Feeling nervous or anxious before your headshot or brand photoshoot is normal and it's one of the most common things my clients admit to when they're booking their session. For me, knowing what to expect and being prepared usually helps a lot handling any anxiety I might have, which is the reason I thought I’d share 3 top tips to consider ahead of your shoot.

Get Organised

Plan your outfits and props with plenty of time, rather than 5 min before you leave. It will give you a piece of mind and a chance to try out different outfit combinations, iron and/or dry clean your your clothes if needed. I’d also recommend to arrive early, to avoid rushing and stressing out because you got stuck in traffic or your train/tube got delayed. You can always get a drink or coffee before the shoot, relax, read a book or reply to some emails.

Wear something else to travel to the shoot

Particularly if you’re wearing a shirt or something else that creases easily, wear something else to travel to the shoot and get changed when you arrive, nothing worse than seatbelt marks, or if you spill something on the way! For tips on what to wear, check out my blog post on the topic.

Show yourself some self-love beforehand

Getting enough sleep the night or even the week before and not being hungover are two of the best things you can do before your photo shoot, but my blog post about self-love is also full of other great ways you can prepare yourself well to make sure you’re feeling at your best for your headshot / branding session. My favourite is compiling a playlist to listen to, I’ve been introduced to some excellent music at shoots!

BONUS TIP

Be careful with when you remove any hair. If you want to get your eyebrows done get them done at least the day before, preferably a couple of days beforehand to give any redness and swelling time to settle down.

If you shave, do it the day before, if possible, again to reduce likelihood of any redness or small cuts.

And if you go for a haircut, only go for a trim (or doing your roots) rather than a new hairstyle as there’s no guarantee you will love or be comfortable with your new style and you don’t want to end up with photos you don’t like your hair in.

Do you have any other tips I should have included? Let me know in the comments!