Just like there are many different types of professionals and industries, there are different types of headshots designed to serve specific purposes, people, and brands. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “What kind of headshot do I actually need?” this guide is for you. We’ll break down the options, showcase the differences, and help you decide on the right type of headshot for you.
Before we dive into the specific categories, it’s important to understand that the world of headshots isn’t always black and white. There’s often a significant crossover, and the ‘best’ type of headshot can vary greatly even within the same industry. For example, while one law firm might opt for a very traditional, polished corporate headshot to convey gravitas, a cutting-edge, modern law firm with a more dynamic brand might find that a creative headshot better reflects their team. Our goal is always to find the perfect fit that truly represents you or your brand’s unique identity.
Without further ado, let’s jump in…
What is a Corporate Headshot?
A corporate headshot is a professional portrait specifically designed for business use. Its primary purpose is to convey professionalism, credibility, and approachability. Typically, these images are well-lit, clean, and focus clearly on the subject’s face, often with a neutral or subtly blurred background to minimise distractions. The style is usually refined, polished, and consistent, especially when representing a team or organization.
Who are Corporate Headshots for?
Corporate headshots are essential for a wide range of professionals and businesses. This includes executives, employees, consultants, and entrepreneurs across all industries, such as finance, law, technology, marketing, and healthcare. They are crucial for company websites, LinkedIn profiles, internal comms platforms like Slack, annual reports, press releases, business cards, email signatures and pitch decks, ensuring a unified and professional brand image for individuals and the entire organisation.
Where to get Corporate Headshots
At Headshot Company, we specialise in delivering high-quality corporate headshots for individuals and entire companies. Our expertise allows us to provide a seamless experience whether you choose to visit our dedicated studio or prefer the convenience of our mobile studio set up at your office. We are adept at managing projects of any scale, from individual executive portraits to high-volume shoots for hundreds of employees, ensuring consistency and efficiency across all locations.
What is a LinkedIn Headshot?
A LinkedIn headshot is a professional portrait specifically optimised for your LinkedIn profile, serving as your digital handshake. Its primary goal is to establish credibility, professionalism, and approachability, often being the very first impression you make on potential employers, colleagues, or clients when they view your profile. While similar to a corporate headshot, a LinkedIn headshot often prioritises a friendly yet professional demeanor, encouraging connection and trust. We usually crop LinkedIn headshots in a little closer too, as they usually end up being displayed quite small on the platform, particularly on mobile devices.
Who are LinkedIn Headshots for?
LinkedIn headshots are essential for virtually every professional active on the platform. This includes job seekers, recruiters, entrepreneurs, sales professionals, consultants, and anyone looking to build or enhance their personal brand online. A high-quality LinkedIn headshot is crucial for creating a strong personal brand, boosting credibility, and making you stand out in a crowded professional network. If you’re on LinkedIn, you need a LinkedIn headshot!
Where to get LinkedIn Headshots
At Headshot Company, we specialise in headshot photography designed to make you stand out on LinkedIn. We offer dedicated sessions in our studio, providing a controlled environment for a polished look. For your convenience, we also provide on-location services, bringing our mobile studio directly to your office or preferred setting.
On-Location Headshots
What is an On-Location Headshot?
An on-location headshot is a professional portrait captured at a specific site outside of a traditional studio, such as a client’s office, a conference venue, or a unique outdoor setting. This approach brings the studio experience directly to you, offering unparalleled convenience and efficiency. It allows for the creation of images that can either maintain a classic studio aesthetic using portable backdrops or integrate the environment to add context and personality to the professional’s image.
Who are On-Location Headshots for?
On-location headshots are ideal for businesses of all sizes, especially those seeking consistent, professional imagery for their entire team without the logistical challenge of coordinating individual studio visits. This includes large corporations, busy executives, remote or hybrid teams, and companies hosting conferences or events where attendees can get their headshots taken on-site. It’s also perfect for individuals who prefer the convenience of having their headshot taken at their workplace or a chosen environment.
