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Guide to creating your perfect profile picture by a photographer's assistant
Posted by on 2018-03-23 at 11:00 AM
Hello All!
I would like to share with you about how to create a good
portrait for your websites/listing, based on what I notice through being an
assistant to a photographer (my husband) and what he told me throughout the
years. I don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera but since my husband
needs to practise, I’ve learnt to make myself comfortable and I hope you would
too in order for your profile picture to capture what you would like to present
to the world.You might know all these things and more already and I don’t
really know what is general knowledge or not. I include everything that I can
think of just in case one of you are scratching your head right now for your
profile picture!Facial expression
My husband said the most important thing about a portrait is
the facial expression, because that’s the only thing he can’t photoshop.How would you like your clients to see you? Confident,
friendly, cheerful, joyful, serious, intelligent, capable? Once you figure it
out what you want to project, have that feeling inside of you and let it come
out from within to all of you. Please do not try to fake the feeling because
you might end up looking like a wax statue. No matter how good a wax statue was
made, you know there is no life in it.Over the years when my husband was photographing me, he
would say, ‘You look lost.’ ‘You look bored.’ ‘There is a question mark on your
face.’ ‘Now you look stressed.’ All the time I thought I had arranged my face
properly!I saw some of my friends on Facebook are very good at
arranging their faces for photographs. But then that’s just an arrangement.
They might have the perfectly presented face but there is no substance behind
that superficial perfection. Our clients are not looking for handsome men/women
to help them. They are looking for someone with whom they feel comfortable
with, someone they could trust. Whether they are aware of it or not, they are
influenced by the feeling that come through the photos.My own experience of
how the portrait photos are important for practitioners:When I was looking for a practitioner in Melbourne to help
myself and my husband, I had no idea of what all these methods were. I went
through many pages of listings and emailed a few to ask for the price, based on
their photos. I couldn’t tell who was best for us based on their credentials
but at least I could find someone whom I felt comfortable with. It was a
daunting experience to seek help from a stranger. When I saw the practitioner
whom I chose eventually, I wanted to be able to delete all the previous emails!
This practitioner looked friendly, confident, intelligent and strong. She was
all of those and did offer us great help and later became one of my teachers.
It was meant to be and she helped me find her easily because of her photo.While with another of my teachers, I almost didn’t contact
her because of her photo. She was presentable in the photo but I didn’t want to
get to know her at all. I ended up contacting her because her website was all
that came up and I checked up to Google search page 10. Later when I met her,
she told me that other teachers of the same method always came before her
website. I think ‘they’ had something to do with this. I did warm up to her
once we started the initial emails. It was, again, a daunting experience for me
to take that first step to learn something new and If she had presented her
genuine self, she would have helped me contact her a lot sooner.So now you’ve decided to make a living through helping
people, please help them find you!How to easily let the
genuine self comes through:Visualization! Imagine the camera and your photographer is
your favourite client, your best friend, a child, a kitten, or anyone or
anything that you enjoy seeing most. Smile is nice but not necessary. With this
kind of feeling inside, even the sternest face will project a certain softness
and welcoming feeling. You can also think of some activities that you like
doing that you know you are good at or enjoy doing, like doing maths, cooking,
swimming. Your favourite food works too. I often think of ice-cream when I want
to be smiling for the camera. You can also draw up an image that give you a
wonderful feeling, like a brilliant sunset, waterfall or a buddha’s face. It’s
all about the good feelings and letting it shines through you!Professional
photographer vs. your best friendA professional photographer knows your best angles (in their
opinions which should be an objective opinion) and how to capture it with
clever lighting. They can sort out all the details like lighting and backdrop
for you and guide you for the perfect position. They will produce at least a
few variations for you to choose from. They will also do some editing for you
if needed.Check out their websites for their portfolio and see if you
like their work. Communicate with your photographer so they know what the
portraits are for, the feeling you want to project. If you have a location you
like, do tell. Ask how long the shoot is for the price you agree on and if you
can change outfits or/and if you can have different backdrop/locations. It’s
always good to bring a few outfits so that the photographer can help you choose
the best ones based on the backdrop.Keep an open mind for their professional advice. They might
suggest things that you don’t see the point of but it can turn out to be really
good. Everyone is using digital camera now so your photographer should be able
to give you a preview in the little screen so you know what you are getting and
communicate further if it isn’t quite what you are looking for.I had witnessed my husband making the most camera-shy people
relax in front of his camera and become a star. A shoot with a professional
photographer can be quite a therapeutic experience!However, much as I want photographers to get more jobs, I
think your best friend could potentially bring out the best of you better than
the professionals because you would be more relaxed with your friend from the
start. You also don’t have to stress about performing in front of a stranger
within the time that you pay for. You are not aiming for a magazine-cover-worthy
photo (a lot of photoshop!) and so if you know that you cannot relax in front
of a stranger, don’t pay for the stress!Relax into the shoot with your friend. Treat it like another
activity that you do together without stressing about it. If you are
particularly shy with camera, let your friend knows, have a chat first about
your favourite things, something nice that happened. Be in a good relaxing mood
when you start your shoot. You can always do this again another day if it
doesn’t work out the first time. Your friend will be happy to see you again and
again for this project.Lighting
You can create magic with studio lighting, flash and all
those technical stuff but my husband always says that natural light is best.
