TURNED THE WRONG WAY

Now, it's not about whether you face left or right. It's about where the light is coming from. Here, Katherine is turned away from the light rather than towards it. And what is the first thing your eye is drawn to as a result? Her chest. This kind of lighting is actually desirable in some cases, like wedding photography. After all, a picture of a bride is very much about the dress, too. For an executive headshot, however, emphasis should be on the face. You want to connect to your potential clients. That happens through your eyes and expression, so they cannot fade into the shadow.  A photographer who is more experienced in portrait or bridal photography than in business photography might be very comfortable with this posing and not see the problems it creates when it’s used for a headshot.

There is a second issue here, as well: in addition to being turned the wrong way with respect to the light, Katherine is also turned too far from the camera. The angle of her body suggests that she’s engaged elsewhere, and you’ve only just caught her attention enough to make her glance in your direction. As we’ve said time and time again, the purpose of a business headshot is to create connection with potential clients. You want to convey that they have your full attention, subconsciously demonstrating that they will have your full attention in person, too. And isn’t that what we all hope to give to our clients? A client should never feel that they are not the most important thing to you in that moment when they are in front of you. A potential client should get that same comfortable feeling from your headshot. Turning too far away from the camera breaks the connection. It gives an “I’ll be with you in a minute” feeling. It is not the message you want to convey to your audience.