What Style of Photo Will Work Best for You?

Using the wrong backdrop can create distrust or confusion, so it's important that your backdrop not only works well for your industry, but also captures your personal brand.

Take a look at the two photos below and notice how one feels more approachable and relaxed, and the other feels more conservative and formal (even though both shots have the same expression). The main difference is the backdrop:

​​When figuring out which backdrop to use for your headshot, you should first be aware of your personal brand.

Your brand is what makes you different than other people, and is a combination of the type of work you do and your personality.

So before we discuss the different backdrops, take a moment to find your brand by following the steps:

1. Who is someone you know personally and very much admire? Take a moment to think of someone specific before moving onto question 2.
   1. Example: I deeply admire my father because he worked very hard to help my family live a good life.
2. What three personality traits do you most admire that person? These are your Pride Words.
   1. Example: The three traits I most admire I my father are hardworking, loving, and fun.
3. ​What kind of work do you do? We'll call this your Job Title.
   1. Example: I'm an actor. Or I'm an accountant. Or I'm a therapist.
4. ​Combine it all together into a sentence like so: I'm the [Pride Words] [Job Title].
   1. Example: I'm the hardworking, loving, and fun therapist.

Note: If you're an actor and want to go deeper on this to also figure out your Type, I strongly recommend downloading my free Actor's Toolkit. Tool #3 includes a great step by step process to find your Type and Brand. After following the process, you can come back to this page to learn how to capture it in your headshot.

Now even though this was a super quick exercise, the personal brand you just came up with can easily help you stand out from other people! It's very unlikely you'll find someone else with those exact same four words.

So now, how do you capture those words in your headshot? Well, take a look at the shot below:

The hardworking, loving, and fun therapist.

​As you can see, everything about the photo captures those four words. And that's EXACTLY what we'll show you how to do next.

How to Capture Your Brand in Your Headshot

Once you've discovered your brand, you need to actually show it in your picture, so how do you do that?

Well, it's a simple, two-step process:

• Step 1: Use the G.I.S.T. Method – G.I.S.T. stands for Google Image Search Technique. All you need to do is take each of your four brand words (Hardworking, Loving, Fun, and Therapist) and search them in Google Images. Google will show you photos that are related to each of your words, and you can find the ones you most like. Notice the colors, backgrounds, and general feel of the photos that show up, because they are a visual representation of your brand words. That's exactly what you'll aim to capture in your headshot – and you can even print some of those photos and show them to your photographer as inspiration!
• Step 2: Use Your Pride Words During the Shoot – During the shoot itself, you can take a moment to close your eyes and deeply feel each one of your Pride Words in turn. For example, close your eyes and focus on the word Hardworking. Then, open your eyes and look into the camera and let your expression do whatever it does. Next, move onto the word Loving, and do some shots while focused on that. And so on. This way, your shots capture the perfect expressions that communicate YOU at the deepest level.

Congratulations! Now that you know how to capture your personal brand in your headshots, click a button below to learn which backdrops work best for each industry (or acting style) so you use a backdrop that works well for your career and goals:

Business & LinkedIn

Actors & Creatives