And it’s free!Observe how the natural light changes throughout the day in
the location that you want. Say, if you want to do this at home and you have a
few windows, observe what time the light from which window give you a soft
glow. If you have mesh curtain, you can also use it to see if it can diffuse
the light to create that softness.If you shoot outdoor, in general, the morning light and late
afternoon light is best because it’s not too harsh. Overcast sky is good too.
If you have a background in mind, observe at what time of the day the light is
shinning on you while you stand in front of this background. You don’t want the
light to be coming from behind you unless you have fill-in-flash or there is
some special effect you want to create.The best light gives the skin a smooth glow and can even
give you an angelic feeling. It’s worth the trouble to give it some
observation. The word ‘photographer’ is from Greek and it joins two words
together – ‘light writer’ so you can see how important light is in photography.Location
If you have good light at home, pick a blank wall near a
window and there you have your own studio. If you have no choice but to
photograph next to a light switch, be sure to photoshop it out with the
function on your phone because it is a distraction. You want to have only what
you choose to include in the photo.If your home doesn’t offer you a good spot, look around in
the neighbourhood if there is a suitable wall. It can be any colour you like. It
can be a smooth wall, a brick wall, wood wall, plant wall etc. You can always
take a quick selfie to see how this colour complement your skin tone. And so
now you have your studio backdrop for free!How close to the wall do you stand? It depends on how you
want your photo to look like. You can always try with your back to the wall and
then step forward to see what you like better.Park is a good location, with trees and grass as background.
The sea and cliff and any part of nature is great too. Whether you already have
a perfect portrait or not, next time you go to these locations with a friend,
have your friend takes a few photos of you with the nature as background so
that you have more photos to play around.Clothes
Wear whatever you like as long as you feel comfortable in it
and that it is how you would like to present to your clients. My husband tried
to talk me out of wearing a t-shirt and jeans for my portrait but I persisted
because this is how I dress when I see clients. What I want to project is that
‘I’m not an expert. I’m only your helper who hangs out in parks sometimes.’ I
also don’t want to put on formal clothing (I don’t have those things!) and then
open the door to my clients in t-shirt and jeans. You see what you get!The only thing with the clothes is to make sure the colour
doesn’t clash with the background of your choice. For example, black clothes
with black backdrop can be quite spooky, or really cool. Green clothes with
grass and trees background might make you look like a green fairy. But of
course these are not rules and it all depends on what photo you want to create.Hair and makeup
Again, do whatever you want! I suggest that you don’t vary
too much from the every day you so that your clients wouldn’t feel like they
have gone to the wrong practitioner when they arrive at your door!Especially for an outdoor shoot, make sure your hair is tidy
throughout the shoot and not becoming messy by the wind.Some of us get red nose or pimples sometimes. These can be
photoshopped out easily but if the photoshop option is out, you might like to
cover these with makeup. Even for men. Unless you don’t mind them showing.Distractions
Move away any clutters or rubbish before your shoot. Be in
control of what goes inside your photo.Your profile picture really is about you so let you be the
only person in it. What if you really want to present your pets or children?
You can always include another picture in your About page. Of course you must
do whatever you like and if you want to be holding your pet in your profile
picture, so be it. Some clients might just go to you because of that. Just make
sure that this is your real decision and not because you need to be holding a
security blanket.Frame
So now you have your portrait and all look well but there is
just something not quite right. The frame!My husband said a good photo always has some sort of harmony
in it. I forgot how he said it but it has to do with the lines, some sort of
geometry, golden means, rule of third whatever that means. But let’s forget the
rules! Photographers probably never make calculations like these but just make
the frame according to what pleases their eyes. Play around with the cropping
tool to come up with a few versions and see which one is the most pleasing for you.
