewer in showing the best of the person and amplifying their brand. It’s an iterative and collaborative process utilizing all the photography tools we have – but most important are people skills.
And it’s amazing to see the progression – Abdulghani is CEO of Wisehub, a provider of healthcare management and consulting services to healthcare groups. Given his client base/target market, we want to convey his experience/knowledge and skills, along with his collaborative approach. The images here show a progression in energy, look/expression, all leading to the last image that really draws you in – he looks confident, experienced yet someone who has energy and drive. In short, someone you’d want to work with.
