Being a headshot or portrait photographer, in my experience, relies on about 30% technical skill and 70% personality. Regardless of how good you are with a camera, if you can’t get natural and genuine expressions, your photos won’t look good. I’d take a mediocrely lit and framed image of a great expression over an extremely well executed image of an uncomfortable expression any day.

The headshot is about presenting a person - and usually we want to express warmth and openness, traits which encourage a feeling of wanting to work with them. Basically, does this person feel easy for me to walk up to and start a conversation with?  There are of course professions which rely more on presenting professionalism as a more serious affair, but they are far less common.

HOW TO GET THAT GENUINE SMILE

There is a huge difference between “Okay, now one smiling” and actually getting them to smile. Some of us can smile on demand, but often people can’t. It’s part of the responsibility of the photographer to be building rapport from the moment you begin interacting with your client. This opens up space to make jokes, poke fun and reference things in their life. I photograph while I’m talking, trying to get the immediate smiling response of whoever I’m working with. Waiting even a few seconds, you can miss it! We can all tell the difference between genuine amusement and joy in someones face and just a smile that was put there.

Here’s some good examples of just how stark the difference is when we get someone to actually smile!