Steps to Great Headshots
A successful headshot session is the result of preparation, clarity, and professional guidance. Understanding the process helps you arrive confident, prepared, and clear on what to expect.
Below is a straightforward overview of the key steps involved in creating professional headshots that are consistent, credible, and fit for purpose.
Step 1: Define the Purpose of Your Headshots
Before booking a session, it’s important to understand how your headshots will be used. Professional headshots are commonly required for LinkedIn profiles, company websites, press features, and corporate communications.
Clarifying the intended use helps guide decisions around styling, framing, and lighting, ensuring the final images align with your professional context.
Step 2: Choose a Photographer Who Specialises in Headshots
Not all photographers approach headshots in the same way. Look for a photographer whose work reflects consistency, clarity, and professional credibility.
Review portfolios carefully and consider whether the photographer demonstrates strong lighting control, guided posing, and a clean, professional aesthetic appropriate for business use.
Step 3: Consultation and Planning
A professional headshot session begins with a brief consultation. This is where goals, usage, and preferences are discussed, along with wardrobe guidance and styling considerations.
Planning ensures the session runs smoothly and that decisions are made with intention rather than guesswork.
Step 4: Preparing for the Session
Preparation plays an important role in the final result.
Wardrobe should be clean, well-fitted, and appropriate for your role or industry. Simple, solid colours photograph best and keep the focus on your face and expression.
Basic grooming is equally important. Haircuts are best done a few days in advance, and makeup, if used, should be natural and understated.
Step 5: The Headshot Session
During the session, you are guided every step of the way — from posture and expression to subtle adjustments that create confident, professional results.
Clear direction helps remove uncertainty and allows you to relax in front of the camera. Sessions are structured and efficient, ensuring consistency without feeling rushed.
Step 6: Image Review and Selection
After the session, images are reviewed to identify the strongest options. Selection focuses on clarity, expression, and suitability for professional use.
This step ensures that only images that accurately represent you and meet your objectives are chosen for final delivery.
Step 7: Professional Retouching
Selected images are professionally retouched with restraint. Minor distractions are refined while preserving natural features and character.
The goal is a polished, credible headshot that still looks like you — not an altered or artificial version.
Step 8: Final Delivery and Use
Final images are supplied in appropriate formats for professional use, including both high-resolution and web-optimised files.
Once delivered, headshots can be confidently used across digital platforms and professional materials, providing consistency and clarity wherever they appear.
A Considered, Professional Process
Understanding the steps involved in a headshot session removes uncertainty and sets clear expectations. When approached with preparation and professional guidance, headshots become a practical tool that supports how you are seen and recognised in professional environments.
Once you understand the process, you may find it useful to review practical guidance on what to wear for your headshot.
You can also explore my headshot photography experience to see how these steps come together in a professional studio setting.