Roasting My AI Headshots

The professional headshots I have been using for the last four years were taken in 2021 when I started the job which recently eliminated my role and terminated my employment. I had a great experience at the photography studio* and like(d) those photos, but they no longer look like me and I don't want any remnants of that role lingering in my professional life.

*Shoutout to Fagan Studios in Rochester, MN!

Sidenote: I love the photo of me with the calculator saying "43110" so that may stay for a while... At least until I can retake or remake it somehow... If anyone has AI headshot recos that allow you to add props, let me know!

After researching many AI headshot companies online, I decided to try InstaHeadshots. My research consisted of a Google and LinkedIn search and judging the realism of the results. Many well-known companies use InstaHeadshots, which gives it a level of credibility. I'm someone who considers herself pretty savvy with photo editing. I have years of experience using FaceTune, so I felt empowered that if there was something funky with an image that I otherwise liked I could easily edit the funkiness out.

My existing LinkedIn photo was semi-AI generated. I used AI to remove my violin from one of my musical headshots, FaceTune to relight and soft focus my face, and then a photo editor to remove the background and make it black and white. Here's the before and after.

I uploaded about 20 random photos from my cell phone camera roll to InstaHeadshots. And I mean random. These included everything from actual headshots to awkward selfies. Per the instructions, I tried to keep my hairstyle and glasses consistent and capture a range of angles and facial expressions. If there was a photo I liked but it had other people or lots of brick-a-brack in it, I close-cropped it to just my face.

My Goals:

• Appearance - I wanted the images to look like me. They don't have to be perfect, but if someone looked at my profile photo icon I didn't want it to scream AI.

• Hairstyle - Those who know me best know I have a different personality depending on my haircut. I wanted the images to have my current blunt-cut bob.

• Glasses - I am now a proud 3rd generation black glasses wearer. While I don't have to wear the glasses 24/7/365, they've become a part of my personality that I wanted to feature.

• Outfit - I wanted the images to have an outfit I would choose for a professional photoshoot. As a fashion person, it needed to be something I would actually wear.

• Experiment - Try something new with AI and form my own opinion!

My Results: Not seeing many example photos that featured glasses-wearers, I was fully prepared to exercise my money-back guarantee. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the results AND had a lot of fun looking at each image!  

Likes:

• Glasses that closely mimicked my favorite pair and looked real.

• The black turtleneck kept the focus on my face, even if it gave me Elizabeth Holmes vibes.

• Some of the images REALLY looked like me, even capturing some of my smirks and side eyes facial expressions.

• The low makeup look mimicked my daily style. (This is likely the result of the photos I uploaded.)

• Ease of use. The UI to upload photos, understand instructions, access the downloads, and make edits was easy and intuitive.

• I was glad I chose the plain white and light gray backgrounds. The office, nature, or city backgroundss would have been too distracting for my goals, but are nice options if you work in a specific industry.

• Price. As someone unemployed, should I have spent $49.99 on AI images when I can edit my selfies? Probably not. But that's a small investment to update my professional brand.
  

Dislikes:

• Many outfits were things I would NEVER wear: colors that didn't match my skin tone, outdated and frumpy styles, creases attempting to make it look real that just looked rumpled, and gaudy accessories. As a fashion person, this bothered me. I wish there was a way to specify upfront that I only wanted black clothes. I was able to create 3 variations where I specifically asked for a black blazer with a black top underneath, but that was only done correctly 1 out of the 3 times.

• In the photos showing my torso, many of the body shapes were incorrect. You can fill in the blank in what area, haha. Ultimately, that is easy to crop out and wasn't a dealbreaker for me, but it could be if you're looking for a full torso image.

• I had many issues with my AI hair: hair that was too long, was parted on the wrong side, or pulled back in a way I'd never style it. This left a very small volume of images with hair that looked real and that I liked.

• My teeth looked weird. Of all the parts of my face, this is the area I feel betrays the photo as AI, or at least heavily edited, the most.

• Price. I chose the cheapest plan at $49.99 and got good results. Still, that price point is inaccessible for many who are unemployed, underemployed, students, or pivoting careers.

  • I worry that those who can afford AI headshots will use them, thus normalizing a really polished professional image, making a home-snapped selfie appear less and less "professional" in the process.

• I looked very young in many of the images. They could have been me in high school.

  • While the ethical implications of an AI image generator making a woman appear younger, especially for a professional setting, are beyond the scope of this post, it is important food for thought.

I narrowed the images down to Likes, Faves, and Best based on my initial "gut" reaction. Then, I stopped scrutinizing them to cleanse my visual palette and returned to my picks to see if I still liked them or could whittle down the best more.

My Top 5 (in rough order):

Interesting that these are all in the black turtleneck! The fashion really mattered to me and therefore was my top source of disappointment in the images.

Some Fails: 🔥 and the roast!

These are all pretty good in the "looking like me" category, but I primarily eliminated these for non-face-related reasons.

Top Left: I couldn't get over the punk rock-style chunky chain necklaces drawing attention to my chestular region.

Top Middle: The white button-up shirt is giving middle school honors orchestra. IYKYK.

Top Right: Why do I look like a middle manager at a Midwestern credit union?

Bottom Left: Middle part yikes! What is it about changing your hair part, whether IRL or with AI, that makes you look sooooo weird?

Bottom Middle: This isn't AI. This is high school junior Eden on her way to win Outstanding Attorney at the State Mock Trial contest whilst wearing a poorly fitting 80's style double-breasted bazer borrowed from her mom's closet.

Bottom Right: The precision origami fold of my hair defies the laws of physics.

What I Would Do Differently: 

Spoiler Alert! It's all about the prompting. By analyzing the things that bothered me, I have a few ideas of things I could have done better initially to get better results. I would have taken more time editing more photos on my camera roll (cropping out others) to be useable, which would have allowed me to upload the maximum number of photos the UI will allow. I would also ensure better consistency of my hair style in the uploads to make sure the results matched my current style.

My Bottom Line:

I would recommend InstaHeadshots. The process was easy, the plans were reasonably priced, and I was satisfied with the results. Do I wish I had 36 slam-dunk photos instead of just 5? Of course! But at $10/photo that is cheaper than a professional photographer. I saved time, money, and hassle by skipping the photography studio.

You get what you pay for. There is no way that AI photos can replace a photographer's creativity and expertise. Having done multiple professional photoshoots over my lifetime, for everything from senior photos to professional headshots, there are skills that great photographers posess that AI never will: Putting someone at ease in front of the camera, making conversation, giving posing directions, smoothing clothes and fixing hair, generating creative backdrop and prop ideas, editing photos, capturing a fleeting moment, capturing someone's personality, and more.

Transparency is paramount. As I mentioned earlier, I am a regular photo editor. Usually, this is just to erase a zit or lighten my undereye bags to not detract from the photo itself. It's important to be honest when you use these tools, and I always am. I am writing and sharing this post before updating my images so everyone knows they're not actually me. If anyone is considering using InstaHeadshots, hopefully this review can help.

If you're pursuing AI headshots with realistic expectations and with an experimental mindset, I think you'll be happy with at least a handful of your results and have fun in the process!