Take a Headshot for Website or Email Signature
Step 1: Find a plain wall across from a window
Where many homemade headshots go wrong is their background gives them away. What you want to do here is fake the look of being in a photographer’s studio. To do this, you need to be sure that identifying features of the room you’re in — window blinds, kitchen cabinets, couches, etc. — are out of the shot.
Rather, find a plain wall in your house and stand a few feet away from it (so as not to cast harsh shadows behind you). Light colored walls are best.
Preferably you want to stand in front of a wall directly facing a window during a time of day in which the sun is not in immediate view. This will give you soft, diffused light that illuminates your entire face. This light is by far the most flattering kind you can get and, again, mimics the kind of lighting one would expect from a professionally-taken shot.
Step 2: Use a tripod with your smartphone/camera or have someone else take the shot
This is the part where I warn you about extended-arm selfies. Selfies distort the proportions of your face, making your forehead or nose look larger than it is. While subtle, this effect tips people off to the fact that your photo is a selfie. (That’s why you can tell a photo is a selfie even when the photo-taking arm has been cropped out.)
The goal is to get your camera a few feet away from you at about eye level. If using a tripod, utilize the timer feature on your phone or camera.
Step 4: Edit your favorites (if needed)
Once you’ve uploaded the shots to your computer, you’ll want to use a photo editor to make some easy tweaks.
Editing your photo is not necessary but helpful if you need to crop or adjust the brightness.
Mac's Photos app has a great editor but if needed here are some free online editors:
- https://www.picmonkey.com/
- https://pixlr.com/
- https://www.fotor.com/
Don't reduce the size of your image. Cropping is fine but it is best to keep the images as large as possible for clarity. The smaller your photo the more pixelated and blurry it will look when used.
Your photo should be no smaller than 200KB and dimensions at a minimum of 500 x 500 pixels.
(You can look up the size and dimensions of your photo by right clicking on the photo or file, click Get Info and it will list the size and dimensions.)
Step 5: Use your new headshot!
Add it to your email signature or send it on if needed for website or marketing use.