TOO PLAYFUL

This pose is just too playful to be professional. Some professions don’t require you to be as conservative or buttoned-up as others. If you visit our testimonials page, you will see headshots we’ve crafted for people in the beauty and hospitality industries that do have a lighter, airier feel to them than those crafted for medical and legal professionals, for example. And that is fine. Your headshot needs to fit your profession as well as your personality. That said - no matter what your field, you need to look professional. No matter who the potential audience for your headshot is, you still need to come across as though you are at work. This pose and expression in this bad example are more suited to a beach volleyball game than an office, no matter how casual that office might be.

Certainly, Katherine looks happy and friendly.  Even though her back is to the camera, breaking the connection you seek in a headshot, there’s even a sense of approachability. She looks like she’s on her way to somewhere fun, and she’d like you to join her! But with a headshot that is this playful, who would want to connect with her on a professional level? This is another case where the photo is attractive, but not effective as a business headshot.

Your headshot doesn’t need to be somber, but it shouldn’t be silly, either. It needs to portray you as open and approachable, but it shouldn’t make you look as though you’d rather have fun than get down to work. Sometimes clients become friends, and it’s wonderful when that happens. First, though, they have to be clients. Your headshot needs to be crafted to attract people to your professional ability, not to how much fun you might be to be around.