Auraspire

A LinkedIn headshot at home with your phone: the setup, in order

You do not need a photographer for a headshot that reads as competent and approachable. You need a window, a plain wall, a timer, ten minutes and a rule for choosing the frame. Here is the sequence.

Updated 15 September 2026 · 4 min read

What a LinkedIn photo has to do

Three things, at thumbnail size: look like a real, current person; look approachable; look like someone who has it together. LinkedIn's own figures say a profile with a photo gets many times more views and connection requests than one without, but the more useful point is that an unflattering photo is a small tax on every message you send. This setup gets you a photo that pays that tax off, in about ten minutes.

Step 1: the room

  • Find the biggest window in the house, on a bright day with no direct sun coming through it. If sun is streaming in, hang a thin white sheet over it or wait.
  • Turn off every indoor light. Mixed light gives the phone two colours to balance and it will pick wrong.
  • Stand facing the window, about a metre from it, or turn 45 degrees for a bit more shape in the face. Face-on is safer if you are unsure.
  • Put a plain background behind you at least two metres back — a wall, a closed door, a bookcase. The distance is what blurs it. Do not stand against the wall.

Step 2: the phone

  • Rear camera. Better lens, higher resolution, and it forces you to step back.
  • Eye level. Prop the phone on a shelf, a stack of books, or a tripod, so the lens is at the height of your eyes. From below, you look down at the viewer; from far above, you shrink. A fraction above eye level is fine.
  • 1.5–2 metres away, and use the 2x lens if your phone has one, which is closer to what a portrait photographer would use. At arm's length the face distorts — the nose widens, the face narrows — and looks less trustworthy in studies of exactly this.
  • Timer, or a helper. Ten-second timer, then burst mode, or ask someone to press the button while chatting to you.
  • Portrait mode is optional. Turn off any beauty or smoothing setting.

Step 3: the frame

Head and shoulders, with the top of the head near the top of the frame and a little space above it. Your eyes should sit in the upper third. Leave enough room either side to crop to a square later without cutting off your shoulders — LinkedIn displays a circle, so plan for that.

Shoulders angled slightly (10–20 degrees) rather than square-on, face turned back to the camera. It reads as engaged without being posed.

Step 4: the expression

This is where home headshots go wrong, because people hold a smile for the timer and the result is a grimace. The fix is volume and distraction:

  • Set the timer, then have someone talk to you from behind the phone, or say something to yourself — a real sentence.
  • Take twenty or thirty frames across a few timer runs. You are looking for the one that catches you between poses.
  • Eyes: think about the person you are looking at rather than the lens. Slightly narrowed eyes read as comfortable; wide eyes read as startled. Photofeeler's research on perceived competence and likability found the same.
  • Mouth: a small real smile, or an open one if it is real. Closed-mouth "professional" smiles rated lowest on likability in the same study — if the choice is between a slight real smile and a bigger forced one, take the real one.

Step 5: the clothes

The benchmark is what you would wear to a good meeting in your field. For some people that is a jacket and shirt; for others it is a plain sweater. Either way:

  • Solid colours. Fine stripes and checks moiré on screens.
  • A colour that suits your undertone near the face — warm or cool — because the collar is right next to the skin in a headshot.
  • Nothing busy at the neck: big logos, loud scarves, a lanyard.
  • Glasses on if you wear them daily; tilt the head down a degree or two if the window is reflecting in them.

Step 6: choosing and finishing

Pick with a rule, not by feel: the frame where the eyes are engaged, the expression is between poses, and the light shows a catchlight in each eye. Ask one colleague which frame "looks like you at work". Then:

  • Crop to a square, eyes in the upper third, a little air above the head.
  • Do not filter. A gentle exposure lift is fine if the face is a touch dark.
  • Export at the largest size the phone offers; LinkedIn will compress it, so give it something to work with.

If it still is not working

The usual culprits, in order: the light was from above (a ceiling light left on), the phone was too close, the expression was held, or the background was cluttered. Change one thing and reshoot; it takes five minutes.

And if you would like to know how a frame comes across before you post it, Auraspire's face scan reads it the way a stranger does, and its photo picker tells you which of your shots reads most confident.

Questions people ask

Should I use portrait mode?
It is fine and often helps, because the blurred background isolates the face. Check the edges of your hair and glasses in the result — early portrait modes sometimes blur those wrongly. If they look odd, retake without it and just move further from the wall so the background softens naturally.
Do I need a plain white background?
No. Plain and uncluttered, yes — a wall, a door, a bookshelf far enough behind you to blur. Mid-grey, warm white, pale blue or a wooden surface all work. Pure white can make the phone underexpose your face; if that happens, tap on your face on the screen before shooting.
How should I dress for it?
As you would for an important meeting in your industry — that is the honest benchmark. A collar or a structured neckline photographs better than a crew-neck T-shirt for most fields. Pick a solid colour that suits your undertone and avoid fine stripes or checks, which shimmer on screens.
Can I use a photo from an event or a wedding?
Only if your face is clearly lit, you are looking near the camera, and it can be cropped to head and shoulders without the crop being obvious. Event photos usually fail on light (overhead, flash) or on someone else's shoulder in the frame.

Sources

  1. LinkedIn Official Blog, 'Picture Perfect: Make a Great First Impression with Your LinkedIn Profile Photo', 2017. — LinkedIn's own figure that members with a profile photo receive many times more profile views and connection requests than those without
  2. Photofeeler, 'New research study breaks down the perfect profile photo', 2014. — 60,000 ratings of 800 photos: open smiles raised perceived competence, likability and influence; eyes fully visible and slightly narrowed rated better; sunglasses and obstructed eyes rated worse

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