I always approve comments like this because I certainly felt the same way when I first started out as an actor. And also as a photographer! Expensive equipment means nothing. It’s all the person using it. I can take a great headshot with a cheap camera and zero equipment, and an actor with no knowledge of how to take great headshots will take a horrible headshot using amazing equipment.

I encourage every actor who visits my site to interview with multiple photographers… because rapport is also incredibly important to the process. Feel free to ask casting directors and agents this question, and see what response you get. I’m not hoping to frighten actors into hiring me… I’m hoping to jar actors into actually doing something *helpful* for their careers instead of wasting valuable time, resources, and emotional baggage.

Anyone who hopes to compete against the multitude of talented actors in New York or LA needs a professional headshot, taken by a professional photographer. End of story. It doesn’t have to be me! But it does need to be a pro… otherwise your headshot will not open doors, and you will not get called in to audition for paying jobs.

By the way, this post is not a featured article on my site, nor is it promoted in any way… so no… it isn’t advertising. The posts on the front page? Those definitely are!

Thanks for visiting my site… and I’m guessing you reached it by trying to find out how to take your own headshot.

I can’t stress enough–NO PROFESSIONAL ACTOR TAKES THEIR OWN HEADSHOT!

So why write about it at all? Because many actors don’t know they shouldn’t. In the long run, it will only hurt your career.

The first paragraph of this post ends with: “Recently, I saw a visitor (presumably an actor or actress) who reached my site through a search that I thought I could address.” The introduction of the post doesn’t claim to offer nuts and bolts info on where to put a camera, what settings to use, framing, or anything else. And it’s no frustration to me that actors search for this, and I’m certainly not ranting… just providing good advice.

As you may have noticed in my previous comment, this blog post isn’t aimed at artists or photographers wanting advice on how to shoot headshots for others–it’s aimed at New York actors who are considering taking their own headshot for professional use in the New York market. Which is a very, very bad idea. Don’t take my word for it! Take the word of the many casting directors and agents who have spoken about this in books, blogs, industry magazines, newspapers, etc.

As I said in the final paragraph of this post, most actors are only interested in taking their own headshots for money reasons… and this post is, yes, designed to get the attention of the actor intending to do just that, and encourage them to evaluate why they are taking their own headshot. Because if you do take your own headshots, you are heavily damaging your own career as an actor in NYC.

My primary purpose in being a NYC headshot photographer is helping actors book work. And when I write blog posts, it’s with the intention of providing solid advice to New York actors. And the most solid advice on the topic “Taking My Own Headshot” is: Don’t take your own headshot–especially if you are an actor in New York City.

I’m sorry if that’s not the advice you were looking for, but again, this post is aimed at helping NYC actors–not artists or photographers. And any advice suggesting that a New York actor can or should take his or her own headshot is just irresponsible.

If you are looking for hands on photography advice for your own photo business, I would suggest looking into photo.net as a good starting point. The other option is the track I took–apprenticing with a headshot photographer in your area. In Louisiana, I would recommend brocatophoto.com.

I do intend to post some nuts and bolts how-to advice (along the lines of what I posted recently for Taking a Twitter Headshot in 10 Steps). If you’re interested in finding out when those posts go live, you can follow me on Twitter.

But fair warning–my tweets aren’t about photography as much as they are about the business of acting. A good actor headshot photographer is equal parts photographer and marketing manager.

Good luck in your photography career, and if you have specific questions, you’re welcome to ask actor headshot questions on Twitter!

This particular post wasn’t intended to be a “how to” post, but a response to a search term that kept pinging my website (I thought I made that clear in the first paragraph of the entry).

I do intend to post some “how to” articles in the future, so check back from time to time. Being located in London, you have an entirely different set of current trends in headshots though, so take everything here with a grain of salt (it may not apply to London). This site is aimed at New York headshots, and to some degree, LA and other major US markets.

Thanks for commenting on my blog… I appreciate your attempt to stick up for actors (and the money they spend on their careers), but I think you might be missing some valuable information on why headshot photography is a specialized field, done by professionals, and why actors should get their headshots done by a pro.

In fact, I wrote an entire post dedicated to the subject–so thank you for helping me put this misconception to rest.

As far as the do it yourself articles, you reached my site searching for “taking headshots”, so I’m assuming you’re looking for more guidance on the nitty-gritty details. And while this sort of contradicts what you say in your comment, yes, I will be posting more of that kind of info–aimed at people outside of New York, LA, and other major acting centers… where it’s appropriate for an actor to have a friend shoot his or her shots.