I need a Headshot

I Need A Headshot

It’s time. I need a headshot.

 

The I use for blogging, gravatars and so on is so old that I don’t even know for certain which year it was taken in.

I Need A Headshot

But I hate having my photo taken. And I mean hate. It’s not about how I look, it’s about how I feel represented. And I don’t think I look like me in photos. Once again, this isn’t a vanity type thing. I just want me to look like me. There are about two photos I’ve ever liked of me because they feel like me.

 

The easiest way to explain it is that episode of Friends where Monica & Chandler get engagement photos taken. I’m Chandler. I just can’t smile on cue without it looking terrible. Photos of me where I’m enjoying myself are fine usually. They look like me.

 

Also, probably as a leftover from both terrible school photo day memories and a short stint working in a portrait studio, I hate being told to sit still and smile. I hate ‘proper’ photos.

 

I like being behind the camera. And, kind of off-topic, crappy & posed photos are part of what made me deregister my photography business. I’m really only interested in the photos I like.

 

At least people recognised me last year at ProBlogger, so I guess I look enough like myself in the photo that it’s not a huge issue.

 

But the photo is old. I should have something more recent to represent me online. I should pay a decent photographer to get a headshot of me, but I’m squashed under vet bills right now, so that won’t be happening for quite some time.

 

How do you deal with being in front of the camera? Is there a technique you use to make sure the photo looks and feels like you?

 

6 Replies to “I need a Headshot”

  1. I’ve been exclusively using Instagram selfies for a while now. Because a) convenient b) nice filter and c) I usually only take them when I’m feeling like I’m looking good. The self confidence tends to shine through then. Formal and posed photos horrify me also- that’s why I was so insistent on getting a wedding photographer who understood my desire for informality!

    1. I’ve never found my selfie gene…I feel like such a bad Instagrammer haha.

  2. Oh I feel your pain, I really do! If you go the professional route the best advice I’ve got is to find someone whose portfolio contains images that speak to you. It’s not enough to find someone who takes ‘nice’ photos, you want someone gifted who’s able to capture the essence of you (without making you look, or feel, like an idiot). So go with your gut – if you like their photos and you’re comfortable letting them see you in all your awkwardness then you’re onto a winner! As for technique, unfortunately, practice makes perfect!

    1. I find it very hard to find any kind of portrait photography nice, honestly. It just doesn’t sit with me.

  3. I’ve only started doing the “selfie” thing out of necessity. I would ask my husband to take photos for my beauty blog, but I think it would be easier as they say, “to baptise a cat.” Having said that and seeing you’re not a selfie-fan I always recalled how much I loved photos of me in my dancing days. I was never looking at the camera, I was in movement, and I wasn’t thinking about what angle the camera was coming from so where to try hide my flabby arms or “cake-baby.” Maybe just have a day out at the waterfront with some friends and hope for the best! You might be able to collage something together that helps represent the things you blog about. ^_^ L.

    1. So it’s Axl’s turn to learn to photograph you? 🙂

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