20 Posing Tips For Headshot Photos

There are some important things you need to know when you want to have your headshots taken. If you’re having your headshots taken and want to know how to pose, then keep reading. These tips I share below can also be used if you’re taking your own photos using a tripod and a timer on your camera.

Before you start you need to first understand the theme and what these headshots will be used for. Is it for a business professional photo, a modelling portfolio, images for your online business, something fun and creative for social media, etc? Knowing this will help you to prepare what to wear, how to style your hair and make up and decide what locations you will be shooting at.

As a former model and beauty pageant winner, I’ve learned these things and am sharing it now with you to help you take beautiful headshots!

1.     Show emotion through the eyes.

The saying, “the eyes are the window to the soul” couldn’t be truer in photography. Your eyes in photos can portray a multitude of different emotions and you need to first figure out what emotion you want to portray and express that in your eyes.

2.     Show different facial expressions.

Experiment and take photos with different facial expressions. Each facial expression is a whole new pose. Your facial expressions change the mood of the photo so definitely pay attention to that.

3.     Mind the chin & neck.

Make sure you don’t give yourself an extra chin or make your neck disappear. Here is a trick to reduce any double chins that models and celebrities use.

Face the camera directly, slightly stick your head out forward, lower your face and chin down slightly and look at the camera! It feels so weird and awkward but if you do those moves only slightly then your audience can’t tell the difference.

4.     Change the Angles of the model (tilt your head, 45 degree angles, chin up or down, looking down, to the side, up, etc.).

Each slight move and change is automatically a different pose. You don’t have to do something very drastic to take a new pose. This will help you get many different shots and help you choose your favourite photo.

5.     Where is the light?

Pay attention to where the light is. The photographer or yourself (depending on who is taking the photos) should figure out the lighting situation based on the type of photos you’re taking. Indoor studio shoot lighting is very different then natural light. If you’re taking your own photos, figure out how you want the lighting to be in your photos before starting to shoot. If you’re using natural light outdoors and it’s a cloudy day then it is very easy you don’t have to worry.

6.     Lean against something.

This will help you feel more natural and less awkward. It helps to make the photo also more interesting.

7.     Don’t have a busy background or use a blur effect.

Busy backgrounds take away focus and distract the viewer. So if for some reason you can’t change the background, then use portrait mode on your smartphone or the right camera lens.

8.     Movement or walking helps the model be more comfortable.

Walking towards the camera or creating some sort of movement like a fan in a studio to make your hair blow or the wind outside, helps create more interesting images and walking will help you be more comfortable. You can even take photos flipping your hair.

9.     Make eye contact with the camera – shows confidence.

Making eye contact with the camera shows boldness and confidence and looking away from the camera gives a more mysterious and shy look.

10.  Corporate headshots – plain background, contrast between clothes & background looks good, side lighting.

If these headshots are for corporate, then these things are so important to make you look professional. Use side lighting and slightly higher up as you can see is being done in the second photo.

11.  Use props.

Using props will help you be more comfortable and give your hands something to do. The props should be related to the theme. You can be holding your phone, in front of your computer, holding a plant or flower, sunglass, wearing a hat, holding or drinking a beverage, etc.

12.  Arms crossed.

This pose gives you a more serious, confident, dramatic look. You can do this pose facing the camera straight or at an angle like below.

13.  Look over the shoulder.

This is a favourite pose of mine and really helps change up the typical headshot.

14.  Hands on a table.

You can do this standing or sitting down. This pose looks great especially if you’re holding your favourite beverage.

15.  Play with your hair.

This is a more fun, playful look and gives your hands something to do and adds a bit of movement to the shot.

16.  Hands near the face for more dynamic & interesting shots.

Don’t scrunch your fingers or fully hold your head or face because that looks weird. You just want to keep your hands near the face and keep your hands and fingers relaxed.

17.  Use powder on the face to remove any shine.

The camera picks up any shine on the face a lot so whether you have oily skin or not your skin may look oily so professionals always put powder on the face T zone for anyone on tv or camera and even sometimes on the cheeks.

18.  Frame the subject.

Put yourself in a naturally occurring frame if you’re shooting outdoor or if your shooting indoor maybe stand in an archway or door way or use trees that are around.

19.  Make sure there are no poles or trees sticking out of your head.

This is so important because this  is a major mistake that I have made and I’ve seen other people make when we’re not paying attention to our background and it will ruin a shot. This can sometimes be edited out but it’s a lot more work.

20.  Shoot in portrait mode.

When taking the photo on your smartphone, shoot in portrait mode because this makes your headshots look more professional and brings the focus on you as the main subject and looks like it was shot on a professional camera with a blurry background.

Keep in mind you can definitely combine these tips which will make your photos very beautiful and professional.

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed these tips and if you did be sure to leave a comment with what your biggest takeaway or aha moment was Let me know in the comments.

Tag me in your photos on Instagram using #AsyaPhotoTips and I’ll be sure to give you a shoutout. I love seeing what you are learning and creating!

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Happy Posing!

Asya

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