What Actually Makes a Great Business Headshot Has Nothing to Do With Your Job Title
Most headshot guides sort professionals into neat little boxes. Lawyers wear suits. Tech workers go casual. Real estate agents smile big. Creative types get to have fun. After 25 years of photographing professionals across Carmel and the Indianapolis area, I can tell you that is a significant oversimplification. The decisions that go into a great professional business headshot have far less to do with your job title than most people think.
What actually drives every headshot decision I make comes down to three things: your body type, what you love and don’t love about your face, and the image you are trying to project professionally. Your industry gives us a starting point. Everything else is specific to you.
This post walks through how I actually think about headshot style decisions, and how you can start thinking about them too before you ever walk into a studio.
In this guide:
- What your industry actually tells us
- How body type shapes headshot decisions
- Working with what you love and don’t love about your face
- The image you want to project
- Formal versus casual: how to decide
- How to get it right for you specifically
- Frequently asked questions
What Does Your Industry Actually Tell Us About Your Headshot?
Industry gives us a useful frame to start with. It sets the general formality level and tells us something about what your clients and colleagues expect when they look you up. A corporate attorney and a marketing consultant both need professional headshots, but they communicate credibility differently, and their clients have different expectations.
For traditional corporate environments — finance, law, healthcare, executive leadership — the baseline expectation is conservative and polished. Clean lines, classic colors, controlled backgrounds. Nothing that distracts. Everything that communicates competence and stability.
For professionals in more creative or relationship-driven fields — marketing, real estate, entrepreneurship, consulting — there is more room to let personality come through. That doesn’t mean anything goes. It means the range of what reads as appropriate is wider, and showing a bit more of who you are can actually work in your favor.
However, once we establish that baseline, industry stops being the most important variable in the room. What matters from that point forward is you specifically — your body, your face, and the impression you want to leave.
How Does Body Type Shape Headshot Decisions?
This is something most headshot guides never talk about, and it is one of the most important factors I consider in every session.
Clothing fit, camera angle, and posing all change based on the person in front of me. What works beautifully for one body type can be unflattering for another. My job is to find the combination that makes you look your absolute best, and that requires looking at you as an individual rather than applying a one-size-fits-all formula.
Fit is the foundation of all of it. Clothing that pulls, bunches, or hangs incorrectly draws the eye immediately. Well-fitted clothing in a solid, appropriate color disappears into the background the way it should, keeping attention on your face. Before your session I encourage you to send me photos of what you’re planning to wear. That way we catch any fit issues before you arrive rather than after.
Camera angle matters too. Small adjustments in how you position your body relative to the camera can make a significant difference in how you read in the final image. That is something I direct in real time during the session based on what I see, not something you need to figure out on your own.
For a full breakdown of clothing choices and what photographs well, my guide on what to wear for your corporate headshot covers everything in detail.
How Do I Work With What You Love and Don’t Love About Your Face?
Everyone has features they feel good about and features they’d rather not put front and center. That is completely normal, and it is something I take seriously in every session.
Lighting is the primary tool here. The position, angle, and quality of light can soften, define, minimize, or emphasize different facial features. A lighting setup that looks beautiful on one person can be completely wrong for another. This is one of the core reasons a real photographer with real studio equipment produces results that a phone camera or an AI tool simply cannot replicate.
Head position and angle also play a role. Most people have a side they feel more comfortable with, and often there is a genuinely more flattering angle even if they haven’t identified it themselves. Part of what happens in a session is figuring that out together, usually within the first few minutes.
Expression matters as much as any technical element. A natural, relaxed expression that communicates confidence and approachability is the goal. Getting there requires feeling comfortable in front of the camera, which is something I work on with every client from the moment they walk in. If you’ve been worried about what AI tools do to facial features, my post comparing AI headshots versus professional photography addresses exactly that.
What Image Are You Trying to Project?
