Should it really be stressful?
Many people find preparing for a headshot session difficult and stressful. Headshot sessions are often associated with taking photos for the school yearbook. The whole process can be tense or the photos turn out to be far from being nice and favoring you. Such clichés and superstitions are formed due to the unprofessionalism and the photographers who simply don’t enjoy their work. But school yearbook photoshoots are made en masse, and the time for each participant is limited, which excludes actual individual work.
Your previous negative experience with the photos taken by your friends also might add tension to the idea of having a photoshoot. But please bear in mind that the people without skills and experience of working with the camera simply cannot reveal a person’s amazing aspects through a photo.
Headshots can be fun and comfortable
Business Photo NL offers an individual approach, a high professional level, and all the assistance to make your headshot sessions great and comfortable. Be sure to assign a decent amount of time in your schedule to prepare and follow these 6 easy steps that will help you achieve the best result!
1. Your target audience matters
Some companies follow a corporate style. If you need a headshot portrait to change your job, please look carefully at the main website of the company you want to enter. Some companies will require a photo in your CV made in the same style as the photos of their staff on the website, or apply some other criteria for a business photo. Study the corporate values of the company and try to select the image most corresponding to them.
If you are a business owner or an entrepreneur, and you know your consumer’s profile, make the photoshoot in the style that will bring you closer to your consumer. Brand customization and storytelling made via your photo will efficiently attract the trust and loyalty of your clients.
Professions related to security and working with numbers require a more reserved style, while those related to management and working with people require a frank look and a friendly smile.
2. Your goal and your background matter too
Every photoshoot requires some preparation. You need to know what you want out of your headshot. And you should share and discuss it with your photographer. If you find it hard to describe in words, try to google or search for those photos in the photographer’s portfolio that best show the look/mood you wish to see in your portraits.
All this will help the photographer to direct the session and meet your expectations.
3. Your values matter even more
To make a person inspired and more relaxed during the shoot I often ask – what is your occupation? What is the essence of your work, its value for society as a whole and for a single person? I am really interested in finding out new things about different professions and their roles. One may sometimes depreciate own profession thinking that “anyone could do it”. But it’s simply not true!
Try to think about the true value of your profession, about the qualities it helped you develop. Recall all the times you studied, how much experience you have gained, how much you’ve grown, and how much you’ve tried to be where you are now. You are an interesting person, with an amazing world within you. You have faced many challenges on your path, and you have grown as a professional, or maybe even built your team. This is priceless and important! You have helped many clients cope with their tasks, fears, or complications, and receive the result and the service they needed.
All these details comprise your value and appreciation as a professional and as a person. Please think about it before your photoshoot. Such thoughts will greatly help you to reveal yourself and to feel more comfortable during the shoot.
4. And having fun is the key
Listening to your favorite music at the photoshoot will help you to relax!
Trying to relax might sound simple, but it’s often the hardest thing to accomplish. Body language and tensions never lie. If you are not relaxed, that may decrease the quality of the picture. If you have concerns at any point before the shoot or during it, do not hesitate to voice them, and your photographer will do her best to solve them. And don’t forget to listen to the photographer’s advice.