Headshots: Film or Digital?

Casting directors and agents couldn’t care less whether your headshots were captured on film or digital. 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 photos where you blinked, the light shifted, and/or your emotional connection wasn’t quite there.

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 it no longer makes sense to shoot on film.