Headshots On White

We get many requests for Headshots on a “white” background. White is not my favorite background color to work with for headshots and business portraits because it can be very unforgiving and unflattering. Putting ascetics aside, there is a serious technical issue with white backgrounds: pure white on a white website caucuses “floating” and sudden cut offs.

I think my clients should be aware of the technical issues when using white backgrounds for headshots. I have a PDF guide that I send clients when we are working on a white background projects. This blog post on Headshots on white is a summary of that guide.

The most important thing is knowing what level to set the white background at so that it does not float. We like a 240 white background with a brighter spot in the center behind the headshot subject T240 is just dark enough to not float on a pure white website but still look white and not gray. It’s still pure white in the center of the headshot but you see the framing of the edge of the image.

Another option is to create a border of some kind around the headshot to define the edges.

When using pure white and floating the headshots. Cutting of the shoulders on white background headshots always looks funny to me. I do like the look of a headshot that is cut on the bottom and has shoulders. It’s like the person is looking at you from over top of a white wall. This effect is ruined if the shoulders are cut off.