Old-fashioned professional headshots don’t make sense to anyone anymore. Times have changed and so have professional headshot examples. In this modern age, people demand realistic, natural, and expressive photos Below, these 25 male and female professional headshot examples give you exactly what you need for modern, stylish, and professional headshots.
1. To be simple
The most common and easiest way to pose is to just be quiet and be yourself. Don’t panic and don’t give the impression of fear. Just keep your back straight and lean slightly towards the camera, keeping your face normal.
2. Little Angling
Don’t stand straight in front of the camera. Angle your body slightly which makes it a more friendly and approachable figure.
3. Arm crossed
This is another great way to express yourself in a friendly way. All you need to do is cross your arms naturally and have a smiling face. This type of image can be great for lawyers and executives.
4. Showing emotion
Bring out the right emotions in your headshot. In this pose, you want to display happiness, confidence, and intelligence so that your clients can better understand your approach.
5. Leaning the head towards the shoulders
Your head tilts slightly towards your shoulder, right or left, creating a great portrait. In this case, you have to look at the balance of your body. Because there is a high chance of slipping and ruining your shot.
6. Lower the chin slightly
When posing for a professional headshot, don’t let your chin look messy. Lower your chin slightly and lean your face towards the camera. This way, you can make your headshot look more professional.
7. Taking random shots in motion
For sexier headshot conditions in outdoor activities, taking shots in motion enhances your style. You just border, walk jump and fix hair. It will get you into a pose that no one else will.
8. Changes in facial expressions
This example shows how to give your facial expression the look of a professional headshot. Don’t lock your face into one expression when you can change your face into different expressions. This will allow you to check which expression best matches the headshot.
9. Wearing glasses
Another pose that brings a professional touch to your door. If you are not used to wearing glasses, you can consider the glasses in the right position. Think about the pose, what poses will look professional with the glasses, and take multiple shots so you can judge which one suits you best. This image shows the model wearing glasses and holding them in her hands – good for yourself.
10. With hands-on support
It’s a good idea to take a professional headshot when you sit in the chair. It can be anything: the arm of a chair, the table, your own lower limb, and anything else you need to put your hands on. You should look more balanced when you shoot in this style.
11. Hiding the face
Today, people want to make their professional headshots more attractive. You can make your own by hiding your face with an object. It can be anything: your clothes, the wall, or your hands to hide your face a little.
12. Playing with shadows
A great musical example of showing a professional headshot attitude. To achieve such a shot, you should set up the lighting correctly. Keep changing the light position until you get the shot you were looking for.
13. Downcast
When someone looks down, they do it to think deeply about something. This can be a good pose for professional headshots. The picture above shows a thoughtful mood and happiness.
14. Laughing
When it comes to the smiling part of your photo shoot, it can confuse you on how to smile. Remember that it doesn’t matter if you smile with your teeth or not. Forcing a smile doesn’t make it natural, so be yourself while smiling.
15. Hands on hips
This style conveys that you work hard but still enjoy and have fun at your workplace.
16. Leaning into the camera
This pose conveys a more relaxed image that may please your clients.
17. Loose hands
Leave your hands as they are. As the arms connect to your shoulders, you want your hands where they should be.
18. Being yourself
This image shows that the model is relaxed and happy with the pose. Take a shot like this, be yourself. No one knows about your posture but you, so pose in a way that shows yourself.
19. Showing or talking
In a professional environment, it is normal to talk to clients or show them something. Follow this example that represents happiness at work. To take this type of shot, speak or act like you speak. Don’t remember that you are taking the shot.
20. Leaning against the wall
This professional headshot example shows how to take a shot leaning against a wall. This type of posture conveys more relaxation at work. To take this kind of shot, choose the right wall so that it doesn’t spoil your image. Make sure your body is more balanced by leaning against the wall.
Head Shoot Tips
San Francisco Bay Area photographer specializing in unique, powerful, beautiful professional business headshots, professional portraits, executive headshots, websites, social media, press and corporate LinkedIn profiles for women. Whether you’re looking for a natural, casual headshot, personal branding for your website or a customized backdrop for your personality, let’s talk!
When it comes to your headshot, photos provide increased visibility through Google Image Search as well as increased views on sites like Linkedin (members with a profile photo get 21 times more profile views than those without a profile photo).
Female Professional Headshots – San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley and Beyond
My vision for professional business woman headshots is to highlight women’s strengths and capture personality in a flattering, uniquely customized environment. Location scouting and creative direction are my specialties and I help with costumes, poses, clothing selection, hair placement and color coordination for photoshoots.
I shoot for professional photos outdoors, public spaces, reaching client sites with natural light. I want a balance of professionalism, confidence, approachability and confidence in my photos and portraits for women.
Click on the photos below for female headshot examples in various outdoor settings, public spaces and client sites.
For LinkedIn headshot tips including cropping, sizing, posing, spacing, clothing, etc., read this
Women’s Headshots: What to Wear for Professional Headshots, What a Woman Should Wear for a Headshot
For women’s outfit headshot tips including hair, makeup and clothing: read this guide.
What size and orientation you need, how often you should update your headshot, cropping tips, wearing colors, how to look good in your headshot and smile for your headshot, how to pose
How to get great headshots
Photographer James offers his advice on how to make sure you nail your headshot shoot. When you get that audition, this is your first selling point, so it has to be the best it can be! Your headshot photo is the ultimate investment in your career advancement. Make sure you do your research and choose a professional photographer to help you on your way.
This is a feature that recently mentioned the importance of head and body size.
