How to prepare for your headshot photoshoot session
Leon
Hi. Welcome to another episode of Tog Talk. My name is Leon and I'm a photographer. Leon Britton Photography Liverpool. Today again I'm chatting with my good friend Bob. Voices from Foyers Photography. Hi, Bob.
Bob
Hi. How are you doing? All right.
Leon
Let's see what we talking about today, Bob.
Bob
Well, basically today we're going to be talking about things that you should do before headshot preparation. So basically having a thought about what you want to get out of your headshots. And one of my main sort of things is that if you work for a company, be on brand. So if you wear a uniform or if you are a try, think of a good explanation.
Bob
So basically, if if you're a company that has a certain colour or an accent colour to that work, well, perhaps we could make the background that colour or perhaps we could introduce that colour somewhere in the shoot so it stays on brand and stays on topic.
Leon
Of course, especially if we've got a company colour tie or if they've got a certain badge that they wear or there's a logo. If you can bring that into the picture, even if it's only subtly, it sort of fits on brand. I think the thing as well, talking about the uniforms, etc., I think is what people need to plan, what they're going to wear.
Leon
Also, look with three suitcases on and a ton of clothes if you plan beforehand and I know I've got one on you've gone on a website, but we list some of the ideal things that you should wear for a head shop if you plan what you're wearing with the colours of the tops, the jackets, the shirts, the blouse, whichever, as long as you plan and bring that stuff with you, I think that's going to reduce the amount of time we spend in the studio going, now let's see what works and what doesn't work and what do you think are wearing next and eating into your valuable time?
Leon
It also means that we've already put some work into the sort of look we're going for and we can pretty much get it to hit the ground running.
Bob
Yes. And also with that in mind, if, for example, if you are a lady or man and wear makeup, have the thought of actually trying before you actually come to the studio. So you bring the make-up that you are going to use. So it does not sort of an afterthought or it's a bug. I didn't bring the mascara or I didn't bring that lipstick with me.
Bob
It is a couple of days before even the night before actually practise what you're going to do. And similarly, if you're going to have your haircut done, most people like to look good when it comes. Obviously, they do want to look good when they come for a headshot. But the biggest thing is also if you're going to have a haircut, have it a week before, have it the day before, and grow into your haircut.
Bob
There's nothing worse. And I mean, I'm the prime example of it of actually having a haircut that looks it looks crap for the first couple of days, but then once you've grown into it starts looking better. So don't get your haircut the day before, get it all done a week before. So, you know, it's good.
Leon
But Bob, seriously, I will tell you this, and I've had people that go and get their haircuts on the way to the photo shoots, so they'll turn up at the studio and they'll say, Get well. They got rid of all they have and all the bits there. But what people forget is that when we're doing a basic retouch on headshot, we're zooming in so that your eye and the area around your eyes, potentially 30, 40 inches wide and any random hairs you'll see and the hairs that congregate around the ears that we end up having to spend extra time in Photoshop and getting rid of which it's easier you're going to get you don't do
Leon
it on the daily shoot, do it significantly before a couple of days. That's what you said before, about maybe a week to give you a chance to grow into it. So then it looks a bit more natural. And this is it.
Bob
Well, I was going to say also early on, isn't it similar to the outfit?
Leon
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Make sure it fits. So if you see it, I had it in the studio where people have gone and I've gone out and bought myself a lovely carnation colour jacket to go with this lovely shirt. And then they do things like, Oh, it doesn't fit so well. I thought it was going to fit. And yet trying to try to get it right, it's literally going to take you 2 seconds before you get that.
Leon
When you do turn off the studios, right, I'm wearing this somewhere in there, somewhere and this. And there's no feeling part about something. There's no there's no pressure. And we can just get on with these shoes, which is we want to get the best pitch to be possible. If you're stressing about what you're wearing, that's going to take away from a little bit of the look that we're trying to get across, I think as well as him and Lizzie when it comes to preparing the night before.
Leon
Oh, really? The night before. Get some sleep, drink some water, lay off the alcohol, only because of nice olive oil, whatever your titular fancy may be, that's fine. But if you really go to town on the night before and then turn up to your show, you're going to look bedraggled, you're going to look pale, you're going to look like you've had no sleep.
Leon
It's going to mean that your pictures aren't going to give the best representation of you and I think we want to give that best version of you the fully refreshed, the fully all geared from ready to do whatever you're trying to achieve for that day in that single image and that you can do it unless you have plenty of sleep and not a lot of alcohol, which they rock.
Bob
Well, I mean, I've often cited my customers and considered it like a job interview. If you were going to come up to a job interview, you would take it quite seriously and turn up and obviously not go out drinking the night before all. So that that sort of, you know, coming in late at night, you would take it seriously by, you know, giving yourself the best start in the day.
Bob
So you come to the studio fresh, and you feel good about yourself. And it does show in the film. It does show when we take the pictures. It really does show.
Leon
Yeah, it does. This is a shame because there's been a couple of times I've done shoots and the people look slightly ill and the cameras come in to show a little bit more about you than you probably give it credit for. But yeah, plenty of sleep, plenty of water. Lay off the alcohol. Pretty simple.
Bob
Very simple. And I think that's probably where we should sort of end it really personally. I think that is the best advice you could possibly give coming to a headshot tell.
Leon
Well, there's one thing I would probably throw in just to throw just a throw-in I mean your eyebrows stone bob what are your thoughts on people after my advanced on?
Bob
Yes, that is so true I mean I certainly know that I've had clients turned up and they've had the eyes, like you say, with the haircut. They've had the eyebrow done before. They've actually turned up. And the only problem is that the redness that comes from it is so hard to sort of remove later on. And it's such a visual thing, you know because we are looking at people's faces.
Bob
It's the biggest part of it. People do see these things. And also because we tend to do, as we said before in previous ones, that obviously on the big screen, obviously when these pictures come in, the customers notice this and they suddenly feel quite self-conscious. So give yourself a head start and have these things that you know, if you're going to have your eyebrows done, men or women have them done a couple of days before, just, you know, give yourself a bit of breathing room.
Bob
And if there's any redness or anything like that, it'll all be gone by you come to your headshot. So I think that anything else.
Leon
Not that I can think of today, well.
Bob
Brilliantly. Right. Well, then this has been great and obviously, hopefully, we'll see you next week when we do another one and we'll come up with some more frequently asked questions that we get from store customers. Thank you, Liam.
Leon
Always a pleasure. Bob chats again.
Bob
See you later. Bye bye.
Leon
Bye bye.