Featured Headshot Session: Cornell Finance Analyst, Will
Will contacted me with the need to update his current headshots for his Linkedin and other social media platforms. He is currently enrolled as student at Cornell University and studying Start-ups and Emerging Companies. He will be graduating in May of 2020. Being in the business/finance industry he understood the importance of having a professional headshot to make a good first impression with prospective clients.
After watching my What to Wear for your headshot video, he arrived at the studio with a plethora options to choose from, some of which were screaming finance CEO, and others that were much more casual and laid back. We got started with the white background and nailed a great shot instantly. Will was naturally photogenic, and certainly made my job easy.
I had to take a pause during our session and declare, “Anyone else feeling the Leonardo Dicaprio vibes here?” I was one of the first things I said after looking at the back of my camera. He chuckled, “Its funny you say that, my mother showed me a headshot of Leonardo Dicaprio for inspiration for my headshot session!” Perfect I thought, we got out his phone, and he showed me what images he’d seen…. and of course, we had to try and go for the Leonardo vibes ourselves. Here are the inspiration images of Leonardo’s headshots…
And here is one of Wills… what will liked about Leonardos’s shots was the grit and classic feel of the black and white.
While his outfit and backdrop color choice are different than the inspiration shots, I’d say he nailed the expression piece.
After we had some fun channeling his Leonardo, we continued onwards with some black and white shots because he really loved the old Hollywood look and feel of them. He instantly lightened up, and I could see his calm and collected personality shining through.
Once we were satisfied with these we continued on the path of the straight and narrow back towards the finance manager standard, because that was after all what he came for. Confident, means business, and approachable is what its all about. I think Will did an awesome job exuding his strengths in these shots.
One important, yet highly unrecognized reason that people come to me for their headshot has to do with embodiment. Its one thing to mentally know the path you’re on with your career, but it whole other level to actually embody and step up into the role of what you’re here to do in the world. For Will, putting on his favorite freshly pressed suit and leveling up his headshots to professional status was the just the boost he needed to launch himself forward with confidence into a very competitive job market. In order to be seen as who you are by others, you need to become it from the inside out.. This is where active embodiment is vital.
I recently followed up with Will and checked out his updated social media pages. I love that he decided to go with the black and white shot for his Linkedin profile. Not only is is professional, but whats most important is that its authentically HIM.
As for the more casual shots of Will? Yes I did manage to catch him smiling and in a more light hearted manner. Its amazing what simply working with expression can do to convey your personality to those who might not know you.
Which version of Will do you most resonate with on a personal level? And then take a moment to consider, which version of Will would you hire and entrust with your business finances? I know the two images i’d pick would be different depending on what I was looking for! These are important things to consider depending on the intention of the headshots.