Choosing Your Headshot Background

 

The most important thing to consider when getting a great professional headshot is to capture your authentic brand. That’s our focus in every headshot session we do. We work with you individually to fully understand your brand and convey it in your final images. In most cases, the headshot background should be a simple white or grey backdrop. Your headshot is all about you and your brand, not about a beautiful background. But once in awhile, we get special requests for a unique background for any number of reasons. Due to your own style, personality and situation, you may want to consider something unique for your headshot. Below are a few examples and the reasons why we chose the backgrounds we did.

Natural Headshot Background

For Convey Complia
nce Systems, our client specifically wanted a natural, outdoor setting. The brand they wanted to portray on their website was relaxed and approachable. So we chose a setting near their office building that gave us a natural backdrop that we could diffuse. We chose to use studio lighting outdoors so that we could replicate the lighting environment for other portrait sessions within the same company.

 

 

 

 

Structured Background

For W
orld Marketing Group, we were going for an architectural feel, but with a clean, bright look to be congruent with their website. We created this custom headshot background, which provided an elegant, yet structured look for their portraits.

 

 

 

Variations of Grey for Headshots

How deep of a grey color for the headshot background we use is usually a matter of personal preference. Some clients prefer a more dramatic look for their business headshot, others are looking to match the business headshots of others on their website, while others may just prefer the brighter look of a light grey background. Here are a few examples of varying shades of grey.

 

 

 

White Background for LinkedIn Profile Pictures

We often shoot on a white background for LinkedIn, because it really allows the individual to stand out on their LinkedIn profile page. There’s no competition with the background, and the photo blends in beautifully with LinkedIn, while allowing all of the focus to be on the person and their professional brand, which we will have captured in their image.

 

 

 

 

Custom Headshot Backgrounds

For some clients, we capture an image that will be used for a very specific purpose. In the two photos below, we were capturing business headshots to ultimately use on the client’s business website. The requirements were quite specific in terms of the background.