During this unprecedented amount of time at home you may be working through those ’nice to have’ projects, one of which may be the dreaded ‘profile picture’. I certainly found it daunting and was procrastinating like crazy, however, I had a deadline and finally sat down and worked out what to do. So, I thought I would pass on some tips and things I learnt along the way.
Before I start, I would like to acknowledge that these tips in no way take away from getting professional headshots from a photographer, but rather are some DIY profile picture photoshoot hacks if you aren’t in a position to engage a professional right now.
Diffused, natural light
I found a spot in my house that was bathed in natural light (next to tri-fold french window-panelled doors) with a neutral background.
TIP: Take photos on your phone during different times of the day to see how the light changes. This will give you an idea of what time to plan your photo session.
Consider your surroundings
I now knew where I wanted to take my photos, the colour of the background wall and the type of warmth the light gave off. These considerations helped to decide on pops of colour for my clothing, jewellery and make up. Saying that, this is an outfit I would wear to work normally so I did feel quite comfortable and genuine in my presentation.
TIP: Black clothing can look striking but it can also flatten you because there isn’t as much light refracting so I would recommend lighter shades that work with your background.
Burst Mode
Use a camera that has Burst Mode which will allow the user to hold the Shutter Button down so it will keep taking photos (think cliche fashion photographer).
TIP: Have an empty SD card in your camera because you will end up with a LOT of photos.
Friendly face behind the camera
Find as many ways to feel comfortable in a pretty contrived situation. Get your partner, sibling, friend or whoever you feel really comfortable with to take these photos. Brief them beforehand about talking to you through the photo session, getting you to laugh naturally from the conversation and generally instilling a fun atmosphere – it will result in genuine and natural expressions.
TIP: Play music that you love, that gives you energy, have fun and for a laugh channel your inner fashion model.
The 90/10 rule
You will undoubtedly end up a vast quantity of photos, I think I had around 300 by the end of my session. Brace yourself because most of these, about 90%, will be unusable just from blinking, talking, hair not cooperating etc. But, I guarantee you will find some gold in there too, approximately 10% of it. So, work your way through sorting the pictures and pull your favourites into a folder.
TIP: Aim to have about 10 options maximum to choose between for any number of uses.
Save and repeat
Take your chosen picture and apply any photo editing before exporting versions you may need. Generally, you will need a square (1:1) version at about 300px x 300px however it might be worth saving a portrait (3:4) and landscape (4:3) version too.
TIP: Always keep a copy of your original photo and the native edited file in case you need to revert back or export larger sizes.
I am slightly mortified to see so many of my own profile pictures in one spot but I hope it served to illustrate my points.