This question matters more than almost anything else we discuss before a session. The answer shapes every decision we make together — outfit, background, expression, lighting style, and overall tone of the final image.
Some professionals want to project authority and gravitas. Others want to come across as approachable and warm. Many want both, and the balance between those two qualities looks different for every person. A seasoned executive and a newer professional both want to look credible, but credibility reads differently at different career stages.
Think about the clients or employers you most want to attract. Think about how you show up in your best professional moments. Your headshot should reflect that version of you — not a stiff, formal version that doesn’t feel like you, and not such a casual version that it undersells what you bring to the table.
A useful exercise before your session: imagine walking into a networking event full of your ideal clients. How would you dress? How would you carry yourself? What impression would you want to make in the first 30 seconds? That mental image is your headshot brief. Bring that clarity into your session and we have everything we need to work with.
How Do You Decide Between a Formal and a Casual Headshot Style?
The formal versus casual decision comes back to your industry baseline and your personal brand, but it also comes down to where the image will be used.
A headshot for a company website bio page in a financial services firm calls for something different than a headshot for a personal brand Instagram or a speaking engagement profile. If you need one image to work across multiple contexts, we lean toward the more professional end of your range. It is easier to dress down a polished image in context than to dress up a casual one.
Studio sessions at my Carmel studio produce a clean, controlled look that works across formal and semi-formal contexts. Outdoor sessions at locations around Carmel like Coxhall Gardens or the Village of West Clay produce a warmer, more natural feel that works well for professionals whose brand is more personal and relationship-driven.
Neither is universally better. The right choice depends on you, your industry, and how you want to show up. That is a conversation we have before your session so we walk in with a clear direction. If you’re wondering how your headshot affects your LinkedIn presence specifically, my post on why your LinkedIn headshot may be costing you business is worth reading before you book.
How Do You Get a Headshot That Actually Works for You?
The short answer is to work with someone who treats you as an individual rather than running you through a formula.
Every decision in a headshot session should be driven by your specific body type, your specific face, and the specific impression you want to make. Industry conventions give us a starting point. Real expertise takes it from there.
Before your session, think through these three things. First, what do you love about how you look when you’re at your professional best? Second, is there anything you’d like to minimize or work around? Third, what is the one impression you most want someone to walk away with after seeing your headshot?
Bring those answers into your session and you are already ahead of most people who walk through the door. For a full picture of what the session experience looks like and what it costs, my post on corporate headshot pricing in Carmel and Indianapolis covers everything you need to know before you book.
Frequently Asked Questions About Corporate Headshot Styles
Does my industry really determine what my headshot should look like?
It gives us a useful starting point for formality level and client expectations. Beyond that, the decisions that make a headshot genuinely work for you come down to your body type, your facial features, and the professional image you want to project. Those factors are specific to you, not your job title.
Should I wear a suit for my corporate headshot?
It depends on your industry and the image you want to project. For traditional corporate environments like law and finance, a suit is often the right call. For more creative or relationship-driven fields, a blazer over a solid shirt or blouse may feel more authentic. The best guide is to dress the way you would for a professional event where your ideal clients would be present.
What if I don’t like how I look in photos?
That is one of the most common things I hear before a session. Lighting, angle, and posing direction make an enormous difference in how you read on camera. My job is to find what works for your specific face and body type. Most people who come in feeling uncomfortable in front of a camera walk out genuinely surprised by how their images turned out.
Should I get a studio headshot or an outdoor headshot?
Studio headshots produce a clean, polished look that works well across most professional contexts. Outdoor headshots have a warmer, more natural feel that suits professionals with a more personal or creative brand. The right choice depends on your industry, your personality, and where the images will be used. We make that decision together before your session.
How do I prepare for my headshot session?
Think about the impression you want to make, choose clothing that fits well and reflects your professional brand, and send me outfit photos before you arrive so we can sort out any issues ahead of time. Beyond that, my job is to handle the rest. You don’t need to know how to pose or how to work a camera. That is what I’m here for.
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