A portrait lives in the details. Not just the lighting or the lens, but the crease in your collar, the line of your beard, the state of your hands in frame. I have made portraits long enough to know that the difference between a good image and a great one is almost never technical.
It is the small things. The things people forget until the camera is up.
What you wear matters more than you think.
Solid colors read better on camera than busy patterns. A well-fitted jacket or blazer immediately communicates authority. Avoid anything with logos or graphics unless it is central to your identity. What you wear should support you, not compete with you for attention in the frame.
If you are doing a headshot for professional use, wear what you would wear to the most important meeting of your year. Not what you wear every day. Not what is comfortable. What communicates who you are at your best.
Grooming is part of the session.
Get a haircut three to five days before your session. Fresh enough to look clean, rested enough that it does not look brand new. If you color your hair, time your appointment so the color is at its best, not freshly processed and not showing significant grow-out.
For men: shape your beard or go clean. In-between is the enemy. A well-defined beard reads as intentional. Three days of growth with no definition reads as unprepared.
For everyone: moisturize. Camera lighting is unforgiving on dry skin, especially in Columbus winters. Start the week before your session, not the morning of.
Your hands are always in the frame.
Even when they are not. How you hold yourself, where your hands land, whether your shoulders are carrying tension — all of it shows up. Before your session, do something that relaxes you. A walk. Music. Whatever brings your body back to neutral.
I always give direction during the session. But the people who come in already settled are the ones who get the best frames in the first ten minutes rather than the last ten.
Rest is non-negotiable.
Sleep the night before. Hydrate the morning of. Skip the alcohol the night before if you can. Your eyes will tell on you. The camera will too.
None of this is about vanity. It is about showing up as the version of yourself you want documented. A portrait is a record. Make sure the record is accurate.