Most professional headshots have a shelf life of two to three years. After that, they start to date. Hairstyles change, glasses get updated, jobs move on, and the colour of the light starts to feel of an era. None of it is dramatic on its own, but cumulatively, a photograph that is several years out tells the person looking at it that you have not bothered to update it. On LinkedIn, especially, that reads as carelessness, and the assumption travels to other things.
This is a brief guide to when to refresh your headshot, what to wear when you do, and what a sitting at the studio involves. The aim is to make the booking feel like a sensible decision rather than a chore on the list.
When was your last one?
The standard advice is to refresh every two to three years. That is roughly the cycle at which people notice yours has dated, even if they cannot say exactly why. But the calendar is only one trigger. The others catch up faster than you would think.
A change of role is the most common reason to refresh. Joining a new company, taking on a more senior position, going freelance, being put forward as a speaker or panellist on whose marketing your photograph will be used. Each of these is a reason in its own right, and the new context tends to suit a fresh photograph rather than an inherited one.
Appearance matters too. A new hairstyle or beard, different glasses, weight up or down. Even a small change is enough to throw the photograph off, since recognition is exactly the job a headshot is doing. If the person you are about to meet looked you up on LinkedIn and is now scanning the room for someone with the haircut in the photo, you are working against yourself.
The photograph itself can be the problem. A phone shot in front of a window, an image cropped out of a group photo at a wedding, anything with the slightly off colour cast of a screenshot. All of these have been doing you a quiet disservice for as long as you have used them.
The contexts you will use it in
A good headshot earns its keep across more places than people sometimes realise.
LinkedIn is the obvious one and the most public. It is where prospects and recruiters check you against the version of you they have read about, and where a recent, well-made photograph buys you an advantage in those first thirty seconds of attention. The same image works for your business website, your company team page, your CV when a printed copy is asked for, and the various profile pages on industry directories where your name appears.
Beyond those, the photograph follows you into less obvious places. Speaker profiles when you are presenting at a conference. The picture next to a press release or a quote in a trade magazine. The thumbnail when your podcast appearance goes out. The photograph credited above a guest column or a contributed article. One good session is enough to handle all of these for several years, and we supply the image at the resolutions and crops you need for each use.
What to wear
Headshot wardrobe follows a different logic from family or social photography. The frame is tight, the focus is your face, and what you wear is there to support that rather than to be noticed for itself.
Solid mid-tones work best for colour. Navy, dark grey, soft greens, muted blues, burgundy, charcoal. These read as professional without being severe, and they keep the focus on the face. White and black both have their uses, but white can wash out lighter complexions, and black against a dark background can flatten everything into a single mass. Soft neutrals like cream, oatmeal and stone are a good middle ground if you want a warmer, less corporate feel.
Patterns are where headshots often go wrong. Anything small and busy, like fine stripes or close herringbone, can create a strange shimmer in the photograph that cannot be fixed afterwards. Big bold patterns also draw the eye away from your face, which is the opposite of what the photograph is for. A solid or a very subtle texture is what tends to work.
A defined neckline reads better than a soft round-neck. A collared shirt, a well-cut blouse, or a structured jumper gives the photograph a frame underneath your face. A jacket or blazer brings instant structure even when worn open, which is useful if you want flexibility between formal and relaxed final images.
It is worth avoiding anything that pulls focus from the face. Logos date the photograph the moment a brand changes its design. A slogan can communicate more than you intended. And large jewellery competes for attention in a tight crop. Simple and deliberate is the principle.
The session itself
A headshot session at Yann Studios is short, focused, and usually finished within an hour. We work in the studio in Claregalway, where the lighting is fully controlled and the background is properly considered, and we shoot across several setups so you have variety to choose from.
A typical session covers two or three lighting setups, two or three backgrounds, and as many wardrobe combinations as you have brought along. Most people come with one or two outfit options and try both. You see the images on a monitor as we go, so you can tell us when something is working and when it is not.
After the session, we edit the chosen images to a professional finish and supply them in the resolutions and crops you need. Square for LinkedIn, vertical or horizontal for websites, print resolution for anything that needs to go on paper. One sitting gives you what you need for the next two or three years.
Booking
You can read more about our professional headshot service on our headshots page.
To book a session, call us on 087 099 3990 or get in touch through our contact page. A short conversation by phone is the easiest way to settle the practical details. If the photograph on your LinkedIn profile is over three years old, the conversation is overdue.
