Getting the best out of your headshots

Choosing a photographer

A very important decision. I recommend you choose someone from the Association of Professional Headshot Photographers. They are highly experienced and specialise in working with actors. There are good photographers who are not in the association, of course. If you do choose a different photographer, make sure you are happy with the standard of their work – especially how they take headshots. Being a photographer doesn’t automatically make someone a good headshot photographer. Most photographers will display examples of previous work on their website for you to have a look at.

The most important thing about a headshot seems obvious, but it cannot be said often enough.

THE PHOTO NEEDS TO LOOK LIKE YOU!

Which sounds like an odd thing to say, because how can a photo of you not look like you? Well, very easily. Here are two photo photos taken of me. The first in September 2013, the second in January 2014.

The first one was my Grandma thinking she was being helpful and booking a cheap photo session with a local fashion studio. As she had already paid for it I said we could go and make a nice day of it, but it wouldn’t be useful at all for my career. This is the first time this photo has seen the light of day! It did not look like me at all and I did not like what the make-up artist did at all. The second was one of my acting headshots taken by the lovely Michael Pollard. That was what I actually looked like! They are both photos of me, but only one of them looked like me.

A casting director wants to see the person that is going to walk into the audition room. If you have a radical change of look you need new headshots immediately – even if your old ones were only taken a couple of months ago. If your agent submits a photo of you with shoulder length hair and then you walk into the room with a funky new pixie cut, the casting director will not be happy. This is not the person they invited to audition.

Having said that, you don’t want all of your photos to look exactly the same. You should have between three and six photos on your spotlight profile that display a range of looks and characters. By this, I don’t mean literally dress up in different costumes (I have seen this on profiles. It makes you look very silly) but something that gives the idea of a character. So, here is how to create a great range of characters while still looking like you:

Expression

Any good headshot photographer will help you to feel relaxed and guide you through as they take photos. They will capture your personality, not just your facial features. Unfortunately, I have seen a trend recently where nobody seems to want to smile in their headshots and instead want to do this “brooding and mysterious” look. Ok, we don’t want you grinning like a Cheshire cat in every single photo but smiles are good for a range of submissions – commercials especially. An audience wants to see somebody likeable and relatable, so show that you are an actual person!

Make up

Do your make-up the way you do it on an ordinary day. For some ladies, it may be an idea to have one picture of you looking a little more glam (the way you would on a special night out for example, or if you normally wear a lot of make up have some without) but do not have your hair or make-up done professionally – you are not going to pay a professional for every audition you have, so don’t do it for your headshots.

Long hair

You need to have photos that have hair up and hair down. For some people, the way their hair is tied can radically change the way their face looks, as can be seen here with our Beatrice Vincent. It’s the same day, but in the second photo she looks younger. Photos by Gemma Turnbull.

Facial Hair

Most gents should have photos with and without facial hair. (Unless you permanently have facial hair that you don’t shave off). You would arrive at the session with stubble or a beard and then shave at some point during the shoot.

Clothes

A couple of different colour tops, one smart one casual. Maybe something like a hoodie if that works for your casting. Don’t go out and buy something you wouldn’t normally wear – with the exception of your corporate photo. You need at least one photo wearing smart, business attire. This will be used to submit you not only for corporate work, but for any professional roles e.g. police officer, teacher, doctor etc. If you don’t normally do business attire – a headshot photographer gave me a little trick. Go and buy a nice suit jacket from a chain store. Leave the labels on for the shoot, making sure that they can’t be seen in your photos, then take it back to the shop for a refund.

Lighting

A studio may be more appropriate for your corporate photo, but outdoor natural lighting is a preference of mine. Different photographers will prefer to work in different environments, so you need to make it clear what you are expecting of them before the session. It does make a difference to the feel of the photo. As you can see with these two photos of our Niall White, also by Michael Pollard. One outdoor, casual clothes and big smile. The other in studio, business attire and looking more serious.

The first gives the suggestion of a bloke you’d have a chat with down the pub, the other a stern CEO. They show contrast while still looking like Niall.

If you have an agent always talk to them before getting new headshots and get them to choose for you. It may even be useful to ask them which photo they used to submit you for the part so you know which version of you needs to go into the audition. I hope this was useful. Happy new and happy new headshots!