First, remember that the point of a headshot is to use it for direct or indirect monetary gain. There are many careers where literally your headshot is arguably a deciding factor to do business with you or not. For example, some careers where your headshot might have a direct impact include acting, attorney, doctor, modeling, real estate, and other similar jobs.
Yes, some people decide upon their doctor or attorney on how they look because characteristics such as confidence, professionalism, and approachability come out in a headshot. There are studies that show we judge people by their photos first. So, this is not too surprising.
Then there are times where a headshot is indirectly influencing a decision to do business with you or not. On occasion, businesses are asked to submit team headshots as part of an RFQ. The headshot you use on your company website is also being looked at and being used to determine if the viewer likes you enough to do business with you. And studies also show your profile on LinkedIn is heavily dependent on the profile photo you use.
So, the main reason a headshot should not be a selfie – or a photo taken on your phone – is because a headshot is created by a professional. There is much more to one than just a push of a virtual button. But what are the technical reasons to steer clear of the tempting ease of just using your iPhone or Android phone?
It Is Not Even a Fair Fight
One might argue that there is no benchmark for what a professional headshot should look like, in terms of quality. But you can look at a headshot from a professional photographer and you can tell there is a difference. Not just the difference of a shot with a phone but increasingly of a file made by AI – or artificial intelligence. Neither are up to the task compared with a real camera.
So, when you put your selfie out there to be compared with truly professional headshots, you have failed to meet an important benchmark of making a good first impression. You have opened yourself up to be judged by it. Remember, many studies show people use online photos of you to form lasting opinions of you.
A smartphone camera is simply not up to the task of producing professional-quality photos or video. This is because, for professional careers, full frame DSLR and mirrorless cameras have been defined as the benchmark of quality for headshots. There are cameras capable of even higher performance than full-frame – medium format – but they are overkill and cost-prohibitive in most commercial headshot situations.
However, no smartphone camera comes close to meeting the quality of a full-frame camera. While smartphone vendors heavily throw advertising dollars to attempt to convince you otherwise, it is not even a fair fight when you investigate the details.
Mobile vs Desktop Argument
One important factor to consider as to why there is this argument that a camera phone is good enough is because of a misperception about how we consume media. In the U.S., and in many other countries, most of us are tethered to our phones. You cannot go from point A to point B in most cities without seeing someone else walking down the street with their face buried in their phone or driving – annoyingly – while doing the same.
So, the belief is that pretty much all media is consumed on a phone – that it is clearly the dominant way. This is simply not accurate and will not be for the foreseeable future. Data shows that in the U.S. people that get online using a smartphone versus their desktop is often neck and neck, 49 to 46 percent. And, as of the time of this writing, desktop use is currently up 49 to 46 percent.
Two other important factors to consider include the quality of the screen being used and the time difference. When people are on desktops, most people use large high-definition quality monitors. Furthermore, when online on a desktop people spend a lot more time on web pages compared to when on a smartphone.
So, while mobile devices continue to be pervasive, they are not dominant and sometimes not even the first choice. And when people are serious about getting online, they seemingly turn to desktops to spend more time doing so. And, they are using high quality screens to do so. This data counts everyone getting online, for whatever reasons. So, you might conclude if you were going to count just people seeking to do business, the use of desktops and high-quality screens is significantly more profound. So, the quality of an image, or lack of quality, is even more pronounced during desktop use.
Why Camera Phones Are Hugely Inferior
To start, the sensor size of a smartphone, such as the latest iPhone, is significantly smaller than a full frame sensor. This is by design. A smartphone is designed to be small enough to fit in a pocket. It is a multi-purpose device too. The camera is just one thing of many that it is used for – apps, calls, music playback, and so on.
A full-frame camera is designed for photography and video capture. Technically one can argue these are the same functions but that is another post. The point is a full-frame camera by design is supposed to capture very high-quality images and that is it. Thus, it is a far larger device than a smartphone. A full-frame camera sensor is vastly larger than a smartphone sensor.