Headshot Preparation Tips for Men

Our Headshot Preparation Tips for Men blog post offers a few helpful portrait suggestions for Business Headshot Preparation.

Following are two other pages you may find of interest:

• Basic Headshot Preparation Tips
• Headshot Preparation Tips for Women

Headshot Preparation Tips for Men

SHIRT

STYLE
Collared shirts are imperative for a professional look. Non-collared shirts (t-shirts) can work in specific scenarios and usually look best when worn with a sports coat. Turtlenecks are also acceptable.

PATTERN
A plain, non-patterned shirt always works best. If patterned, a very subtle one is acceptable.

MATERIAL
Shirts that work best do not readily wrinkle and bounce back when scrunched.

COLOR
An off-white or color shirt is much preferred over white. However, white shirts are acceptable, especially when covered by a dark jacket or sweater. Regardless, if a colored shirt is available, it’s your best option.

FIT
In general, a slightly looser fit is preferable to a tight-fitting shirt. Choose a snug-fitting shirt only when there are no weight concerns. Otherwise, the tight look can easily add around 20 extra pounds of “visual” weight.

The main concern is for collared shirts that button to the neck. The top should button easily, allowing for a loose-fitting collar (i.e., skin must not be pressed tightly), making head turns a breeze. If a new shirt is not in the offing, it’s possible to remedy the problem in post-production PRO retouching.

JACKET

STYLE
Think “professional,” and you should do just fine. Again, simplicity is the key. Also, remember the audience you wish to attract and narrow your focus to speak to your target market.

PATTERN
A plain, non-patterned jacket always works best. If patterned, a very subtle one is acceptable.

MATERIAL
As with shirts, the best fabric does not easily wrinkle and bounces back when scrunched.

COLOR
By far, darker colors tend to be your best choice. Darker tones are not only viewed as being more professional but engender a healthier and slimmer persona:

Black stirs a sense of creativity and protection, as well as power, seduction, authority, and nimbleness.

The Navy evokes a feeling of trustworthiness, integrity, caring, credibility, conservatism, orderliness, calmness, and loyalty.

Dark Brown: practical, solid, reassuring, reliable/dependable, friendly, stable, wholesome and genuine.

Dark Green: masculine, vitality, dependable, tactful, family, nurturing, flexible, conservative, and wealthy.

Deep Purple: feminine, romantic, luxurious, inventive, intuitive, mysterious, wealthy and sophisticated.

Deep Red/Burgundy: harmonious, balanced, supportive, imaginative, spiritual, kind, non-conformist.

Dark Gray: knowledgable/wise, classic, mature, sleek, refined, dignified, controlled, and contemporary.

FIT
The primary concern for any garment is tightness. While you cannot go wrong with a jacket that is a skosh too loose, a garment that is too snug evokes negative attributes of being disheveled and careless – both of which are not only non-conducive to evoking a positive sense of who you are and what you represent but are decisions made about you at the subconscious level. You’re rejected, yet they cannot tell you why.

Therefore, a comfortable, loose fit is vital. Where our clients fail to meet this fundamental requisite, we are equipped to remedy the oversight in post-production retouching.

TIE

STYLE
Think “professional,” and you should do just fine. Again, simplicity is the key. Also, remember the audience you wish to attract and narrow your focus to speak to your target market.

PATTERN
We recommend keeping patterns simple and colors subdued. Again, the idea is to keep the viewer’s gaze fixed upon your eyes/face, not an abundance of colors and patterns.

COLORS
Orange, pink, and iridescent hues are colors to avoid. If you’re interested in learning about tie color psychology and what sort of persona you’re exuding to the world, here’s a link to my blog post: Tie Color Reveals The Man.

Need help in tying your tie? Here are a few helpful YouTube links that’ll get you up to speed in a hurry:

• How to Tie A Half-Windsor Knot

• How To Tie A Windsor Knot

• How to Tie a Four-In-Hand Knot

If you prefer printed instructions, Tie-A-Tie.net has everything you’ll ever need: Learn How to Tie a Tie.

Feeling adventurous? Look at this fascinating article on 30 DIFFERENT WAYS TO TIE A TIE THAT EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW!

EXPRESSION

Bring a happy heart, and your smile will take care of itself. Remember, your session should only take a few minutes. It’s short enough to turn off the outside pressures of the day and simply be present.
• Smile Challenged? If so, practice in front of a mirror, remembering the feeling of a natural smile.
• Also, a helpful technique is something we call “Lifting Your Apples.” The roundness of one’s cheeks is referred to as “apples.” When a smile is required but challenging on cue, “lift your apples” while placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth, and a smile will emerge.

• NOTE: My goal is to capture a range of expressions, from broad smiles to soft and both sides of your face. This way, you can evaluate not only which expression you prefer but also which side of the face best expresses it.

SHAVE

If a 5:00 shadow is a concern, please shave beforehand, or you may opt to arrive early and take care of it here. We offer disposable razors with our compliments—just be very careful to avoid razor burn…

JEWELRY

SIMPLICITY is the key.

Necklaces that photograph best are simple with no center focal point design. Even though we can center a necklace feature (such as a diamond or cross), it may not appear to be so in the image—so much depends on how your body is turned. Generally, this is not a detriment for most people; however, the slight off-center feel can cause heartburn for perfectionists like myself…

Earrings that photograph best are simple and small. Dangling earrings can be problematic (for both men and women), as with any head tilt; the earrings will hang freely on one side while falling askew on the other side of the face.

Bracelets and watches do not generally become an issue in a headshot portrait. However, if your hands might show, please keep any wristwear simple so that it does not distract and draw attention away from your face.

EYEGLASSES

ALL glasses present two essential challenges:

1. glass glare
2. distortion (eyes and temples)

Both aberrations can be remedied with judicious retouching, which is included with our Pro Retouching. However, for the best possible results, we recommend either wearing Non-Glare glasses or arranging with your Optometrist to remove your lenses before your session. Eye/temple distortion is much easier to restore than eyes being obliterated by glass glare.

Glasses without a non-glare coating are problematic, and therefore, we do not recommend regular glasses for portraits. The resulting glare can be light (easy to remove) or severe, requiring a complete rebuilding of the eyes.
Non-glare glasses work wonderfully and generally are no problem. However, depending on the degree and location of the soft-green glow, non-glare can still present a challenge, as can distorted eyes, faces, and temples caused by thicker lenses.
NOTE: Contact Lenses work well, though they can cause a bluish ring around the iris.

MAKEUP

Finally, the last consideration in our Headshot Preparation Tips for Men is Makeup. Generally speaking, men require no makeup. Any issue that does exist can easily be remedied with Retouching.

Makeup Artist
If you prefer to hire a makeup artist, please inform the artist we are using digital capture. Also, remember that unless you have particular makeup needs, it’s less expensive to request post-production retouching from us rather than hire a makeup artist. Our Pro level is your best option.

In the meantime, and as always, should you have questions regarding any aspect of professional headshots or our Headshot Preparation Tips for Men, no concern is too small.

Lorin Backe

Headshot Preparation Tips for Men

CONTACT US TODAY

When looking for an Orange County Headshots Photographer please call 949-713-4050 or complete our online request form.

PRIMARY AREAS SERVED

Orange County Headshots Photographer Lorin Backe is internationally recognized and serves all of Southern California, including San Diego County, Los Angeles, and the Inland Empire.