10 Tips to Have a Professional LinkedIn Profile Picture Tip no Four

Your LinkedIn profile picture is an important  element of your LinkedIn presence. According to LinkedIn just having a picture makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others.

It’s best to have a headshot taken by a professional photographer. A photographer can ensure that the lighting is flattering and that you’re putting your best foot (or rather, face) forward.

Usually a photographer (like me) will help you with getting the right photo for your LinkedIn Profile but not always.

So here’s the fourth of 10 Tips to make sure you’re getting what you need to make an impact on LinkedIn.

4. Be the only person in the picture

It’s great to show that you love your team. But if you use a group photo as your profile pic, any one looking may be unsure which person is you.

To leave candidates with no doubt about what you look like, choose a solo photo for your profile pic. Cropping a group photo isn’t the best solution, since you might see a random hand or shoulder popping into the frame. If you do want to include a team picture on your profile, you could use this for your banner picture instead.

If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look

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10 Tips to Have a Professional LinkedIn Profile Picture Tip no Three

Your LinkedIn profile picture is an important  element of your LinkedIn presence. According to LinkedIn just having a picture makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others.

It’s best to have a headshot taken by a professional photographer. A photographer can ensure that the lighting is flattering and that you’re putting your best foot (or rather, face) forward.

Usually a photographer (like me) will help you with getting the right photo for your LinkedIn Profile but not always.

So here’s the third of 10 Tips to make sure you’re getting what you need to make an impact on LinkedIn.

3. Make sure your face takes up at least 60% of the frame

Using a picture of yourself standing atop a distant mountain peak works well for some social media platforms, but it’s not ideal for a business orientated platform.

Instead, aim to have your face filling about 60% of the space. Crop the picture from the top of your shoulders to just above your head so that your face fills the frame.

If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look

10 Tips to Have a Professional LinkedIn Profile Picture Tip Two

Your LinkedIn profile picture is an important  element of your LinkedIn presence. According to LinkedIn just having a picture makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others.

It’s best to have a headshot taken by a professional photographer. A photographer can ensure that the lighting is flattering and that you’re putting your best foot (or rather, face) forward.

Usually a photographer (like me) will help you with getting the right photo for your LinkedIn Profile but not always.

So here’s the second of 10 Tips to make sure you’re getting what you need to make an impact on LinkedIn.

2. Use a high-resolution image

The ideal size for your LinkedIn profile picture is 400 x 400 pixels. Larger file sizes are also fine (although 8MB is the max), but try to avoid small, low-resolution images.

If the picture looks a bit blurry when you upload it, you may want to change it or have it retaken.

If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look

10 Tips to Have a Professional LinkedIn Profile Picture Tip One

Your LinkedIn profile picture is an important  element of your LinkedIn presence. According to LinkedIn just having a picture makes your profile 14 times more likely to be viewed by others.

It’s best to have a headshot taken by a professional photographer. A photographer can ensure that the lighting is flattering and that you’re putting your best foot (or rather, face) forward.

Usually a photographer (like me) will help you with getting the right photo for your LinkedIn Profile but not always.

So here’s the first of 10 Tips to make sure you’re getting what you need to make an impact on LinkedIn.

1. Pick a photo that looks like you

It might sound obvious, but your photo should give everyone who may be looking at your profile a clear idea of what you’d look like if they met you tomorrow.

You’ve probably met someone whose social profile photo looks nothing like how they look now — maybe it’s a photo that was taken 10 years ago, before they started wearing glasses, or before they dyed their hair. It can be startling to meet them in person if you’ve only got that picture to go by, and it might even make you question their credibility.

So make sure your LinkedIn profile picture is up to date (within the past 12 months) and reflects how you look on a daily basis — your hair, glasses, makeup, and so on. If you do change your appearance drastically, consider having a fresh photo taken to keep your profile up to date.

If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look

Tips to get the best out of your headshot Session No 5.

Make sure you’re well lit.

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session.
1Make sure you’re well lit.

It’s the photographer’s technical expertise to ensure that there is the correct type of lighting for the shoot.

However, you can get involved.

Unless you have a really strong opinion on what background or location you want, be guided by the photographer. For instance, having a shoot outside in some specific locations can be tough. Wind can disrupt hair, clothing and the background. Bright sun can bring out shadows and add unsightly reflections in spectacles.

There you have it, tip no 5 to help you, the paying customer, get the best out of your headshot shoot.
If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look.

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session No 4

Tether yourself

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session.
Tether yourself

I always shoot tethered. What does that mean? Well, the photographer will have a laptop connected to their camera that will instantly have the photos loaded. You can then see them as they are taken on a reasonable size screen instead of the small LCD on the back of the camera.

This enables the subject and photographer to review the images together to ensure the client (you) get photos that you will love. A good photographer will empathize and invite subjects to tell them specifically what changes they want to make. It’s normal for most of us to see our face much more critically than others, and we tend to exaggerate the flaws in our minds.

There you have it, tip no 4 to help you, the paying customer, get the best out of your headshot shoot.
If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look.

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session No 3

Cheese is for eating.

Cheese is for eating.

It can be hard for both the subject and the photographer to get a natural unforced smile.

The subject needs to be relaxed and the photographer needs to make the subject feel relaxed. There are lots of methods for this and saying cheese or being asked to “smile” are not one of these.

You can help yourself (and the photographer) by being relaxed and remembering this is not life and death or a medical operation.

If you’re relaxed, it will reflect in the photos and help represent you in the best possible way.

There you have it, tip no 3 to help you, the paying customer, get the best out of your headshot shoot.
If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look.

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session No 2

There’s always 2 sides to everything

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session.
There’s always 2 sides to everything

That old clique rings true. Everyone has a better side. Whether they know which one it is or not is a different matter.

Ask the photographer to take any side on poses from both sides. Better still see if you can work it out with some selfies at home before the shoot session.

There you have it, tip no 2 to help you, the paying customer, get the best out of your headshot shoot.
If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look.

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session No 1

Don’t have an exaggerated pose

Tips to get the best out of your Headshot Session.
Sentinel

The best headshots are from natural-looking and simple poses with clean lines. So having a pose that feels unnatural is not going to aid the final result.

I usually shoot head on first which means that the head and shoulders are directly towards the camera and then I’ll ask my subject to move around 5 degrees to one side or the other.

There you have it, tip no 1 to help you, the paying customer, get the best out of your headshot shoot.
If you’re In Perth, Western Australia, I’d be happy to help you achieve your best look.

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