This week we are sharing Michael Edwards’ top tips for taking good (and easy) head and shoulder pictures for your CV or professional profile. Michael is a Cape Town based Commercial Stills Photographer and co-owner of e image, a national photographic agency with twelve years experience dealing directly with corporate clients
Firstly, Michael encourages you to make sure that you put in the effort to look presentable. A suit, good make-up, a fresh hairstyle and an early night will do wonders.
Use a plain, neutral background. Michael warns that there is nothing worse than seeing a branch of a pot-plant in the background ‘sticking out’ of your ear.
The correct lighting is very important, so make sure that whoever takes your pictures uses soft lighting. Hard, direct flash lighting is not only brash, but unflattering, he advises.
Michael recommends that you take sitting AND standing pictures. Turn your body slightly side-on to the camera, facing forward. It is always possible to crop a full body picture, so it’s a good idea to have them in case you need them.
He also advises that you lean into (towards) the camera during the shoot. This makes you look confident and assured.
And finally: spend the R950 on a professional photo-shoot. It could just make all the difference!
To get professional photographs taken or to find out more about e image, visit www.eimage.co.za