Author Photographs
In preparation for shooting my author headshots I read a lot of interesting articles on the internet.
I learned not to wear white (which I did anyway!), to have well groomed hair (spent the morning with my favorite hair stylist) and to have fun (which I did!).
My 5 best tips for author photographs:
(Based on many more failed attempts than I would like to admit.)
1) Don’t try too hard. It will show in the pictures. Just relax and be yourself. Wear clothes that you are used to, not something new and funky that you will tug at and not be sure how to move about in. Same with hair, don’t go all in, homecoming prom hair-do, but rather your own hairstyle, but at its best, of course.
2) If it’s your style, opt for monochrome colors, that will not make the photo turn out “busy”. Likewise let go of big jewelry that draw focus from your face. I left all jewelry at home, even the necklace I “always” wear. I only kept my rings, which I would feel naked without. Especially necklaces are best avoided, so that your photo later can be cropped without having half of a necklace hanging awkwardly from your neck. I wore my favorite watch, but early on in the shoot, Becs, my photographer, asked me to take it off, and I think the photos were better for it.
Still got the watch in this, one of the first pictures.
Same photo in black-and-white. Later in the shoot I changed into a white shirt with long sleeves that I rolled up a bit for a casual look.
3) For pictures in which one is standing up I would recommend a monochromatic color scheme, to not look cut-off in the middle and for a “longer and taller” figure. I even wore black shoes to make the legs longer despite me not wearing high heels. That’s another tip: 4) Be careful with high heels, since they might make you taller than the photographer; photos taken from a low angle can make your chin look disproportionately big (trust me — I know).
5) Standing with your legs crossed makes you look centered and is also a good and easy way to make you look slimmer. 🙂
We took a lot of different photos, that can be used for different purposes, such as blogs and magazine articles. I have at least fifty, both standing up, sitting down and headshots.
All these pictures are taken by the amazing photographer Becs Viveash, and you can see more of her fantastic work on her website Viveash Photography.
Hope I could give you some ideas!
Lene
