Now that the excitement of the Battle of Toronto is receding into the background, it’s time to refocus on the topics of self-improvement that are the backbone of the forum. As a working pro photographer I’ve decided to address the elements that contribute to a successful business-use headshot profile photo, an often neglected pillar of online marketing and personal branding that can benefit almost every independent man.
(Note: I will not be addressing online dating photos here, a topic that would deserve its own separate post, which I may tackle if there is enough interest).
A casual perusal through Facebook will quickly reveal the obvious fact that women love being in front of the camera, while men generally shun it. It’s been documented many times here that female narcissism has paid off for the ladies in terms of mastering the art of selfie posing and facial expression, while mens’ lack of experience in this department usually results in even the handsomest gentlemen appearing dorky, uncomfortable and unsure in most photos.
Fortunately there are some quick shortcuts to help men learn to project the qualities of confidence and approachability required for an effective portrait — particularly a Linkedin-ready commercial headshot — all without resorting to the ladies’ attention-whoreism approach.
The first and most important issue is to address the double-chin effect that occurs when we unconsciously lean our heads away from the camera, something that most of us instinctively do in our attempt to subconsciously avoid the lens.
New York headshot photographer Peter Hurley does an excellent job of addressing this in the following video, while demonstrating how to emphasize a more desirable chiseled jaw line:
The second most important issue to address is what we do with our eyes when a camera is pointed at our face, and how to consciously avoid the dreaded dear-in-headlights look.
Once again, Peter Hurley offers a video tutorial (though be careful no to overdo his advice here, as he sometimes tends to go a bit overboard on this one):
Does this one seem a bit familiar? It should for regular RFV readers, as this eye control advice is a big part of often-discussed frame control, and should be a natural part of your external persona, even when a camera isn’t pointed at your face.
Of course, in the presence of stress it’s common to overlook this discipline — just note Roosh’s eyes in his video The Battle of Montreal, whereby his eyeballs are bulging open so wide that you can see the full whites of his eyes around the entire pupil, thus exuding fear/anger/uncertainty (in Roosh’s defense, compare this to just about any other of his videos, he practically never does this otherwise). Also, note how often the enemy (media, feminist blogs), have screen-grabbed images from this particular video to help manipulate their narrative.
Now that we have our jawline and eyes under control, let’s address some wardrobe details:
For a business headshot, nothing screams Alpha more than a dark suit (or blazer) and tie. The fit of your shirt collar should be perfect - with top button done up, you should be able to fit two fingers comfortably between collar and neck. See any photo of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford in shirt-&-tie for an example of what too tight looks like; too big a gap and you’ll look like a turtle poking its head out of its shell, like Ron Paul during most of his 2012 election campaign.
For your tie to make the strongest statement, you’ll want to master the Full Windsor knot (ala Trump), with its combination of symmetry and dominant girth (yup, the tie is representative of your erect dick); if you’re a smaller-neck guy that feels swallowed up by the Full Windsor, try the slightly smaller Half-Windsor, still a dominant business man knot. Either way, lose the asymmetrical Four-In-Hand “schoolboy” knot, you’re playing in the big leagues now. Additionally, I am a fan of dressing up the necktie knot with a dimple to add visual texture (YouTube is your friend), but this is of course dependent on the style of tie (ie-don't dimple a skinny tie).
Even if you’re one of those guys that hates wearing ties, suck it up and make sure you get this look perfectly captured; once your photographer is confident he’s nailed a couple perfect shots, you can always lose the tie and have him snap a few semi-casuals for good measure, though I highly recommend the With-Tie image for your linkedin page (when’s the last time you spotted a Fortune500 CEO chillin’ sans-necktie in the pages of his company’s annual report? I’m sure it happens, but, really?).
That’s probably enough to digest for now, my next posting to this thread will address some do’s/don’ts in choosing your photographer, editing the best shot(s) from the bunch, and retouching considerations.
(Note: I will not be addressing online dating photos here, a topic that would deserve its own separate post, which I may tackle if there is enough interest).
A casual perusal through Facebook will quickly reveal the obvious fact that women love being in front of the camera, while men generally shun it. It’s been documented many times here that female narcissism has paid off for the ladies in terms of mastering the art of selfie posing and facial expression, while mens’ lack of experience in this department usually results in even the handsomest gentlemen appearing dorky, uncomfortable and unsure in most photos.
Fortunately there are some quick shortcuts to help men learn to project the qualities of confidence and approachability required for an effective portrait — particularly a Linkedin-ready commercial headshot — all without resorting to the ladies’ attention-whoreism approach.
The first and most important issue is to address the double-chin effect that occurs when we unconsciously lean our heads away from the camera, something that most of us instinctively do in our attempt to subconsciously avoid the lens.
New York headshot photographer Peter Hurley does an excellent job of addressing this in the following video, while demonstrating how to emphasize a more desirable chiseled jaw line:
The second most important issue to address is what we do with our eyes when a camera is pointed at our face, and how to consciously avoid the dreaded dear-in-headlights look.
Once again, Peter Hurley offers a video tutorial (though be careful no to overdo his advice here, as he sometimes tends to go a bit overboard on this one):
Does this one seem a bit familiar? It should for regular RFV readers, as this eye control advice is a big part of often-discussed frame control, and should be a natural part of your external persona, even when a camera isn’t pointed at your face.
Of course, in the presence of stress it’s common to overlook this discipline — just note Roosh’s eyes in his video The Battle of Montreal, whereby his eyeballs are bulging open so wide that you can see the full whites of his eyes around the entire pupil, thus exuding fear/anger/uncertainty (in Roosh’s defense, compare this to just about any other of his videos, he practically never does this otherwise). Also, note how often the enemy (media, feminist blogs), have screen-grabbed images from this particular video to help manipulate their narrative.
Now that we have our jawline and eyes under control, let’s address some wardrobe details:
For a business headshot, nothing screams Alpha more than a dark suit (or blazer) and tie. The fit of your shirt collar should be perfect - with top button done up, you should be able to fit two fingers comfortably between collar and neck. See any photo of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford in shirt-&-tie for an example of what too tight looks like; too big a gap and you’ll look like a turtle poking its head out of its shell, like Ron Paul during most of his 2012 election campaign.
For your tie to make the strongest statement, you’ll want to master the Full Windsor knot (ala Trump), with its combination of symmetry and dominant girth (yup, the tie is representative of your erect dick); if you’re a smaller-neck guy that feels swallowed up by the Full Windsor, try the slightly smaller Half-Windsor, still a dominant business man knot. Either way, lose the asymmetrical Four-In-Hand “schoolboy” knot, you’re playing in the big leagues now. Additionally, I am a fan of dressing up the necktie knot with a dimple to add visual texture (YouTube is your friend), but this is of course dependent on the style of tie (ie-don't dimple a skinny tie).
Even if you’re one of those guys that hates wearing ties, suck it up and make sure you get this look perfectly captured; once your photographer is confident he’s nailed a couple perfect shots, you can always lose the tie and have him snap a few semi-casuals for good measure, though I highly recommend the With-Tie image for your linkedin page (when’s the last time you spotted a Fortune500 CEO chillin’ sans-necktie in the pages of his company’s annual report? I’m sure it happens, but, really?).
That’s probably enough to digest for now, my next posting to this thread will address some do’s/don’ts in choosing your photographer, editing the best shot(s) from the bunch, and retouching considerations.