Blurry, pixelated, or unprofessional photography will make you look unprofessional and turn casting directors off.
Keep your look as neutral as possible. A few things to keep in mind are that a casting professional wants you to look photo original regardless of what you’re wearing and try to present yourself without distracting backgrounds and extraneous subjects.
Your eyes are your most important feature, so make sure they are visible as much as possible.
Don’t let the photographer use Photoshop wrinkles, heavy airbrushes, or dramatic studio lighting.
What you’re looking for in the headshot
You’re never looking for a plain, basic headshot but something that will make your personality stand out. It’s important to know what type of role you want to cast for, but at the same time, you don’t want to narrow yourself down. ‘Who you are is what you bring to casting directors. ‘What can you be’ will come later.
How often will I get new headshots?
Your photograph should show how you look now, which is why the general recommendation is to get a new headshot every two years, or more often if you’ve changed your look radically with a different haircut or color.
How many photos should I have on my Spotlight profile?
If you have a good enough headshot, two or three good portfolio images are all you need to complement it. A casting director won’t sit down and click through every photograph on your Spotlight profile, so make them count.
Color or black and white pictures?
‘From a photography point of view, black and white have some great points. It removes all the color and forces you to focus on the subject. From a casting perspective, times have changed recently and more casting directors prefer color photographs.
Cropping – Should I go for US or UK style?
‘U.K. For casting directors, definitely stick to close-cropped head and shoulders portraits as they are used. If you plan to send your Spotlight profile to any American casting director, you must include the ‘U.S. Style headshots’ show more of your body with a loose crop on your profile.’
Make-up and styling
The best way to style make-up is ‘you on a good day and not ‘you at night or first thing in the morning’. Make-up looks a lot different in front of a camera than in front of a mirror, so you should ask your photographer what they like to work with to be sure to apply to get the best detailed results from your shoots.
clothing
‘It’s a good idea to bring around 4-6 different outfits to your session if possible, but stick to neutral colors that complement you and avoid any distracting patterns or logos.
Considerations when booking new headshots
Cost – This should not be the first point of contact when looking for a new headshot. Ask around, and get recommendations from friends and colleagues. Headshots are an investment in your career and a good headshot can be worth its weight in gold.
Retouching – Ask if this is included. Is there an additional cost? How many final retouched photos will you get?
Time – Pay by the hour/half day / full day? Go for the maximum you can afford as it may take some time to relax in front of the camera fully.
How many photographs – ask the photographer, as everyone works differently. The selling point is not how many photos are actually taken, but how many are supplied to you!
Indoor/Outdoor – Indoor shoots offer complete control over lighting and background, whereas you have zero control over outdoor conditions. When shooting on location, don’t shoot in the middle of the day when the sun is high and bright as you won’t get good results.
Tips for Stunning Headshot Photography (in 2022)
Do you struggle to capture beautiful headshot photos? Are you looking to take your headshot photography to the next level?
You have come to the right place.
As an experienced headshot photographer, I’ve been exactly where you are. But after a lot of practice (and a bit of trial and error), I figured out how to get a headshot
There are pre-sessional consultations
There are many headshot styles – and different models/clients/subjects will require specific stylistic results depending on the purpose of the headshot. For example, an artistic, color-graded style might work great for a fashion model, but won’t be appreciated by a corporate client.
So before your session, sit down with your topic. Make sure you know how your headshot photography will be used. You can even ask some things from scratch where you’d like to see what kind of style you’d like to see. There are many different examples of possible stylistic stories, but they should be understood as being used in a very general sense.
This consultation can be over the phone or face to face. I don’t recommend communicating in writing though; Talking to your subject will help them relax much more than email, and you can use counseling to help them prepare for the session (by explaining what to expect and answering their questions. If headshots are used for corporate content, use the suggestion to find out your subject’s occupation. A corporate lawyer might opt for a clean white background look (above), while a more laid-back professional (eg, a yoga instructor) might prefer a colorful one.
Help choose the right clothes
Generally speaking, solid, neutral colors work best for headshots, as you want to avoid anything that distracts from the person’s face.
If you want to achieve a formal style, make sure everyone remembers to bring their best work clothes. Men often forget their jackets, so for a consistent look, try to keep an extra one handy, even if you have to clip it in the back. And if possible, send a reminder the day before your scheduled photo shoot. (Oh, and include an ironing reminder too – there’s nothing more frustrating than a photo ruined by wrinkled clothes!)
Also, if you have a lot of time with a person, ask them to bring some clothes. You can make changes throughout the session and give them different final images.
Create a separation from the background
Great headshot photography includes separation between subject and background. There should be a clear foreground subject (head!) and a clear (ideally blurred) background.
The easiest way to achieve this effect is to place your subject a handful of feet in front of any background element, be it trees, grass, stairs, buildings, or desks. For indoor portraits, don’t let your subject lean against a wall; Instead, bring them out so the wall can be obscured.
Also, if you use a studio background (or an office wall) and you let your subject get too close, you can see shadows on the wall, which makes the images look less professional. Bottom line: Keep your content away from the background, no matter how interesting or nondescript it may seem.
You can also increase the subject-background separation by widening your aperture, which will reduce the depth of field to create nice background bokeh. Typically, I aim for an aperture of f/4 for ambient and natural light sessions; The aperture is wide enough to blur the background, but narrow enough to keep the subject’s head sharp.
(Note: If you’re doing a studio session with lights and a prepared background, you’ll have more opportunities. For portraits like this, I often use an aperture.
