How To Take An Outdoor Headshot

3 Tips On How To Take An Outdoor Headshot

Headshots are one of the best ways to establish your image online. In today’s business world, headshots are a must. People want to get an idea of who you are – before they take the next step of doing business with you. Depending on the look you want to go for, headshots can be taken indoors (in-studio or at your home/office) or outdoors. Here are three tips on how to take an outdoor headshot.

Keep In Mind That The Background Will Be Blurry/Out of Focus

When considering whether to take your headshots indoors or outside, one of the things to consider is that the background will be blurry or out of focus. For headshots, the main focus of the image should be YOU. Not the background. The background is a complimentary part of the image – just like the type of outfit you choose to wear. When someone sees your headshot, they should not say, “wow, that’s a really nice background!” They should say this about you 🙂 Taking your headshot outdoors creates a little more of a dynamic image – but it should not be the main focus of the image.

Bring A Mirror And A Brush

Another really important thing to consider is that the weather will play a big factor in outdoor headshots. Depending on the day of your session, it may be windy. This means that your hair may not cooperate as much as it would when taking an indoor headshot. Bringing a mirror and a brush – to quickly make adjustments is really important. Of course, your final images will be touched up to reduce stray hairs – but your Photographer does not want to spend too much extra time making fixes to your hair 🙂 Getting the best possible image – without having to fix it in Photoshop is the best plan of action!

You Will Need Shade or Even Lighting

Last, but not least, you will need shade and/or even lighting for your headshot. You may look at the location and think it works really well for an outdoor headshot; however, this may not be the case in terms of lighting. For example, in most situations, you will need to have your back to the sun. This creates even lighting on your face, reduces sun flaring in your image, and prevents you from squinting in the images. If there is an area of open shade, this works really well. The lighting on your face will be soft and even and your Photographer will be able to balance out the image with a light 🙂

Hopefully these are some useful tips on how to take an outdoor headshot. If you are looking to take individual or group headshots, I would LOVE to connect with you. The best way to reach me is through a quick email at [email protected] or through the contact form on my website. Thanks!