FLIRTY IS NOT PROFESSIONAL

There's a difference between "approachable" and "come hither." This pose is on the wrong side of that line for business use.

This is a cute photo. We can’t deny that. This is a photo that a mom or a significant other might love. But the problem with looking flirtatious in a business headshot is that people don’t take you seriously. If potential clients don’t take you seriously, you will not win their business. This is why we say that a photo you love, even if you get lots of good feedback about it, isn’t necessarily an effective headshot. Flirting can be fun. We won’t argue with that, either. But it is safe to assume that fun is not what someone is looking for when they are searching out your business website. Even if you feel you're more attractive in your headshot if you inject a flirty element into it, it is a risky choice for business.

No one wants a stiffly posed headshot, either, and there are all too many of those floating around. You wonder sometimes if there was a firing squad behind the photographer. A flirtatious pose and facial expression might feel like a good antidote to this. It’s true that Katherine looks relaxed in this photo rather than stiff.  There is a lot of ground to be covered between overly-posed and flirty, though. An effective headshot lives in that middle ground.

Each person’s facial features are, of course, unique to them. Which means the right amount of a smile on one person might be too much of a smile on another. It could come across as flirtatious rather than friendly. We have years of experience in fine-tuning every element of your pose and expression to make sure that it works for you, personally, and never diminishes how seriously you’ll be taken by potential clients.