For this casting, they did not want selfies. They wanted chest-up photos in scrubs or a lab coat taken by a photographer. The expression needed to be serious but not scary, confident and knowledgeable. I had no photographer friend to take pix, but I used to be a photographer (fine art, portrait and performance) so I took them myself. I only had old cine lights that are kind of harsh. I diffused them with heavy silks (thanks @aaronmedick for this advise). I set up the shot on a tripod and had my
11 year old daughter trip the shutter. After sending in the photos, I decided to remove the dark grey brick background of my studio to see if the photos would be improved with a plain white background. I like them.