Selfies are overrated, says Grace Solorzano.
The Telemundo Miami producer took her place on the orange tape in front of the camera Friday morning. Toes to the right, shoulders to the left, nose to the camera.
Les Stone photographs Telemundo San Fransisco reporter Andres Brender on Friday.
Solorzano got a free professional photo of herself at the Excellence in Journalism conference, where a headshot studio allows attendees to download the images from home. The J-Expo center will be available throughout the weekend.
“You can only do this for so long and capture one angle of your face,” Solorzano said, motioning as if taking a selfie. “It’s not even close to being professional.”
Kevin Colman, a student at Hillsboro Community College in Tampa, said he’s never had a professional headshot taken.
“You want to have a nice picture of yourself when you go into journalism,” he said. “You can’t just have a selfie. That doesn’t look professional.”
Les Stone is the man behind the camera this weekend at EIJ. Stone said he operates his own one-man, corporate professional photography business in Orlando, taking professional headshots for mostly law and sales firms.
Stone said most of the women he photographs have a tendency to tuck their chins, like a glamor shot. He encourages them to stand tall and confident.
“Men are really the most vain,” he said. “When I’m working with more men, they tend to want more work done than the women will typically ask for. It’s very strange.”
He recommends subjects wear gray, dark blue or pastels clothing, and to avoid black, white and patterns.
“A professional headshot needs to convey a very warm, respectful look,” he said, “somebody that’s approachable, somebody that you would like to deal with.”