HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR HEADSHOT
Preparing for your headshot session is key. We are a team in this endeavor. I want you to get the most out of your investment in a headshot, and be prepared for the shoot. The idea behind a professional headshot is to capture you, but you on your best day! I will help find your best angles. Some people are righties, while some are best on their left side. Some people are even ambifacial! I will sort it all out for you once we begin shooting! Although, there are definitely some things you have to make sure to take care of before you arrive. Below I will outline some of the things that will help us achieve that amazing headshot we are both going for.
Making sure your skin is looking fresh:
The state of your skin on the shoot date (i.e. amount of wrinkles/lines on your face) depends highly on the amount of sleep you had the night before, and your overall stress level. Now I know that stress is something many off us cannot control in our day to day life, but sleep we definitely can, so definitely try to get a good 8+ hours the night before your shoot. This way we are making sure we keep your skin looking as fresh as can be. Like headshot photographer extraordinaire, Greg Thomason tells his clients, get plenty of rest the night before. Sleeplessness is often a symptom of stress. We don’t want any stress conveyed in your headshot. I couldn’t agree more.
Don’t’ let water be the thing that keeps you away from a great headshot! Everyone knows they should be drinking more water, but I want you to actually do it (at least for the days leading up to your session). Nicely hydrated skin is another wrinkle killer and keeps the skin tones looking more even.
We touched on a few things that you can do to help keep your skin looking healthy for the shoot, but there are also some things to avoid doing, the big one being excessive sun exposure. Now, I am not telling you to not go outside at all, but maybe don’t sunbath at the beach two days before your session. Obviously too much sun exposure can damage skin cells, which in turn irritates the skin on your face, which is the main subject of the shoot. All in all some sun = good, too much sun = bad.
Clothing:
The clothes you are planning on wearing are very important to the overall look of the shots. We want you to look put together, and clothing plays a big part in that. Neither baggy, or clothing that is too tight help with displaying the best “you” to the world.
Lets talk about clothing options…. Bring multiple clothing options as well as pairs of glasses (if you wear them) to choose from. If you book my “basic session” which only includes 1 clothing option, I still want you to bring multiple options to choose from. This way, we can still look through everything and decide from there. “Oh I wish I brought that” is something I hear from my clients all the time, and it is no fun for either of us. If you want a look with a jacket, bring a few jacket shirt combinations to look through. If you are looking for a more casual look, bring those options in as well. Bring in anything you enjoy and feel comfortable wearing! If you wear glasses everyday, you should wear them in your headshots. If you are switching off between wearing glasses and wearing contacts, bring the glasses. We can try them out. If you have multiple pairs you cycle through, BRING THEM. Even the style of the frames can change the vibe of the headshot very easily.
The only other clothing related thing I can think of would be jewelry. The artist inside of me wants to tell everyone to never wear jewelry for their headshot because it might distract from your face and amazing expression. Now I know that is not very practical. I would say try to keep it to a minimum, small studs might work well if you are into wearing earrings.
I go into more detail regarding clothing in my “what should I wear for my headshot session” article. Check it out here.
Makeup:
With makeup, I like to keep it simple. The more natural you can get your makeup looking, the better. Try not to change your natural skin tone while applying the makeup. These are all things I am going to have to try to fix in retouching later, so it is better to start with as much of a blank slate as we can.
You can read more about how to handle makeup for your headshot session here.
These are some of the things to look out for when preparing for your headshot session. If you have any further questions feel free to reach out to me!