Why Purpose Drives our Headshot Process

May 23, 2016 | By: Bernie

We recently received a raving review of our headshot session process. Our client writes:

Bernie and Allan were recommended to me and I was at first hesitant as I couldn’t grasp how they would represent me in a photo. They exceeded my expectations as they make a powerful team who combine their individuality and professionalism to present and capture the critical shot. They have a fantastic charisma about them which transcends from lens to photo. They made the complete experience pleasurable and engaging and delivered an outcome in quick time. I would recommend Allan and Bernie to all who are seeking to capture their “photo personality."

A little background about this shoot. The client was referred to us by a LinkedIn expert who was assisting our client in improving his LinkedIn profile. Since she was improving his LinkedIn profile, she said that a change in profile photo should follow. This was his previous profile photo. 

 

I've mentioned in previous blogs that the chosen photo is a collaboration between the client, the photographer and the marketing person during the shoot. The main driver of the decision answers the question: Who is this person talking to? From the answer to that question, we derive the purpose of the photo. The more specific the purpose, the more intense our analysis takes on every shot that was taken. 

Let's take this client for example. His purpose was to show experience and maturity in the profile photo as he is in a very senior position in the company. The audience of his LinkedIn profile would be business associates as well as executive search firms. We had two good ones to choose from as seen below. 

 

We were in some sort of impasse during the discussion as we all liked both. I told him that if it were my purpose as a photography studio owner, I would choose the one on the left as it had a lighter feel to it. But we all needed to go back to his purpose. With this in mind, we all agreed that it was the second photo. 

 

While we cannot totally eliminate bias towards a good looking photo, we can lessen this by establishing purpose. By establishing the purpose of the headshot, we zero in on the audience of our client and create a balance between that purpose and how the client should be represented. 

Leave a comment

Leave this field empty
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Submit

0 Comments

Previous Post Next Post

Archive

Go