Wednesday 31 December 2014

The Headshot... Does it matter?

It has been said many times that a first impression leaves a lasting impression.

Could any of these be used to describe your profile picture...
  • Blurry
  • Tightly cropped to leave out your ex!
  • Badly lit
  • Taken in the pub
  • An old school photograph
  • A selfie!!
If you have a social media profile (and lets face it... most of us do!) then you may be surprised to know that the first thing that people notice about your profile is your profile picture.

What does it tell people about you?
In truth its difficult to say from the limited information available but its safe to say that they assume far more than they are actually "told".

...and it's the assumptions that make or break your profile picture.

From your profile picture people guess your age or whether you are ageing well if they have known you for a long time.
They think they can assume if you are successful or not.
They assume whether or not you look strong or confident or weak and timid.
They may think they can guess your fashion sense... or lack of!

Every picture tells a story... but what is yours saying?
As an example, let's use my own profile picture.
As a Darlington Photographer I use this one because I want it to convey that I understand lighting and that I am able to control it in order to tell a story. I have kept the background black as I wanted it to be plain and uncluttered. It's very simple and I believe it works well.



If you could "design" a perfect profile picture, what would yours say? What mood should it convey? Would it be colour or black and white? At work or at home? Outside?
Write it down. seriously! Write it down in your diary. In a few days look at it again and see if you need to change/add anything to it.

Then ring a local photographer and arrange for a photograph to be taken to your "design". If you live in Darlington, County Durham and would like to arrange a headshot session then you should read this.


All photographs copyright Rob Smith. All rights reserved