Measure before reshooting

The reflex when a profile picture disappoints is to take another one. Usually the most expensive route to a five-minute problem.

What can be measured

Four things, all objective: contrast between hair and background, crop, light direction, and eye height in the frame.

None is a matter of taste, and none depends on the camera.

The most common finding

The headshot is fine and the framing is not. At the size a profile picture displays, a head occupying a quarter of the frame stops being identifiable.

About half of all cases end here — no cost, no new photograph.

The second most common

The background. Dark hair against a dark wall gives, once scaled down, a silhouette with no face in it: invisible at full screen, total in a list.

Why this order

Because reshooting without diagnosing repeats the same mistake with better lighting. Measure first, then decide whether a new portrait is needed at all.