Where to get On-Location Headshots
Headshot Company specialises in delivering high-quality, professional on-location headshots. With over two decades of experience working in diverse environments, from Premier League stadiums to corporate offices, we excel at adapting our fully mobile studio to any setting. Our expertise ensures seamless logistics, efficient high-volume shoots (we can photograph hundreds in a day!), and consistent, stunning results, all without you having to step foot in a studio.
What is a Creative Headshot?
A creative headshot goes beyond a standard professional portrait; it’s an image meticulously crafted to reflect the unique personality, brand, or artistic vision of an individual or company. Unlike traditional headshots that often prioritise uniformity, creative headshots aim to tell a story, exude individuality, and stand out in a visually competitive landscape. This can involve dynamic compositions, inventive lighting, unique expressions, and often integrates elements like graphic overlays or animation.
Who are Creative Headshots for?
Creative headshots are ideal for professionals in industries where individuality, innovation, and personal brand expression are paramount. This includes designers, artists, musicians, actors (beyond their standard casting shots), entrepreneurs, digital marketers, content creators, and any business that wants its team’s image to reflect a bold, unique, or artistic ethos. They are perfect for email signtures, personal websites, social media profiles where personality is key, and marketing materials that aim to break the mold.
Where to get Creative Headshots
Headshot Company specialises in producing truly bespoke Creative Headshots. We thrive on collaboration, working closely with you to bring your unique vision to life, whether you’re an individual or a team. You can choose to visit our dedicated studio for a controlled environment perfect for artistic exploration and intricate lighting. Alternatively, we can bring our mobile studio to your location, integrating your unique environment into the creative concept. We blend advanced technical expertise with artistic vision to deliver images that are genuinely one-of-a-kind.
What is a Personal Branding Headshot?
A personal branding headshot is a professional portrait specifically designed to articulate and reinforce an individual’s unique brand identity. Unlike a traditional corporate headshot that focuses on a generalised professional look, personal branding headshots aim to tell a deeper story about who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique. These images often incorporate elements that hint at your personality, industry, values, or even your working environment, creating a more authentic and relatable visual presence.
Who are Personal Branding Headshots for?
Personal branding headshots are crucial for entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants, authors, speakers, artists, content creators, and any professional whose personal story and unique approach are central to their business. They are ideal for personal websites, social media profiles (beyond just LinkedIn), marketing materials, book covers, and speaking engagements, helping to build a strong, cohesive, and memorable personal brand that resonates with their target audience.
Where to get Personal Branding Headshots
Headshot Company creates impactful personal branding headshots that truly capture your essence. We offer a highly collaborative process, working with you to understand your brand and vision. You can choose to have your session in our versatile studio, providing a controlled environment for specific aesthetics, or opt for an on-location shoot that incorporates elements of your unique workspace or preferred environment, ensuring your images authentically reflect your brand.
What is a Virtual Headshot?
A virtual headshot is a professional portrait created remotely, without the need for an in-person studio visit or on-location setup. It’s a modern solution that utilises guided self-photography, where clients take their own photos using a smartphone or camera, and then these images are professionally processed and retouched by our team. The goal is to deliver a high-quality, professional headshot that is indistinguishable from a traditional studio shot, offering unparalleled convenience. The image in the example above originally had a kitchen in it!
Who are Virtual Headshots for?
Virtual headshots are perfect for remote and hybrid teams, allowing companies to achieve a consistent and professional look for all employees, regardless of their geographical location. They are also ideal for individuals who need a professional LinkedIn profile image in a hurry, or who are working with a tighter budget. This service offers a flexible and efficient way to update professional imagery without the logistical challenges of scheduling traditional shoots.
