All You Need to Know About Female Professional Headshots (Tips, Poses & More)
Appearance tips, striking poses — know you have to update your LinkedIn profile but aren’t quite sure how to get started?
The good news is that nailing the perfect female professional headshot isn’t just up to you, but also up to the photographer you choose, and how you collaborate.
Let’s get you equipped to have great headshots on your business cards, LinkedIn, for podcast interviews and other features that you’re proud of.
Appearance Tips
Determine the Fit and Color of Your Clothing
First things first: your look. Oversized clothes can detract from your look (and your self-confidence during the shoot), so make sure your outfits both look and feel like they fit.
If you’re torn between certain outfits, it’s always best to opt for solid colors over busy patterns to avoid distractions in the photo, especially if you know the background of your shot might be a little busy. For more detail on color, check out our tips for choosing the best colors to wear for your headshot.
If you do want to add some texture and character to your clothes, consider more textured fabrics or layering pieces to add some depth and dimension without detracting from your face.
Consider the Type of Setting and Background
Now let's set the scene to capture your best CEO headshots — literally. We need a great location that’ll convey a specific message about the work you do and your personality.
This might be something you work with your photographer on, or something you’ll figure out beforehand and communicate when planning your session.
Think about the vibe you want your headshots to convey. Are you going for a professional office setting or something more outdoorsy and free-spirited? Your setting should align with your industry and the image you want to project. Think of single words — leader, coach, collaborator— to drive your planning.
If you’re shooting in your office, aside from giving it an overall clean, see if you can shoot where there’s more natural light coming in from windows, which can provide a soft, flattering glow to the scene. If natural light isn’t possible, or if there is a specific look you want to achieve, your photographer will be able to use artificial lighting to set the scene.
Plan Hair and Makeup That Matches How You Show Up to Work
It’s easy to try to get caught up in planning for the fanciest hair and makeup look for female professional headshots — but ultimately, most photographers will tell you to keep it natural and similar to how you style it at work.
The key to these headshots is striving for a balance between professional and unique to your specific persona. Overly dramatic makeup or hairstyles might distract too much from your professionalism (unless you truly feel like that’s your look, in which case, lean into it!).
You might also want to research similar leaders in your field and see how they present themselves in headshots. Different industries have different standards, from a conservative corporate environment to a more free-spirited, creative industry.
If you’ll be shooting outside or later in the day, consider bringing your makeup and some hair products with you to fix up mid-shoot if you need them. As a photographer, I often bring a makeup artist (MUA) to sessions as a full-service option so they can provide makeup and hair styling before the shoot – they can use their own products or your own.
They’ll keep watch throughout the session and catch issues as the shoot progresses. Touch-ups to makeup and taming flyaways will go a long way towards creating a more polished result!
Make Sure Your Look Matches the Tone and Identity of Your Brand
Your CEO headshots should highlight your unique leadership qualities while reflecting your company’s brand identity and values.
But if you can’t really put your finger on it when we say things like “brand identity” and “persona,” you might want to define that before your shoot (even if you don’t consider yourself to have a personal brand).
Collaboration with your photographer is key in the planning stages. It’s a fun step where you can get creative and dig into your personal brand and professional identity. Nailing down your vision in the planning stages will make for a much more focused shoot that targets the specific qualities and traits you want to showcase.
Before a session with one of our clients, we’ll work together to identify the style and tone of their brand, what kind of images and leadership qualities they want to project, and how we’ll incorporate everything into their photos through the wardrobe, setting, poses, and styling the scene.
Ask yourself what your organization's or brand’s aesthetic is — how does it reflect your values, image, and target audience as an organization? As we mentioned, your clothing, hair and makeup, and setting will all ideally speak to this. When implemented successfully, your headshots will echo your brand’s tone and message and resonate authentically with your audience.
Before & During Your Shoot
Great, you've scheduled your female professional headshots!
Now, let's make sure you're fully prepared and feeling your best from start to finish. Here are some essential tips for before and during your shoot that will help you nail the perfect CEO headshot.
Send Any Inspiration Pictures Beforehand
We already talked about planning with your photographer beforehand — communication and collaboration are vital to achieving the perfect headshot. So, before your shoot, take some time to gather any inspirational pictures or mood boards that reflect the style or vibe you're aiming for.
