Is getting a professional headshot for the secondary pretentious?

[Engrailed]

I don't remember the last time I took a professional photo (not even for my college yearbook) and I was thinking of getting it taken at a portrait place.
Seems like a lot of people here have gone to CVS or used passport photos but I would rather avoid that route if possible
I have darker hair so should I request that they put a light background?


Thoughts?

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[Cornfed101]

I don't remember the last time I took a professional photo (not even for my college yearbook) and I was thinking of getting it taken at a portrait place.
Seems like a lot of people here have gone to CVS or used passport photos but I would rather avoid that route if possible
I have darker hair so should I request that they put a light background?


Thoughts?

Do you have any friends that have a DSLR camera or do photography? I just had a friend do my professional photo. I didn’t want to pay $100+. You can do whatever background looks good

 

[907914]

I don't remember the last time I took a professional photo (not even for my college yearbook) and I was thinking of getting it taken at a portrait place.
Seems like a lot of people here have gone to CVS or used passport photos but I would rather avoid that route if possible
I have darker hair so should I request that they put a light background?


Thoughts?

I had my wife take my photo at home. You def don’t need a legit photographer (granted my wife is a design student so photography is part of what she does...) but put on your suit/dress/professional wears, go in front of a white wall, take the picture. Boom, done.

 

[Engrailed]

yes understood. White wall at home is good but if I got it done professionally, is that necessarily a bad thing?

 

[907914]

yes understood. White wall at home is good but if I got it done professionally, is that necessarily a bad thing?

Not at all. No one will ever look down on you for going above and beyond.

 

[Moko]

At home, CVS/retail, or professional photo. Doesn't matter which route you take as long as it looks professional. No to selfie or cropping.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

I looked into having professional headshots taken; it was ridiculously expensive and I've already sunk thousands of dollars into this application cycle, so I wasn't keen about spending even more money if I didn't have to.

I ended up just taping up a white bedsheet over a wall on the outside of my house and stood in front of it with a collared blouse on. I made sure it was out of direct sunlight on a partly-cloudy day so there were no weird shadows on my face. My husband took about 40 pictures total (including some burst shots) from different angles using his phone, and the photo I ultimately selected was one of the best pictures that has ever been taken of me. I was astonished how well that free option worked out. I could not have been happier if I'd paid $200 for the pictures.

I participated in a professional photo shoot for a media thing a few weeks later, and I don't like any of the photos from that article as much as I like the photo my husband took of me on his 3 year old Samsung Galaxy.

You don't have to spend any money, truly. Just invest some time and have a patient photographer willing to take a bunch of pictures. You'll eventually find a shot you like.

 

[forumname1]

The photo is literally just so they can try to remember faces to names and make sure you are who you actually say you are. Generic polo or dress shirt in front of a neutral color wall that doesn't have contrasting colors is more than adequate.

 

[TempuraOreos]

If you have photos ready, then go ahead. If not take others advice here. Don't overthink it, spend more money on an already expensive process.

 

[dr_kateb]

I wore shutter shades and a wife beater in my photo.

 

[deleted804295]

I don't remember the last time I took a professional photo (not even for my college yearbook) and I was thinking of getting it taken at a portrait place.
Seems like a lot of people here have gone to CVS or used passport photos but I would rather avoid that route if possible
I have darker hair so should I request that they put a light background?


Thoughts?

I don't think it's pretentious. I asked my dad who does professional photos to do mine and he did.

I would recommend you don't have a scene in the background. Find one of those white backdrops or take it against a white or cream colored wall.

 

[Biscuitboy11]

If any doubts, might get a second opinion. Try to look your best. Interesting to hear from Adcoms if the photo is viewed at every stage of review. Whatever people say, I think there is good evidence that we can not help making judgments about people from their appearance. There is the example of orchestra auditions now being done behind a curtain to avoid bias.

 

[keanureaves]

My on campus organization paid one of the photography students for professional style headshots for like ~60-70 people. I've literally looked the same for 8 years so I just used it even thought it's a few years old. If you're still at school/know someone on campus you might be able to get one of them to do it for you for free.

 

[LizzyM]

Interesting to hear from Adcoms if the photo is viewed at every stage of review. Whatever people say, I think there is good evidence that we can not help making judgments about people from their appearance. T

At my school, photos are available only at the time of the interview as an aid to identifying the person one is assigned to interview and to aid in recalling the individual when writing the post-interview report. Rarely, (1 in 300) we might look at a photo during a post-interview discussion to determine if someone reported to have been humorless and dour in the interview looked that way in the photo as well.

I don't think it's pretentious. I asked my dad who does professional photos to do mine and he did.

How much did your dad charge you? I think that the point here is that it should not be necessary to hire someone to take a head shot for a secondary application. Your dad is a professional but for this purpose an amateur with a decent phone camera should be able to get a usable photo for this purpose.

 

[Kirby Smart]

I just had my fiancé use portrait mode on her phone and do it in my backyard which has some nice trees when it was bright haha. The portrait mode makes the background blurry so it's not distracting but still makes the pic look nice and not dingy. One school said for the background to be "plain"...but I figured it was plain enough haha

 

[Cornfed101]

I just had my fiancé use portrait mode on her phone and do it in my backyard which has some nice trees when it was bright haha. The portrait mode makes the background blurry so it's not distracting but still makes the pic look nice and not dingy. One school said for the background to be "plain"...but I figured it was plain enough haha

I had a tree in the background too, but it definitely wasn't distracting. I have received a couple IIs, so it doesn't seem to be an issue. The moral of the story is you don't need to spend a fortune (or anything in some cases) for it to look very nice

 

[Kirby Smart]

I had a tree in the background too, but it definitely wasn't distracting. I have received a couple IIs, so it doesn't seem to be an issue. The moral of the story is you don't need to spend a fortune (or anything in some cases) for it to look very nice

Lmao, glad the adcoms were willing to look past that red flag tree in your pic. Bodes well for me hopefully.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Bottom line: Wherever you take the pic, make sure it looks professional and that you’re happy with it. My school has distributed our secondary photos to other organizations, their website, internal presentations and more (even after they had someone come and take professional photos of us on day 1 for their record, lol.)