What's behind a good headshot!...?

I took one final check online of the forecast for the day. 'Mostly cloudy. A bit of sun may break through. A small chance of rain'. In good old British spring weather tradition, 'Anything could happen. Be prepared!'

But as I set up the light for the 10th headshot of the day, the clouds broke and the sun peaked through the trees, illuminating the back of her hair and I knew I had made the right call, deciding to set up for the headshot shoot outside. It was a day shoot for King's College London, taking headshot portraits of academics at the University. While the weather that day was changeable, we still managed to get a good set of portraits that the client was happy with.

So if you are thinking about getting headshots for you or your company, before I'd offer any tips to get you looking your best on the day, you should think about the style of headshot you want to go for, and specifically the background. Traditionally, the majority of corporate headshot portraits I took for clients would have been shot using studio lighting with a plain black/white background, however while this style is still timeless and still perfect for many clients, increasingly, more people are now also opting for a slightly less formal style, with a natural or environmental background. The background you choose is key to the image or brand you want to portray for yourself or your company. So while it maybe that your company or insitutition have strict guidelines, and the formal headshot on a plain background is exactly what you need, if you have a bit more flexibility and you want to be more creative, and make your headshots a little more personal and natural, then there are definitely other options worth considering.

Whatever background you choose the one theme which is always the same is that you want to keep the background from being too distracting from the main subject of the picture. So if decide to go for a natural headshot outside or inside, you should pick a location where the background is not too busy. Bushes, trees, a nice skyline or even a plain brick wall can always work well. The key is ensuring you separate the subject from the background by keeping the background a little out of focus, so the focus is always on you. I alway allow plenty of time before starting a headshot shoot, to check out the various possible locations with the client, to advise and pick the one that from experience will work best for them. While many large big city offices may have limited onsite outdoor areas, there are often little outdoor spaces, parks and quiet back streets nearby, that you may not have even considered.

You could decide however, that you want to keep a bit of detail in the background of your headshots, that says more about your business or the location where you're based. So you might opt for headshots indoors that just show a hint of your office environment or candid style shots of you or your team at their desks, or you may even decide to go for your more personal portraits of your team, like this one, shot for a client in front of 'an edgy East London, grafitti covered wall', so your companies' creative side really stands out. The important things to remember is which ever style you decide to go for, make your choice and be consistent, especially if you're getting headshots of your whole company or team and the pictures are going to appear together on the website.

So whether its headshots for the company website, magazine articles, staff directory or even your Linkedin profile make sure your portraits fit your personality or your company brand and make a big impact and great first impression!

To check can check out more of my headshots on the link here

Coronavirus update (04/06/20): With the coronavirus situation improving, I am now working again and available to shoot out on location, in offices or your home. You can check out my current coronavirus policy at http://nathanclarkephotography.co.uk/coronavirus-policy

Images Copyright of London Photographer Nathan Clarke | For any image use or enquiries contact me at nathan@nathanclarkephotography.co.uk