Where to get Virtual Headshots
Headshot Company is a pioneer in delivering high-quality virtual headshots. Our streamlined process provides easy-to-follow instructions for capturing your image, which is then transformed by our award-winning retouching. This convenient service ensures professional results for individuals, remote teams, and companies seeking consistent branding without the need for travel or an in-person session.
What is an Animated Headshot?
An animated headshot takes your professional image beyond a static photograph, bringing it to life with subtle movement and engaging visual effects. These are typically short, looping GIFs that add a dynamic element to your online presence. They can showcase personality, energy, and a more interactive aspect of your brand, making you instantly more memorable in digital spaces. Animated headshots look fantastic in email signatures!
Who are Animated Headshots for?
Animated headshots are ideal for forward-thinking professionals, social media marketers, content creators, influencers, tech innovators, and anyone looking to truly stand out on platforms where movement grabs attention. They are perfect for email signatures, website ‘Meet The Team’ sections and digital portfolios, helping to make a powerful, modern, and engaging first impression.
Where to get Animated Headshots
Headshot Company is at the forefront of creating high-quality animated headshots. We utilise our studio expertise to capture the perfect subtle movements and expressions, which are then meticulously edited and transformed into a compelling animated loop. This service provides a cutting-edge way to differentiate your professional image in the digital realm.
What is an Actors’ Headshot?
An actors headshot is a specialised portrait designed to help actors, performers, and models secure auditions and roles. Unlike corporate headshots that focus on professionalism, actors’ headshots prioritise authenticity, range, and expressiveness, showcasing the nuances of a performer’s personality and potential. These images are often used for casting calls, Spotlight profiles, and agency applications, aiming to convey versatility and a compelling on-screen presence.
Who are Actors’ Headshots for?
Actors headshots are essential for professional actors, aspiring performers and drama students looking to audition. They are crucial for securing roles in film, television, theatre, and commercial projects. A strong actors headshot helps casting directors quickly identify a performer’s type, range, and potential, making it the most important tool in an actor’s marketing kit.
Where to get Actors’ Headshots
Headshot Company offers award-winning actors headshot photography, captured in our dedicated headshot studio. Our approach is rooted in understanding the specific demands of the industry, ensuring you receive headshots that are both technically excellent and strategically effective for casting. We guide performers through posing and expression to capture authentic and compelling images that help them secure more auditions.
What is a Modelling Headshot?
A modelling headshot is a crucial component of a model’s portfolio, designed to showcase their versatility, unique features, and potential for various types of modelling work. While it highlights the face, it differs from acting headshots by often emphasising specific commercial looks or high-fashion aesthetics. Alongside traditional modelling headshots, models also require digitals (often called Polaroids). These are natural, unedited, and unposed shots, taken in simple, form-fitting clothing, specifically designed to showcase a model’s genuine look and build without any embellishment.
Who are Modelling Headshots for?
Modelling headshots are essential for aspiring and professional models across all genres, including fashion, commercial, editorial, fitness, and beauty. Digitals/Polaroids are particularly vital for initial agency submissions and castings, as they provide a clear, honest representation of a model’s current appearance. The full set of modelling headshots and digitals forms the core visual marketing tool for securing agency representation, booking campaigns, and building a professional portfolio.
Where to get Modelling Headshots
Headshot Company provides comprehensive modelling headshot services, including both polished headshots and essential digitals/Polaroids. Our approach is to create a versatile portfolio that truly highlights your unique look and potential. We offer sessions in our dedicated studio, where we can control every element to achieve specific looks, or we can discuss on-location options to capture environmental shots. We guide models through posing and expression to ensure a diverse and impactful set of images ready for agencies and clients.
Find Your Perfect Headshot
With so many distinct types of headshots, finding the one that perfectly aligns with your personal brand or business goals can feel like a journey. At Headshot Company, we specialise in understanding your unique needs and guiding you through the options to create an image that truly stands out. Whether you’re an actor, a corporate executive, a creative professional, or building a personal brand, we have the expertise and the ideal solution for you.
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