What to wear for a corporate headshot

Wear what you would wear to meet a client. A corporate headshot is a first meeting in miniature, and the clothes that are right for the meeting are right for the photograph. If your firm has a dress code, the photograph should follow it; if it does not, dress a notch above an ordinary day.

Mid-tones photograph best: navy, charcoal, mid-blue, burgundy, forest green, camel. They separate from a grey backdrop and hold their colour at small sizes. White is fine under a jacket and risky on its own against a light backdrop. Black is fine under a jacket and risky on its own against a dark backdrop. Very bright colours pull attention from the face; very pale colours wash out. If the firm has told you its backdrop is grey, which is the most common, almost anything in the mid-tones works.

Solid colours are safest. A fine check, a tight stripe or a small herringbone can shimmer when the image is resized for a screen, which is the moire effect, and it cannot be fixed afterwards. A larger pattern, such as a wide stripe on a tie or a textured knit, is fine. If you are not sure, bring a plain alternative; a second look takes a minute.

A jacket gives the shoulders a shape and a frame for the face, and it photographs well whether or not it is done up. Without a jacket, a collar still works; a crew neck or a round neck reads as more casual, which may be right for the firm. Avoid anything that will crease on the walk to the room. Shoulders should be straight: a jacket that is too big makes a person look like they are wearing someone else's.

Wear them if you wear them. Reflections are the photographer's problem, solved by moving the lights, not yours. Anti-reflective coatings help but are not necessary. If you have two pairs and one has smaller frames, bring both; frames that hide the eyebrows change the expression more than people expect.

Hair as you normally wear it to work, and nothing new in the week before. Beards trimmed as usual. Make-up as you would wear for a meeting, matte rather than shimmering, because studio light finds shine; a light powder does more for a photograph than foundation does. The photographer removes temporary blemishes, stray hairs and lint in finishing, so there is no need to over-prepare. Lip colour in a mid-tone reads well; very dark or very glossy colours can dominate at small sizes.

Small and few. A watch, a ring, small earrings and a simple necklace are fine. Anything that catches light, swings or draws the eye away from the face is better left on the desk for ten minutes. Lanyards and passes come off.

Arrive two minutes early, not ten. Check your collar and your hair in a mirror or your phone on the way. Breathe out. Most people look best in the third or fourth frame, after the first instinct to pose has passed, and the photographer's direction is there to get you to that frame quickly.

You check in with the code on your phone, you are photographed for five or six minutes with direction on posture, where to look and what to do with your hands, and you see your frames on the screen and choose the two or three you like. Nothing goes to finishing that you have not chosen. The finished image can only improve on one you have already approved.

Most people do. The things that help are the things this process is built on: no queue, no colleagues watching, direction rather than silence, a screen that shows you what the camera sees, and your own choice of which frames go forward. Tell the photographer at the start; it changes how the ten minutes are run.

Next step: see what happens on a headshot day and the six styles.