This image is from a recent Business Portrait Session with Maddison Helmer, an Executive Assistant at Apex Financial Consulting in Calgary. The team at Apex Financial Consulting have a mission to help their clients identify their dreams and their goals in life. They help their clients to understand the financial implications of the life decisions and plans that they make. If you need help with your life, health, disability, or critical illness insurance, or if you need some advice with regard to investments and estate planning then you should contact Maddison right away!
Struggling with What to Wear to your Portrait Session?
Business portraits are most often used on websites, business cards, and social networking sites. All of these uses only allow for a tiny picture and it’s really important that you show off your most important feature: your face! Therefore a typical business head shot normally includes only your head and shoulders. Unless you know that you will need a photo that includes more of you in the scene, you really only need to worry about how you look from the chest up. This should make it a little easier to decide how to get ready for your professional headshot session!
Here are a few tips about what to wear and how you should get ready:
Clothing
For men, you will want to wear nice shirt, maybe a tie (although in Calgary that is definitely optional), and a good suit jacket or sport coat. You should opt for a solid color dark suit without any bold stripes or patterns. Your shirt should either be white or a complementary color to the suit. If you are looking for a more casual look while still keeping a business feel to the portrait, then opt for just a shirt and tie with no jacket. Keep in mind that white are great if you are wearing a jacket, but if you plan to take the coat off then you will want a shirt that is darker than your skin tone.
Women should avoid wearing large prints or busy patterns. As for necklines, round necklines will shorten your appearance and v-necklines will lengthen your appearance. Stay away from bold colors such as bright reds, yellows, and oranges as they can be distracting and the color can bounce up onto your neck and face.
If you think you may need more than one business portrait then feel free to bring a couple different outfits with you to your photo shoot. That way you can choose the best outfit for the backdrops we have available. It also gives us the option to mix and match and to create some different looks that you might be able to use in different situations. You may choose to use a different image in a press release or a presentation than you would want for your LinkedIn profile.
Jewelry
You should minimize the amount of jewelry that you wear for your portrait. Less is definitely more in this instance. Women should stick with a small pair of earrings and a light necklace or a string of pearls. Men should only wear jewelry if they would be comfortable doing so while doing their normal jobs or meeting with their clients.
Other Factors
Good hygiene is always smiled upon when taking a business headshot. Men should be clean shaven and women should have their hair neatly in place. Women should wear makeup that looks clean and natural. This is another case where less is more. A light application is all that is required.
If you still want more great ideas about what to wear then please download our free guide:
What to Wear and How to Prepare for your Portrait Session.
Book a Calgary Headshot Appointment
If you are ready to take your profile to the next level then now is the time to schedule a professional headshot session!
