By profession
Software developer headshots
Developers are photographed for team pages, conference bios, GitHub profiles and client proposals — and a suit in all four looks like a costume.
Dress like yourself, carefully
Technical culture has the widest range of acceptable dress of any profession, and the rule is consistency: wear the best version of what you actually wear. A clean shirt, a plain t-shirt or a fine knit all work; a borrowed suit does not.
What changes the impression is not the garment but its condition — an ironed shirt, a plain colour, and no distracting graphic. A band t-shirt is fine in a startup team page and out of place in a client proposal.
- Plain shirt, t-shirt or knit in a solid colour.
- No slogans, logos or busy prints for client-facing profiles.
- Clean, fitted clothing — that is the whole signal.
- A jacket only if you wear one at work.
Where developer photos are seen
The developer profile is unusually public: a GitHub avatar, a conference speaker page, a company team page, a client's proposal document. Each of those is viewed at a different size, and the avatar is the hardest — it is 100 px wide and often cropped to a circle.
That makes a tight, well-lit head-and-shoulders composition the practical choice: it survives the circle crop, it reads in a team grid, and it still looks considered on a speaker page.
- Face large in the frame so the avatar crop works.
- Plain background; a busy desk disappears at 100 px.
- Even light — screens and overhead lighting are the enemy.
- One photo for all of them beats four inconsistent ones.
Team pages that look deliberate
Engineering team pages are usually assembled from whatever photos people had, in different light, at different times, with different backgrounds. The result is the visual equivalent of a merged commit.
Applying one style to each person's own photos gives the page a single look — which matters more than usual in tech, where the team page is often the first thing a candidate or a client sees.
How it works
Three steps from a phone photo to a finished image
Upload your photos
Six to ten selfies with different angles and expressions.
Pick a style
Business, editorial, black and white, cinematic — or a profession set.
Download the set
A consistent batch of portraits, ready for your profile.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What should a software developer wear in a headshot?
The best version of what you actually wear: a plain shirt, t-shirt or knit in a solid colour. A suit usually looks like a costume on a developer profile, and technical audiences read consistency as credibility.
Do I need a professional headshot as a developer?
If your photo appears on a company team page, a conference speaker listing, a client proposal or a professional network, yes. It is often the first image a candidate or client sees.
How do I make a good GitHub avatar?
Start with a tight head-and-shoulders photo against a plain background, with the face large in the frame. Avatars are displayed small and often circular, so detail and busy backgrounds are lost.
How do engineering teams get consistent team photos?
Choose one style and apply it to each person's own photos, rather than collecting whatever is on their phones. The consistency is what makes a team page look like a company.
Try it on your next photo
Free to download on the App Store. iPhone and iPad only.