My husband said a good portrait is not just the face, but the whole image and
harmony does attract the eyes and give good impression. Now that you’ve done
the scariest bit (the shoot), let’s take a few more moments to find the perfect
frame.Make it Clear
A profile picture is like saying, ‘Here I am!’ so let the
photo be clear, unless you really want people to know that you are actually a
fairy or you are from the past.More on the face and
bodyEyes
Your potential clients are looking at you so you would be
looking at them through your photo so that you have that connection going. If
you choose to look somewhere else, make sure that you do not look unconfident
or shifty. You could also look like you find other things are more interesting
than your potential clients. If you choose to not look straight into the
camera, let the reason be apparent e.g. you are admiring the nature, you are
looking tenderly at your kitten.Instead of looking straight at the camera, try look beyond
it. Sometimes this works better.Cheeks
Have you seen women putting on blusher (the pink stuff on
the cheek) while holding a pretend smile? (It’s a way to find where the best
spots for the blusher are) I saw plenty and found it to be quite eerie. Like a
wax statue.Try to fake a smile and notice the feeling on your cheeks.
Now draw up a joyful feeling (ice-cream!) and let the smile comes and notice
the cheeks again. Can you feel that nice energy coming out of your cheeks? Even
if you prefer not to smile for the photo, consider letting that nice energy
come out of your cheeks. I don’t know how to explain to you but there really is
a difference.Mouth
Relax your mouth! Try not to close your lips tight. Or you
look tight-lipped and a bit secretive as if you have something to hide. I don’t
mean that you would open your lips for sexy look. Observe when you are most
relaxed, your lips are not glued together completely. Even if they are touching
each other, they are not pressed together. If you are not sure what to do with
your mouth during a shoot, breath out gently with your mouth and let the lips
rest comfortably.Forehead
I’ve seen some frowny portraits and they can be rather nice
too for the right persons when done nicely. Otherwise it would be like you are
suffering or are going to tell someone off. If that’s not the look you want,
smooth out your forehead by relaxing it. It’s like you are hypnotizing
yourself! If the light is too strong and bothering you, wait for the sun to set
or adjust your position.Body
Relax your body so you appear comfortable. The hands are
often an issue: where to place them? If you are sitting, you can place them on
the lap. Observe what you normally do when you are comfortable and try doing
just that. If you are standing for full body shots, nothing wrong to just let
the arm hangs as long as you appear comfortable. Look at other people’s
portraits on the internet to get some ideas and see what suit you so that you
can get into position easily. The objective is that you look comfortable.During the shoot, once you get in the position, you might
like to adjust your head slightly for each photo. Head up/down a little bit at
a time, turn slightly to the left/right, till your head a little bit on either
side. Sometimes a slight adjustment of the angle of the head makes a big
difference. Notice that you are not straining your neck because the tension
shows up in the neck easily.Your photographer will be moving too once they found a
perfect spot for you to be. If your friend is shooting, they could also move
around to catch the best angle and in this case, you will move your head or
just your eyes following them according to their instructions. Sometimes my
husband stands on a little stool or a chair to shoot from slightly above.Wish for good luck!
I think there is always a bit of luck in the perfect photo.
I mean, you can have the perfect everything but you happened to blink! Wish for
good luck, let your higher self and all your guides and angels assist you. I
wish you all the luck you need! Enjoy!That’s about it! It seems a lot to know but it’s not. Once
you notice these things, you would be able to do them easily. We all basically
have the perfect face, body and expression ready to be photographed throughout
the day and it’s just a matter of doing it in front of the scary camera with
good light and background. It’s not about learning to be a model (that’s hard!)
but to let your shinny self comes through in this photograph.Thank you for reading till here! I invite you to share your
experience, tips, and what helps you so we can learn from one another!Love,
Stephanie
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6 Replies
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Super Awesome!!!!!!!! Thank You
Blessings, Love & Light
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Wow Stephanie, from a former professional photographer….I have to say WELL DONE!
Thank you for taking the time out to write such an amazing article. Photos are not just crucial, they are CRITICALLY important and make all the difference in the world.
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o:) my husband taught me well B)
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Dearest Stephanie. Thanks so much for this information and thanks to your husband for being your teacher. Lovelight and blessings to you. Tracey
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Thank you Stephanie. You brought to mind tips I do not often think about when looking for my next photographer and being the photographed. Most the time after my proofs are returned I think, do I really look like that? Or, hum I guess that picture is OK.
Would like to find someone soon for my next photo. Clearly your husband is a great teacher and knows all the tricks of his business. Your article was complete and wonderful.
Not sure what the rules are for this blog concerning the sharing of personal information for professional help. I will wait to hear from the blog manager. If its alright, I would love your husbands professional info.
Sandra
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Thank you Stephanie. Great tips!
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