Time for New Headshots?…
“I just wanted to thank the very talented Heather Magner for my new headshot photos.
I hate having photos taken but Heather made this lots of fun and I’m really happy with the result. #happy #photography #headshot”
Thats what one of my wonderful clients took the time to post LinkedIn. 😊
This is Alice, and she works at AD:VENTURE in Leeds and this headshot was done when I’d set up my backdrop and lights ready for several people to be photographed, there’s a few more images below from this shoot.
This is an economical way of getting the headshots a business needs, quickly, efficiently and without too much disruption to the day. I often set my lights and backdrop up in a meeting room and individuals either wait their turn or are given a time to be there. I allow for about 15 minutes per person for simple individual headshots in this kind of situation, but I’m often quicker.
Socially distanced headshots are not much different to “pre-COVID” headshots, except I wear a mask and there’s plenty of hand sanitiser available.
My Headshot / Business Portrait kit is fully mobile, so there’s no special access required, and by asking people to stand (or remain in their wheelchair where appropriate) rather than sit on a specific stool, we remove the need for them to touch anything except the door handle (if necessary). Removing as many touch points as possible and keeping doors/windows open cuts down transmission possibilities even further, which is always a good thing :-)
I would be standing around two metres away with my camera so as not to interfere with the lights I use anyway, so these minor adjustments are really no big deal.
Now is a great time to be thinking about how your personal brand is being seen online - are you really taking advantage of all the opportunities?
When someone googles your name - what do they see?
Like it or not, first impressions count, so it’s up to us to make it a good (or great!) one.
So much of our lives have become virtual/online - so our “digital” self is often the first version people meet way before the "flesh and blood” one. Thats an interesting shift in how we do business, and we need to keep up.
Does your LinkedIn profile headshot look a bit dated, perhaps it was taken on a boozy night out before social distancing, or it simply doesn’t do you justice - well it’s time to grab the bull by the horns and take control of how the digital world see’s you.
You might need a serious shot, a smiling shot and a more relaxed “friendly yet professional” one too - different platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube thumbnails, Podcast stills, Blogs, Instagram, Google, etc, etc) and outlets/press have different demographics, and these photo’s need to be ready for anything.
