FAQ Tips

What Do I Wear for Professional Headshots?

It depends on your personality, industry and where the photos will be placed!

For more conservative situations like law or academics, we recommend the standard suit-and-tie, or female equivalent.

Otherwise, the best rule-of-thumb is to take a look around LinkedIn to see how peers in your industry are dressed. Make sure to pay closer attention to people who are successful vs whomever is in your immediate network.

Remember, dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If you’re still not sure, then ask us! We’re always happy to provide guidance.

How Do I Pose for Professional Headshots?

No need to go crazy on your poses for professional headshots. In our sessions, we tend to focus on minimalist poses. We’ve seen other photographers force clients into some truly bizarre poses. But, we avoid this practice like the plague.

We are, after all, showcasing your professionalism — not our photography.

At the beginning of your session, you should warm up with simple and straightforward poses. Simply stand there and smile.

Later, we will work toward some arms-crossed headshots and perhaps a couple candids.

What Backdrops are Best for Professional Headshots?

For more conservative industries like law and finance, we recommend neutral backdrops based in white, gray or black. With those colors, we can get some really crisp shots that convey reliability and consistency.

If you work in creative industries, non-profits, or tech, and you’d like your photos to have a bit more “pop,” feel free to pick a colored studio backdrop or try an outdoor/in-office session. These photos often have a bit more personality.

If you’re a senior administrator, manager, or thought-leader, you should probably have several photos of yourself that you can use across platforms. Ideally, you would have a couple outdoor or office photos to supplement your studio headshots.

If you have the same exact headshot on LinkedIn, the company website, and press releases, it can look a bit amateurish.

How Should I Prepare for Professional Headshots?

There are three keys to preparing for your headshot ahead of time.

First, if possible, try to get some sleep, exercise, and sunshine in the weeks before your session. Our editing team airbrushes your selected photos before delivering them to you, but your preparation will help ensure that the photos look as natural as possible.

Second, make sure to briefly wear your desired clothing a couple days before your session. You want to make sure that your outfits still fits properly and doesn’t need dry cleaning.

Third, take a look at some prior photos of yourself and see if there are any that you particularly like. When you arrive at the studio, show those photos to your photographer, and that will help us find an angle that you find flattering.

What If I’m Not Photogenic or Hate Getting My Photo Taken?

We’ve got you covered! Most portrait photographers are unfortunately guilty of creating a cringe-y environment for their clients. They force you into awkward poses and don’t truly understand what clients are looking for from their session. Either that, or they rush you through the session.

At KMc Media, we strive to create a fun & stress-free environment for every client. At our studio, we play upbeat music and constantly get feedback from the client so that we can work towards an amazing headshot that you’ll be proud to show online.

Where Do I Put My New Headshot?

First impressions are everything. That’s true in your career and in your personal life. Having an up-to-date, professional portrait on hand can play an important role in landing that interview, winning that contract, or meeting that perfect client.

Here are a few ways that our clients have used their professional headshots to make a lasting first impression:

Social Media – LinkedIn and Facebook

Real-Estate or Realtor Business Cards

Executive About Pages

Brochures and Sales Collateral
ERAS Residency Application System

Are LinkedIn profile photos important?

A clean, recent, and professional social media profile photo is critical to your career! Here are some stats:

94% of recruiters (who use social-media) regularly use LinkedIn to vet candidates
19% of recruiters will ONLY look at your profile picture and nothing else on your LinkedIn profile. (HSN Beauty Survey)
By just having a profile photos, your profile 14x more likely to be seen by recruiters, customers, and investors. (LinkedIn Report)

We send you your final photos in “LinkedIn Optimized Format” which is the maximum file size allowed to upload to LinkedIn.

Do you offer a makeup artist or hair stylist?

Not right now, but we’re working on finding a high-quality makeup artist and hair stylist for our studio sessions.

If your hair is typically frizzy/difficult to manage, we highly recommend a hair appointment the day before.

What does “retouching” mean? What do you do to the photos?

During the retouching process, we generally improve the quality of the photo by 1) removing stray hairs 2) whitening teeth 3) removing acne 4) minimizing bags under eyes and 5) generally improving lighting/contrast. If requested, we can also apply facial wrinkle removal.

Delivery

Images available for download within 2-3 business days for individual headshots. Images available for download within 7 business days for groups and teams.

Rescheduling

Sessions cancelled before 72 hours from your session time receive a 100% refund. Sessions that are postponed inside of 72 hours from your session to a later date will retain the fee as studio credit which will be good for one month. No-shows forfeit their session fee. See our Terms & Conditions for details.

Payment

Do I need to pay upfront?

Yes. In order to provide competitive pricing, we need to know that customers will actually show up for their session. As such, we don’t accept reservations without payment upfront. In some case however, you can call us ahead of time and pay when you arrive. You must call ahead of time and discuss with the studio.

Licensing

Do I own the images? What are the Copyright considerations?

All of our images are copyrighted (the intellectual property of KMc Media LLC), and we license our images to you for use in personal and non-commercial branding.

All image usage rights (regardless of Temporary or Permanent) are non-transferable and cannot be sold or given away. You must credit “Photo(s) by KMc Media” for the images purchased, for all usage purposes. KMc Media is the lawful copyright owner of all images.

See our Terms & Conditions for details.

Learn more about usage rights and copyright laws here.

Covid-19

Staying Covid Secure: If you are experiencing any of the known symptoms of Covid-19, or if you have been in contact with anyone who has recently experienced symptoms, or if you or any member of your household has been asked to self-isolate, then please inform me immediately so we can rearrange your shoot.