You are ready to put your best face forward! Maybe you are seeking new employment or just wanting to let people know you are serious about your business and image! Everyone needs a great headshot, professional portrait or character portrait….and I mean EVERYONE! People want to know they are dealing with a person and just not a business so connecting your face to your business is critical. I always recommend using a professional photographer to capture the best you. They will be able to use the best lighting, coach you on the best posing for your body type and profession, and reduce the features you don’t love and highlight the ones you do love. Yes believe it or not, appropriate lighting and posing can make you look slimmer, change the shape of your face and your posing can make you look inviting or of a person in power. All of these things are important in capturing you and how you wish to be perceived. Remember 1st impressions are so important.
So what if you cannot get into a professional photographer in time to get that captured and you need something right now. Here are a couple tips and tricks to follow:
1) Attire- Avoid stripes, chevron prints, and extremely busy patterns. No, you do not have to wear a solid color but remember we want the focus on your face.
2) Lighting-This is the toughest one to do yourself! Overhead lighting is NOT your friend. It will often produce shadows where we do not want them, i.e. under your eyes and nose. If you are doing your portrait outdoors take it either first thing in the morning or last thing before the sun goes down so the lighting is less harsh (Do not take it under tree cover where spotty lighting is).
3) Placement-If you are taking your portrait outside, put yourself in front of a less busy background and far away from it, i.e bushes but stand about 20 feet in front of them to allow separation. If you are doing them indoors find a window that does not have direct light coming in and place yourself in front of it. (A window with a sheer is best and no blinds).
4) No selfies!!!! Have you noticed that you take a picture of yourself in your phone and your nose and forehead look huge….yep…that is called distortion and are typical with camera phones.
I hope these tips help put the best YOU forward for your business! When you can, please hire a professional and consult with them about how you want to be perceived in your portrait!
FYI these portraits are not DIY and were done by Boston Photography LLC
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