Headless is not "a normal photo with the head cropped off". Cropped badly it looks like an accident. Cropped properly the buyer never wonders where your chin went.
The rule that does all the work: crop at a joint, never mid-limb. Jaw, shoulder, wrist, knee. A crop through the middle of an arm reads as an error.
The eleven
- Jaw crop, standing, weight on one hip
- Collarbone down, arms crossed
- Shoulder down, turned away
- Waist up, hands in hair, elbows framing
- Hands only, on a surface, close crop
- Wrist crop, holding something
- Knee down, sitting, legs to one side
- Back view, shoulder blades
- Lying flat, from above, chin out of frame
- Hips and hands, plain wall
- Detail — a strap, a hem, a clasp
Lighting
Side light from a window, mid-morning, overhead bulb off. Overhead light carves shadows under the chin and makes shoulders look heavy.
What to wear
Texture beats pattern: knit, ribbed cotton, satin, denim. Patterns date fastest and photograph worst on a phone.
Check before publishing
- No chin, ear, or hairline strand giving the shape away
- Tattoos decided — shown or covered, not accidental
- Reflections checked at full zoom
- Background plain
A stray chin is not a disaster, but decide now whether you are no-face or sometimes-face. Buyers notice inconsistency faster than they notice chins.
Selling them
Bundle three to five into a $6–$10 set. Headless converts better as products than subscriptions, because there is no personality to sustain.