This can include:
Poses
Lighting styles
Mood
Location
And while inspirational pictures for your female professional headshots can be helpful, you and your photographer should be able to discuss feasibility in things like location, lighting conditions, and available resources to make sure your vision can be fully realized within the budget.
Have a Good Meal Beforehand and Bring Water
Your energy levels should be high during your photoshoot, and that starts with what you eat beforehand. Have a nutritious, filling meal before your shoot that’ll keep you fueled and focused throughout the session (meal bars might be a nice thing to pack in your backpack, too!).
And of course, stay hydrated throughout your entire session, bringing a bottle of water to sip on during breaks and especially for lengthier sessions that are more than an hour.
Schedule Your Session in the Morning
Makeup fades. Clothes wrinkle. Hair gets out of place. As the day progresses, the image you worked all morning to perfect will begin to lose its shine. Try to schedule your session first thing in the morning so you’re looking and feeling fresh.
If morning isn’t possible, consider wearing a different outfit to work and save the clothes you’ll use for your headshots until just before the shoot begins. This would also be a good time to touch up your hair and makeup.
Loosen Up in Between Poses
We get it — posing for headshots can sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable and awkward. A good photographer will help you to work through the nerves and will have some tricks to lighten the mood. My personal favorite is to incorporate some dad jokes — they typically result in more of an eye roll than a laugh, but I’ll take it!
It’s also helpful to take some time and space to loosen up in between shots. The longer you hold a pose, the more forced and inauthentic it will become, so it’s best to take breaks and incorporate some movement and stretching to prevent stiffness.
And it sounds simple, but don’t forget to breathe! Your photographer should guide you every step of the way and provide gentle cues and prompts to encourage natural movements so you can relax and have fun.
Popular Poses for Female Professional Headshots
As you plan, you might need a few jumping-off points for pose ideas to get the ideas turning. Here are some classic ones we love to use for female CEO headshots:
Slight Angle
Leading slightly with one shoulder gives an image more of a portrait feel. When we’re square to the camera, a photo can look more like a mugshot or a driver license photo. Introducing a slight angle transforms the image into a portrait, with the added benefit of having a slimming effect.
If you have a “good side”, let your photographer know before you begin so they can emphasize that side during your session. If you’re not sure, check your camera roll or think about how you typically stand when posing for a photo with friends or family. Many of us instinctively favor one side without even knowing it! Photos favoring that side are likely to resonate more, as those will feel most familiar.
Crossed Arms
This pose gives an undercurrent of confidence and authority and is great for those looking to project a strong sense of professional leadership. To do this pose properly, I like letting my clients know to keep things relaxed and natural — you don’t want to hug yourself tightly which can give a tense and closed-off feel to the image. Let your arms fall naturally and loosely to keep the pose feeling confident but relaxed.
Hands in Pockets
Similar to the hand on hip, pockets can be the perfect place for your hands. Letting your hands fall to your side always feels awkward — we always need to give them a purpose when posing for a photo, and pockets are the perfect home.
And before you bemoan women’s fashion designers for never giving you any pockets — we know! Fortunately, most headshots are cropped too tightly for hands to be visible, so you can do “pretend pockets” and rest your hands where your pockets would be. These creates a subtle bend in the elbow that looks a lot more natural.
Classic Hand-On Hip
This is a popular pose for women that always looks flattering and feels familiar. Comfort is key, so be sure to choose poses that feel like “you”. A pose that works for one person won’t necessarily work for another — it’s all a matter of finding a pose that feels natural, as your comfort (or lack thereof) will flow into your expression and impact the look and feel of the photo.
Use Your Environment
Though formal shots are important, it can also be nice to get some casual shots for different use cases. A seated shot on a sofa in one of your office’s common areas can convey a more relaxed and conversational tone than a traditional headshot.
More importantly, these kinds of images serve as a humanizing element that makes you relatable and gives your audience more of a context into who you are in a more informal setting.
While this likely won’t serve as your primary headshot, these “lifestyle” oriented shots have their own use cases for different kinds of outreach, like for your social media channels.
Presenting Your Work
If you often speak, present, or educate, this pose could show a little bit more of what you do. We’ll often do it naturally, where you’ll go through the motions of a presentation as I capture candids. These can be a great way to add value and offer versatility to your session on top of the traditional set of posed headshots.
Let Johnny Wolf Studio Capture You At Your Best!
Let’s capture your best professional self together, from planning to execution to all the little spots in between. Reach out today to start collaborating on your professional headshots!
