8 Biggest Misconceptions About Headshot Photographers
Headshot photographers play a key role in helping people and businesses showcase their best self online. Despite this, there are many misunderstandings about them and headshot sessions in general that can cause missed opportunities and wrong decisions. In this Blog post, I'll clarify some of the most common myths about headshot photographers and reveal the behind the scenes secrets you might not be aware of.
Anyone with a Good Camera Can Take Headshots
Not only does owning a fancy professional camera not make you a great photographer (I think this would certainly make things easier if it was true!), but being a great family photographer or wedding photographer doesn’t necessarily directly translate in terms of skill set to headshots. I find that the most important skill for a headshot photographer is actually knowing how to interact with people. Yes, camera settings and lighting is important, but none of that will produce a great result unless the person in front of the camera is relaxed, has a great expression, and is posed well. This is why I’ve invested so much time and money into learning not only posing but also psychology and human behavior. When it comes to service-based products like headshots, that’s actually a lot more important than the type of camera you have!
All Headshot Photographers Are the Same
Even within headshot photography, each photographer has their own style and way of working. Some are great for traditional corporate shots, while others excel at more creative or casual lifestyle portraits. It's important to find a photographer whose style matches what you're looking for and whose personality fits well with yours. Not only that, but you also want to make sure that the headshot photographer you select is reliable and timely with image delivery.
Nothing is worse than waiting for your final images or even to see the initial results of your session! This is the exact reason why we view headshots on site during the session and final retouched photos are delivered within 48 hours. It’s painful to wait and not know, which is why I prioritize not only producing a great headshot but also providing great service to all my clients, and that’s actually not something that’s common across the board for all photographers.
Headshots Are Only for Actors and Models
While actors and models often use headshots, they're useful for anyone who wants to make a strong first impression online. Whether you're a business professional, freelancer, real estate agent, student, or public speaker, a great headshot can help you stand out and demonstrate that you take your profession or business seriously. I will often get clients who say it’s their first-time getting a professional headshot, even though they’ve been in business for 20 or 30 years.
Maybe in the past it’s been ok to have a cropped wedding photo or a 1-year old picture as your headshot on LinkedIn, but as more and more businesses and professionals are looking to connect online, this tiny thumbnail representation is becoming more and more important. Let’s face it, we all judge others on how they portray themselves and your headshot is a really easy way to guarantee the best possible outcome.
Headshot Sessions Are Awkward and Uncomfortable
Some people worry that getting their headshots taken will be awkward or uncomfortable. And while it’s quite likely that you will been awkward for part of the session (especially if you consider yourself not photogenic and generally don’t like photos of yourself), a good headshot photographer will create a soothing and relaxing environment with lots of direction to put you at ease quickly.
Most of the time I hear “that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be” or quite literally “that was easy!” at the end of the session, and I think that’s because everyone is so afraid of how uncomfortable a headshot session could potentially be! This is why it’s so important to hire a photographer who specializes in headshots, because they have practice working with people to create great professional portraits and they will have the process down to a science.
Crafting a session experience that goes well only comes from trial and error and encountering all possible worst-case scenarios in the past, which means you get the benefits!
Headshot Photography Is Expensive
When making purchasing decisions, I personally like to consider frequency of use/benefit alongside pricing. If something will be used on a daily basis and will last for year, I tend to spend more to guarantee a higher quality product. And while a higher price doesn’t always guarantee better quality, in the field of photography, photographers who have experience and good quality of work tend to charge more. To be completely honest, most lower price points are simply not sustainable for photographers who do this full time or rely on photography as their sole income.
That being said, when you consider the utility of a great headshot, the prices headshot photographer charge are usually pretty reasonable. Not only that, but headshots in general are so much more accessible nowadays and you can probably find someone within your budget no matter where you are.
Having a great headshot will pay off in the long term with more opportunities (speaking, presenting, new job, promotions, etc) and a higher professional status, which is well worth the few hundred dollars you’ll spend.
Retouching Means Altering Reality
While I’ve seen plenty of overdone retouching, this approach has quickly gone out of style, with more and more photographers offering more natural and expert-level retouching for headshots. What a lot of people actually don’t realize is that retouching is a speciality of its own and not all photographers are equally skilled at it. As someone who’s been using Photoshop since 1998, I know how long it takes to actually get proficient without going overboard with retouching. In my mind, retouching should always enhance what’s already there while removing things that usually are not - things like blemishes and under eye circles go and birth marks and scars stay.
My approach to retouching really focuses on making sure the high-resolution version of your headshot looks as good as the smaller thumbnail. And that nobody would be able to tell that retouching was involved at all!
Most of what gets corrected in post processing is clothing, hair, and skin (often in that order) to make sure everything looks good to a magazine-quality standard. And if you can tell that a photo has been retouched, then it wasn’t retouched well.
One Size Fits All
Every single headshot session I have with a client is completely different. There is no one size fits all because every person in front of my camera is a unique individual with their own history, preferences, fears, and desires. Pair all the different professions, headshot needs (linkedIn, speaker photo, press release, conference, new job, trying to get a new job, etc), and personality and you get an endless variety of experiences for each session. This is why I approach each photoshoot with a kind and open demeanor so we can work together in order to achieve the best results.
The Process Is Quick and Rushed
Sometimes a session is quick, but that is always determined by the client or the need, not me. As I’ve mentioned above, the session experience and working with each client is most of what I focus on during our time together. The lighting, posing, camera settings, all of that is the easy part that doesn’t take much time, but working one-on-one does. Even if we spend 10 minutes together, I never rush through asking questions to find out why you need the new headshot and always take as many shots as we need to get a relaxed and natural expression (sometimes it takes 10 minutes just for people to relax and realize things are actually going ok!).
My goal is to get the best images possible, not to rush you out the door.
So yes, we have time to do several outfit changes, make sure your hair looks perfect, try different poses, and review your images without hurrying during the session, and that’s 100% by design. And the process is efficient but will never feel rushed because of that.
I feel like there’s so much that goes into a headshot photography session that most clients never consider or realize. And that’s ok. It’s my job to make everything seem easy and simple, which is why there are so many misconceptions out there. Hopefully this Blog post gave you a bit of an inside look into the process and clarified some of the questions you might have had!
