Quick LinksCheck Your Camera Format Use a Tripod or Ask Someone to Take Your Photo Utilize Natural Lighting Consider Your Background Dress For Success Create Contrast Between You and the Scene Don't Stand Straight On Keep the Default Focus and Zoom Settings Use Burst Mode Don't Over-Edit Use AI as a Last Resort Key Takeaways Check your camera format to capture professional headshots on smartphones -- make sure it's on the highest quality and toggle RAW on. Utilize natural lighting indoors or outdoors for professional headshots and dress for success. Create contrast between the subject and background, avoid straight-on shots, and use burst mode for better timing.
Professional headshots don't need to be shot in a photography studio by a professional photographer. With a smartphone and a few extra tips, you can easily get professional-looking headshots that land you the job.
Check Your Camera Format
Most phones' default camera format will be standard quality, which is usually fine. For professional-looking headshots, you need high quality from the moment the shutter clicks.
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On an iPhone, head to Settings > Camera > Formats. From here there are two options for quality: Camera Capture and Photo Capture. Select High Efficiency for the best quality, and toggle on Apple ProRAW for the ability to capture in RAW format.
Shooting in RAW allows for the most details and colors to be captured, improving the editing process later on. Standard settings may lack color depth and be more pixelated. Once Apple ProRAW is toggled on, from the iPhone camera, toggle RAW on or off per photo.
If you have an Android, you can also shoot and edit RAW images using a Samsung Galaxy S23 and other models.
Use a Tripod or Ask Someone to Take Your Photo
Although my go-to when taking smartphone photos of myself is a selfie, having an arm sneaking from the edge of the frame won't result in a professional headshot, no matter how good my face looks.
Instead, you should use a phone tripod or even better, a trusted friend -- especially one with a good eye for photography. Having another person taking your photo will be faster, more accurate, and provide live feedback on how to improve your headshot.
Lighting can be difficult to get right, especially for a professional headshot. If you're not in a well-lit photography studio, natural lighting should be your aim. You can still take your headshot indoors with natural lighting by utilizing large windows at the correct time of day. If indoors isn't an option, then taking your headshot photos outside is another choice.
Consider the time of day if you're relying on natural lighting. Shadows can be a menace when the sun is too high and bright, while golden hour's hues may be too romantic for your professional shots.
If you have the time and patience, take photos throughout the day and test different places that utilize the sun -- an overcast day provides flat, natural light for your shots, too.
Consider Your Background
Whether you're taking your headshot photos indoors or outside, your background plays a huge part in how professionally you'll come across.
Consider setting up a space similar to the industry your headshot is used for -- an office worker could take headshots in a well-lit office, for example, using office props subtly in the photos.
For a neutral background indoors or outdoors, avoid clutter and too many textures: an all-encompassing background such as a wall works well. Alternatively, using an out-of-focus natural background can work well, too.
As you're the subject, keep the background neutral, clear, and less focused than you are.
Dress For Success
For professional headshots, even taken on your smartphone, dress for the job you want. If you have the time, you should switch outfits or elements of your clothing and accessories.
Make sure all your clothes have been ironed and are free of fluff or hair. Don't dress in an unprofessional theme, such as all in pink or clashing colors and textures.
You can always inject your personality into your outfit with fun earrings, colorful eyeglasses, a fun tie and pocket square, or a pop of your favorite color. Professional headshots don't have to suck away your personality.
Create Contrast Between You and the Scene
Encompassing the previous two points, you and your photographer should ensure there's a high contrast between you as the headshot subject and whatever you've chosen for your background.
Setting your camera to RAW will also help with contrast when it comes to editing your headshots, as you'll have more control over colors.
High contrast doesn't mean a garish difference -- just enough that you don't fade into the background, shadows, or colors in any way. For example, an indoor office photo may have a setting of light and neutral whites or grays, so if you wear a pop of color -- such as a burgundy blazer -- and have dark hair, you'll contrast enough against the scene to stand out naturally.
Don't Stand Straight On
Unlike taking passport photos with a smartphone, a professional headshot doesn't need you to face the camera straight on without smiling. In fact, you should experiment with different angles and facial expressions for your headshot.
Standing or sitting at a slight angle adds some dimension to your headshot. Although the smartphone should be held level to where your head is, along with being parallel with any vertical and horizontal lines in your photo -- such as corners of internal walls or doorframes, you, the subject, do not need to be so strictly lined up.
Despite a headshot being traditionally just your head and upper torso, depending on the purpose of your headshot or your intended professional role, you can experiment with incorporating the entire length of your body into the frame.
From this, you can then add shape and dimension to your limbs, so you should consider arm, hand, leg, and foot placement too.
Keep the Default Focus and Zoom Settings
Most smartphones offer wide angle as well as macro zooms, and both have their uses. For a professional headshot, though, I'd recommend keeping your camera's default focal settings.
Wide angle, named on phone cameras as 0.5x zoom, warps much of the subject as well as the background, giving unprofessional results. Great for taking photos at a nightclub or party, but not for promoting your LinkedIn profile.
You also shouldn't use Portrait Mode. This artificial method of creating harsh depth-of-field can look tacky and overdone. Avoid using any zoom on your smartphone -- if you need to get closer, zoom with your feet and move the tripod or your photographer closer to you instead. The background will naturally blur, creating a natural depth of field and keeping you in focus.
Use Burst Mode Close
Even in a prepared headshot photoshoot, it can be difficult to time your blinking or the perfect smile. Using burst mode on a smartphone is a great way to capture missed moments.
Burst mode allows you to capture multiple images within seconds, meaning if you're the type of person who usually blinks at the microsecond the shutter closes, this offers insurance against that.
Don't Over-Edit
While there are an infinite number of ways to edit your smartphone photos, whether on your phone or through an app, or even transferring them to a computer to use desktop software, for professional results on your headshot, you want to keep the editing light. Both Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed are great options for easy on-the-go editing, if you require it.
If you've used natural lighting, set up good composition and contrast, and have taken a multitude of images for all purposes, the photos should already look fantastic.
Shooting in RAW allows for subtle editing to enhance details or correct color balance. A professional headshot is not the place to apply filters of any kind -- keep those for your Instagram feed.
Use AI as a Last Resort
AI can offer a lot for your smartphone photography and specifically for professional headshots. If you're a desktop photo editor, your photos may benefit from Retouch4Me's subtle AI editing software.
If you struggle to take headshots you're happy with, there may be a variety of reasons such as lack of a suitable setting or background, not owning the right wardrobe options, or simply having a bad hair day. But there are plenty of AI headshot generators you could use. Fotor, an affordable AI tool, offers an AI headshot generator if your photos don't come out as well as you'd have liked.
