LinkedIn-ready AI headshot — the framing, lighting, and expression that gets callbacks

LinkedIn photos that get recruiter attention share specific traits. This prompt builds for those conventions — not generic 'professional,' but LinkedIn-optimized:

'Professional LinkedIn headshot of a [AGE-RANGE, e.g. 30s] [MAN / WOMAN / PERSON], [BRIEF APPEARANCE: e.g. South Asian woman with dark hair, or white man with glasses and short beard], [EXPRESSION: genuine warm smile / confident direct gaze / approachable slight smile], business casual to professional attire in [COLOR: navy / charcoal / white / their brand color], face and upper chest filling 60-70% of the frame, [BACKGROUND: soft bokeh office interior / blurred cityscape / solid warm grey / neutral cream], three-point studio lighting with a soft key light from the upper left and subtle fill, eyes sharp and in focus, natural skin tones, LinkedIn profile photo, shot on 85mm f/2.0 --ar 1:1 --style raw --stylize 200'

─────────────────────────────────────────
THE LINKEDIN PHOTO FORMULA — what actually works on the platform

FACE SIZE: 60-70% of the frame. LinkedIn thumbnails are small (48-72px in feeds). If your face fills less than half the frame, it becomes unrecognizable in a search result. The '60-70% of frame' instruction is a Midjourney composition note, not just a cropping preference.

EXPRESSION: the research is consistent — 'genuine warm smile' outperforms 'serious/neutral' for roles where trust and collaboration matter (most roles). For roles where authority is the signal (C-suite, legal, finance), 'confident direct gaze with a slight smile' performs better than a full grin.

BACKGROUND: • Soft bokeh office or cityscape = corporate, institutional credibility
• Solid warm grey or cream = clean, versatile, works across industries
• Outdoor natural bokeh (trees, soft green) = approachable, startup/creative
• Avoid pure white — it disappears into LinkedIn's white UI and looks like a passport photo.

ATTIRE COLOR: navy and charcoal are the highest-trust colors in business contexts. White reads clean and modern. Avoid busy patterns — they compete with your face in a thumbnail.

LIGHTING: the 'three-point studio lighting with a soft key from upper left and subtle fill' instruction produces the most universally flattering result — it models the face without harsh shadows and avoids the flat look of direct frontal light.

Tip: generate 4 variations (default Midjourney grid), then upscale the one where eye sharpness and expression look most natural — those two elements are what viewers notice first in a thumbnail; use --cref [url] if you have a reference photo to maintain consistency across platforms.