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Hey legend,
One of the questions I’ve been getting asked is how to take a headshot that looks and feels natural.
Like me, I’m sure your experience of having a professional headshot taken was anything but natural, leaving you to settle for a profile picture that’s:
- A poorly lit, rushed selfie
- A crop-in of you from a group photo at a wedding/formal event;
- An awkward headshot from your first day at a job you’re no longer at; or
- A snapshot of how you looked years ago, that doesn’t reflect you today
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
– Will Rogers
Nailing your digital first impression is the first step you need to take, to start being taken seriously online.
Fortunately for you, I’ve bottled up my magic into a simple 3-step framework, that if you take the time to genuinely work through ahead of time, you’ll come away with a remarkable headshot.
Question 1: What do I want my headshot to convey about me?
This is about setting your intention of how you’d like your headshot to be perceived by a stranger when it surfaces on their screen.
What feeling would you like them to have?
What words would you like to come to mind?
What aspect of your personality would you like to convey?
By focusing on this question upfront, it makes all of the creative decisions around your headshot so much easier to make, including:
- Your outfit, grooming & styling
- Your background and objects
- Your facial expression & posing
💡 Pro-tip: Steal like an artist
Take 5-10 minutes to actively browse profile pictures of your favourite creators and ask yourself:
What is about their headshot resonates with me?
This is an exercise to help you reverse engineer their process, so you can re-create a similar effect.
Question 2: How do I create the environment that will shift my energetic state and help me capture the headshot I envision?
Kat ‘Miss Excel’ Norton shared a nugget on a podcast about what content represents for her:
I genuinely believe this holds true for headshots as well.
“Content, whether written, photo or video format, is simply an exchange of energy from the creator to the consumer”
– Kat Norton
The feeling that you embody at the time you create content (i.e. capture your headshot) will have a direct influence on how you’re captured through the lens of the camera.
So this is really about “hacking your physiology” to put you into an elevated vibration (“good vibes”) so that you GLOW UP on camera.
Alright, Mamba – so how does this “energetics woo-woo” translate into a better headshot?
Better energetic state =
- Upright and straighter posture
- More authentic facial expressions
- Creating “Smize” a.k.a Smiling Eyes (we want to see that beautiful sparkle in your eyes)
Make the effort to prepare yourself so that your authentic self is conveyed in the headshot.
Here’s how I energetically primed myself for a photoshoot I did by myself at home.
Question 3: What do I already have that I can use to capture my headshot?
I am 97.5% certain that you’ve already got everything you need to capture a world-class headshot.
Don’t have a professional camera? Use your smartphone (it’ll likely have ‘Portrait’ mode or an equivalent).
Don’t have a background? Use a plain white wall in your house or a blind (see below)
Don’t have someone to take your photo? Use your tripod, or elevated surface, with a 10-second self-timer (see below)
Don’t have professional lighting? Use sunlight (the best source of light) by positioning yourself near a window.
Don’t know how to design an eye-catching profile picture? Use a free profile picture tool like PFPMaker.com.
“It’s not the lack of resources, it’s your lack of resourcefulness that stops you.”
– Tony Robbins
So in summary:
Ask and answer these 3 questions ahead of your next headshot:
- What do I want my headshot to convey about me?
- How do I create the environment that will shift my energetic state and help me capture the headshot I envision?
- What do I already have that I can use to capture my headshot?
…and I look forward to seeing your smiling and charismatic faces lighting up my socials in the coming weeks.
Have a groovy weekend, and catch you in the next one.
🕺🏽Mamba