There’s a difference between looking prepared for a professional headshot and looking like you’ve been prepared for the photograph. You want to look confident, capable, and like yourself. Not overly posed, overly serious, or as though someone told you exactly how to stand.
Professional Doesn’t Have to Mean Stiff
A professional headshot should give people a sense of who they’ll be meeting. That might mean looking polished and focused. It might mean appearing approachable and relaxed. The right balance depends on your role, your industry, and the impression you want to make. Being professional isn’t about looking formal for the sake of it. It’s about looking like someone who belongs in the role you’re presenting.
Preparation Helps. Overthinking Doesn’t.
It makes sense to think about what you’ll wear, how you want your hair to look, or which expression feels right for your profession. But there’s a point where preparation starts to get in the way.
When you’re concentrating on whether you’re smiling correctly, holding your head at the right angle, or wondering what to do with your hands, the photograph can start to feel like an exercise rather than a reflection of you.
The Best Headshot Still Feels Like You
You don’t need to reinvent yourself for the camera. The goal is to create a photograph that feels current, confident, and appropriate for where you are professionally, while still leaving room for your personality to come through.
Because ultimately, you don’t want someone looking at your headshot and thinking, “Great photograph.” You want them thinking, “I’d like to meet this person.”
See examples in our headshot galleries, or contact us to talk about the kind of professional portrait that fits you and your work.
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Brett Deutsch is co-owner and chief photographer of Headshots NYC, Gotham Family Photos and Deutsch Photography. Formally trained at the New York Institute of Photography, the School of Visual Arts and Pomona College, plus nearly 20 years of photography in New York City and on all 7 continents. His work can be found on The New York Times. Time Out London. Dallas Morning News. Backstage, and on countless websites, newsletters, annual reports and other publications.
