The Preparation

How to prepare for
your ERAS photo.

Do these things and you walk in camera-ready.

5 min read

The six things that matter

You don't need to do much to prepare for an ERAS photo — but the few things that matter, matter a lot, because the file is tiny and there's no second appointment. Get these six right and everything else takes care of itself.

1. Sleep on it.

   Get a real night's rest. Tired eyes do not retouch well and there is no makeup pass to mask them. The single best thing you can do for your photo is be rested.

2. Pick a solid color.

   Dark navy, charcoal, or black jackets photograph beautifully. Solid-color tops, dresses, or button-downs all work. Avoid busy patterns — they pixelate in a 150 KB / 150 dpi file.

3. Iron everything.

   Creases show huge in a 2.5 × 3.5″ crop. Five minutes with an iron the night before saves you from regret on the file you upload to MyERAS^®.

4. Camera-Ready Hair

   A fresh cut, trim, blowout, or professional styling can make a big difference on the day of your session. Some people photograph best a day or two after a haircut, others look great walking straight out of the barber shop or salon. Stick to what you know: same stylist, same haircut. Use your past experience as a guide for when your hair looks its best. Beards: clean trim or a fresh shave. Bring a brush or comb for touchups before you walk in.

5. Wash & moisturise — don't experiment.

   Hydrated skin reads great on camera. Today is not the day to try a new product, scrub, or self-tan. Stick with what you know and trust.

6. Arrive on time.

   No need to come early and please don't run late. There's a place to wait and get ready, with mirrors, a private restroom to change in, and an iron, steamer, and hair dryer on hand.

What to wear

The wardrobe rule is simple: solid colors, no patterns, professional silhouette. That covers the whole question. The longer version:

Best choices

• Dark navy blazer. The single most-photographed wardrobe choice. Structured, reads as professional, photographs beautifully against a light gray background.
• Charcoal or black suit jacket. Similar effect, slightly more formal. Black can absorb light, so the studio adjusts the lighting accordingly.
• Solid-color sweater or button-down. If a blazer isn't how you actually dress in clinic, a clean button-down or fine-knit sweater also works. Stick with deep solid colors — navy, burgundy, dark green, charcoal.

Avoid

• Busy patterns. Houndstooth, gingham, fine stripes, paisley. The 150 KB / 150 dpi compression pixelates patterns in a way that looks distracting.
• Pure white. Against the light gray background you become a floating head, and white-on-light is harder to expose cleanly.
• Tank tops, t-shirts, athleisure. Even if the framing crops at the shoulders, the silhouette reads as casual.
• Statement jewelry, bold neckwear, oversized logos. Anything that pulls attention away from your face.

Bringing a second option never hurts — if you can't decide between two jackets, bring both and the photographer will tell you which one reads better on camera. (If you've booked ERAS Plus, two outfits are part of the session.)

Hair, grooming & glasses

Hair should be done the way you typically wear it for clinic — neat, off the face if that's your habit, down if that's how you wear it. Get any cut or trim one to three days before the shoot, not the morning of, so it has a day to settle. Beards: a clean trim or a fresh shave, your call — just make it deliberate rather than in-between.

Makeup, if you wear it, should be natural and skin-finishing. The studio's lighting handles a lot of the work that heavy makeup tries to do; less is usually more on camera. Skip any experimental new product the day before — a reaction or breakout is the one thing you can't fix at a tiny file size.

Glasses are fine. The studio adjusts your angle and lighting to eliminate glare. If your lenses don't have anti-reflective coating, the photographer may ask you to do two or three frames without them as backup. If you have a pair of empty or anti-glare frames, bring them along.

The night before

• Lay out the full outfit — jacket, top, anything underneath — and steam or iron it. Creases are the most common avoidable problem.
• Go to bed at a reasonable hour. Rest does more for the photo than any product. Tired eyes are the hardest thing to fix at 375 × 525 px.
• Hydrate and skip the salty late-night meal if you're prone to puffiness in the morning.
• Don't try anything new — no new skincare, no new haircut decision at 11 p.m., no self-tan.
• Confirm your studio, time, and route. Know which location you booked — Times Square, Wall Street, or Downtown Miami.

The morning of

• Wash and moisturise with what your skin already knows. Hydrated skin reads great on camera.
• Style your hair as usual and bring a brush or comb for a last pass at the door.
• Eat something. The shoot goes better when you're not running on empty.
• Leave with margin. Arrive at your booked time, not early and not late. There's space to settle and freshen up when you get there.
• Go easy on coffee if it makes you jittery — relaxed shoulders and a calm face photograph better.

What to bring

Honestly, not much — yourself and the outfit is 90% of it. The rest is optional insurance:

• A backup top or jacket if you're torn between two.
• A brush or comb and any quick touch-up items you like.
• Glasses (and anti-glare frames, if you have them).
• A lint roller is nice, but the studio keeps one — along with an iron, steamer, and hair dryer.

You don't need to know how to pose, and you don't need to bring anything technical. The photographer directs the rest.

What the session feels like

Your photographer guides you through angles, posture, and expression. We also help you get comfortable. Conversation is part of the process. It's how we capture your natural expression. Don't hesitate to open up to your photographer.

You'll review the take together on a monitor, pick the strongest frame, and the studio handles the AAMC-spec export and same-day delivery. For the full minute-by-minute breakdown, see what a studio session looks like in the complete guide.

The one-glance checklist

Screenshot this and you're set:

• ☐ Outfit chosen — solid color, ironed, no busy patterns
• ☐ Backup top or jacket packed (optional)
• ☐ Haircut / trim done 1–3 days ago
• ☐ Real night's sleep
• ☐ Washed & moisturised — nothing new tried
• ☐ Hair styled + brush in bag
• ☐ Glasses (and anti-glare frames if you have them)
• ☐ Studio, time & route confirmed
• ☐ Leaving with margin to arrive on time

Questions you haven't seen answered? The FAQ on the home page covers more than 25 of the most common ones, or call us at +1 (212) 390-0410.