What's up beautiful people? It is your homegirl Ms. Shameless,
all up in your building with another Tech Talk.
And this video is all about your headshot.
I posted a photo on Instagram
and all of you guys wanted to know how I took my own headshot.
So I'm spilling the beans.
I'm giving you the secrets on how to take your own headshot.
This is very helpful for anyone who is an entrepreneur,
an actor, an artist, a director, anything, anything,
anyone who needs to put a face in front of the business,
or whatever, needs a headshot.
So, I'm going to break it down for you
like I always do, okay.
So the first thing when it comes to your headshot is
it's a shot of your head.
So this portion of the photo taking process
needs to at least strive for perfection, okay.
I know it doesn't exist,
but we're taking a photo so let's try.
Make sure your hair is cute, get some styling product,
do whatever you need to do;
frizz-free, tame it, or maybe you like the frizz,
but just control that frizz in a manicured look.
Makeup is important, even if you don't wear makeup,
if you're a guy or a girl who doesn't like makeup
get yourself some translucent or pressed powder
that you can blot the oil, the grease, the sweat off,
because sometimes when you take photos
you can get sweaty and the sweat --
It doesn't necessarily translate the best on-camera,
it will create a highlights that might blow out.
Chap stick, have nice moisturized lips, that helps.
You also have to be your own wardrobe stylist,
so picking things that aren't
crazy distracting from your head.
So complimentary colors,
try to avoid patterns & prints that are super bold and loud.
I mean, you can go there, you can go there,
but it's all case to case.
Stay away from really fine prints, I will say that,
stay away from the fine prints,
even if it's like a knit,
that has all of these little lines,
it can create a lot of noise.
Get a lint remover, if you have a dog.
You don't want to have fur everywhere,
get a nice shirt that isn't like pilly and all wrinkly,
so steam your clothing when you're taking your photo.
And again, we're striving for perfection,
so men shape up, edge up, shave,
do what you need to do
the night before or the morning of,
I don't know what you guys do,
but make sure it's -- [clicking] poi-fect, okay.
Now the nitty-gritty, what you're shooting on.
I'm shooting on a digital SLR
that has the ability for me to use a remote control.
You need to shoot with a remote control,
I guess you could do self-timer,
but that's a lot of running around,
I do highly recommend a remote control.
I got this on Amazon,
but it only works if your camera has the capabilities
to be remote released, okay.
So when you're buying it just make sure
the remote is compatible with the camera, that's key.
Next is the lens.
I'm shooting on a 50mm lens, it's an affordable lens,
it's available to all cameras
that have an interchangeable lens.
My Sony, over you -- over -- I can put a 50 on that.
50 is close to the human eye and it's affordable.
When you're shooting
give yourself a good amount of distance
between yourself and the camera.
You don't want to be too close to the camera
because you're going to start to distort your face
and things are going to appear bigger than usual.
So give yourself a good amount of distance,
what am I? Like two arms lengths away.
Also, give yourself some distance
between you and the wall.
You can go up against the wall,
but if you're trying to like pop out,
like be surreal and like 3D,
the further away you are from the wall the more depth
and out of focus it's going to be.
And I have videos on that,
how to create depth of field over here.
So click that.
Then you want to get a tripod,
a good tripod with a solid base.
You don't want to get something that's flimsy,
that breaks easily.
I do recommend investing in a good tripod,
I'll put my links in below.
And considering that you're not shooting with someone else,
you're shooting by yourself,
you need all the help you can get.
So get a good, solid tripod.
Then you got to find yourself some natural light.
You can do it at your house, your friend's house,
somebody's place,
somewhere where you can setup a tripod,
and get access to the window.
I like lighting that comes front on
versus profile on the side
because when you have light on the side
it starts to create shadows,
and that works if you're going for a certain look,
but for this purpose I want you to see me and my head
and all my perfections.
So, natural light that fills in your face.
I also have a whiteboard.
This was from Michael's.
You can get it a dollar store, anywhere,
just get a whiteboard.
It doesn't even have to be a board,
it can be a piece of cardboard paper, whatever,
just get yourself some white flat surface
that you can hold and bounce light.
So this is going to fill in the shadows,
and it's also going to create a little glint in your eyes.
Then I also want to clear out whatever distractions
are taking away from my head in the background.
In this case, I got some bags that need moving.
Yoink!...
...Yoink!
Put it away.
Now you can have your place be a hot mess,
I could care less,
and if you're pressed for time
you don't have to clean everything,
just clean what's in the frame.
Poses!
So what pose are you serving this lens, okay?
You can give me full frontal, you can give me [grunts]
three-quarter, the arm trick,
so you don't ever want to be like, uh,
squeezing your armpit juices together.
If you just lift your arm up, it's like, "Oh, skinny arm!"
The skinny arm effect.
Turtle neck! I'm all about the turtle neck pose.
So what that is is when you stick your chin out and down.
So you don't have the turtle double-chin happening.
Also, the position of the camera
right now is like eye-level with me,
if I bring it lower it will give me double chin,
if I bring it higher
it's going to make me look more snatched and slender,
youthful, young, less power.
You can do that, but I just like it eye- level.
Confidence. You know what I'm saying?
After all that is said and done,
you can have the most perfect photo,
but if your eyes are dead your headshot is just lame.
You have to make sure your eyes are engaged,
which is really, really hard
when you're shooting by yourself.
When you're shooting with a photographer,
a really good photographer will be able to excite you,
and like give you direction
and just give you something to work with.
When you're by yourself you have to create all of that.
So if you need to take a moment
and think of something real funny
and serve it "sm-eyes."
In the words of Tyra Banks, "You got to 'sm-eyes'."
Your eyes need to smile.
Your face doesn't need to, it could.
You can give them like teeth,
but if you give them teeth with no eyes like this.
[photo-click] Wrong. Wrong! All wrong!
So give me "sm-eyes."
And if you need to close your eyes,
think of something funny and then come up.
Okay, let's try this. [photo-click]
[ding-ding-ding]
Crazy. This is the ultimate supreme act of being shameless.
Trying to create something out of nothing.
That's how you take your own headshot.
If you found this video helpful
make sure you thumbs-up this video.
If you would like to know how to edit your headshot
let me know in the comments below.
All the gear and the tech that I used
are in the info box below.
And subscribe to my channel, you guys.
I'm almost at 1 million subscribers, yay!
Almost.
And with your help I can get there just this much more.
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Turn your notifications on,
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when I upload new videos.
Until next time, remember to do you, be you,
and stay true, boo.
Be shameless.
♪ ♪