Headshot Preparation: Look Your Best For Your Business Headshots

Morton Visuals wants to ensure that you look your very best for your headshot session. So we’ve compiled a listing of tips to help you with your headshot preparation. To that end, we consulted with professional Makeup Artist Mary Erickson, a 30-year veteran in the world of commercial print and advertising. Recently retired, Mary now focuses on her highly successful professional makeup store. Her recommended tips are listed below. (The photographer’s suggestions are added in italics.)

• Bring shirts with a collar as well as different necklines.
• Women should bring at least 6 different tops to choose from. Men should bring several (3-4) different shirts and/or ties.
• No sleeveless shirts for headshots, they can make the arms look big and distracts from the face.
• No solid white. Men’s dress shirts under a jacket are the exception.
• If you’re very light-skinned you may want to avoid solid black.
• Solid colors are ideal; stay away from busy patterns and busy prints. For men, a dress shirt often gets “scrunched” under a suit jacket or sports coat. If the shirt is striped or patterned, retouching those wrinkles will be virtually impossible.
• Bring a lint brush or lint roller, fuzz will show on dark colors.
• Make sure your clothes are pressed and clean – very few photographers have irons or extra time. Photo retouching on soiled or wrinkled clothes will usually cost extra. Bring your wardrobe to the shoot on hangers.
• Stay away from clothes with big buttons or ornaments that shine and compete for attention.
• If you wear earrings they should be small studs. Keep jewelry at a minimum, because anything flashy will distract from you.
• Men should be clean-shaven, and a recent haircut is recommended.
• If desired, we can recommend a professional makeup artist to ensure that your makeup is flawless.

Remember, whether your headshots are for your social media image or business branding for your professional resume, you want to present your very best image to your prospective clients or employers. Headshot preparation will help ensure you present the very best “you” in your images.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below.

Note: This article was originally published on the Morton Visuals photography blog. Updates included here.