Comfortable waiting area available during headshot session.
Why is a Good Headshot Important?
There is nothing quite as frustrating as having a bad headshot. Too many wonderful, talented, New York actors and actresses have wasted time in their professional careers because their headshots worked against them.
Many times, an actor or actress will scrimp on headshots, thinking that talent and skill will win over casting directors and agents. But what these performers forget is that it is the headshot that will get them in the door in order to impress with talent and skill. Like it or not, your headshot and resume are the first impression you give to casting directors and agents–if your materials aren’t of the highest quality, you paint yourself as an amateur. If you’re going to spend several hundred dollars on a photo that may need to last you two years, you want to make sure that photo is the best calling card possible.
What is a Good Headshot?
Too often, actors pick great photos that make terrible headshots. A headshot should reveal the personality of the actor, not the lighting skills of the photographer. In modelling, the images are about the product–the lighting, angle, mood, etc. are all adjusted to reveal the product in the most marketable way, and the model is there as another means to do just that. In an actor’s headshot, the product is the actor. Every decision that is made about the photo should be to reveal the actor in his or her best light. This is why actors should be wary of photographers who always shoot the same setup, regardless of the actor being photographed.
Actors are creative artists. No doubt about it. But they are unique in the creative arts–their physical personage is the tool with which they create. In the world of professional acting, this means the actor must understand the way he is perceived by his or her audience, and therefore the people who are hiring actors to entertain that audience. If you are perceived as a character type, you shouldn’t be looking for sexy leading role headshots. If you are a leading man or woman, you need to make sure your headshots support that vision.
Every actor wants to play a range of roles. As a performer, I understand that desire. But with universities, schools, private training programs, and personal coaching turning out record numbers of trained actors (who all invariably head to NYC), the days of “stretching” into a role are very nearly gone (except for celebrities).
You can use this to your advantage!
Agents and casting directors love actors who know their strengths, and who tailor their marketing materials to them (it makes their jobs easier). When you plan your headshots to take advantage of your strengths, you set yourself up for success.
When Should I Get New Headshots?
If you are getting a lot of auditions, but aren’t booking work, the problem is not your headshot.
If you are having trouble getting an agent to open your mail, or getting called in to audition for casting directors, the problem could very well be your headshot. Is it high quality? Does it represent you well? Is it recent enough? Does it compete with professional headshots shot by a professional New York headshot photographer?
Color vs. Black & White, Film vs. Digital?
If you are an Opera performer, you can use black and white headshots. Any other performer needs color headshots. It’s just the way the business works now (at least in NY). A color headshot reveals your exact eye and hair color, the tone of your skin, and it helps immensely to cut time in the casting process. Black and white photos say to a casting director or agent that you are either behind the times, or unaware of the current trend in your profession.
Casting directors and agents couldn’t care less whether your shots were captured on film or digitally. They want a great shot that fully embodies you as a person.
Traditionally, a headshot session on film involved shooting rolls and “looks” or changes of clothes. Three rolls of film equated to about 90 shots, including the shots in which your eyes were closed or you were making a strange face. In digital headshot sessions, you might shoot 400 photos, with a number of clothing changes, and then edit out the 150 photos where you blinked. The quality difference between film and digital, when captured by a good photographer, is negligible–but the value for the actor, and the chance of capturing a truly great shot, is so much higher with digital that is makes no sense to shoot on film.
Further Reading
by K Callan
There is a lot of advice available for actors looking for headshots–some good, some bad. K Callan has a series of well researched books that give good advice for actors at any stage in his or her career.
Check out what Nick has to say
as a featured NY photographer in:
The New York Agent Book, 8th Edition
by K. Callan