5 Tips to make sure you end up with a Fantastic Acting Headshot Hudson Valley Photographer
1. Personality! And lots of it!
The best way to show a casting director how great of an actor you are is by showing that in the pictures. Think of the roles you want to play, and how you can put yourself into a version of that person in the headshot. Of course you don’t want to specialize too much though. Think of it more in generalities. If you want to play more ‘pants roles’ maybe you should come with an outfit that might play to that a little bit. You don’t want to go on full out androgynous. It’s harder for people to imagine you in much else if you do that.
2. Keep Your outfit simple.
You want the main focus to be you, and more specifically your face. If there’s lot of busy patterns,
and stripes, then you end up distracting the viewer away from the main focus which is you. If you end up booking with me, don’t worry I’ll help you pick out the outfit that will work best in your shots, based on the roles you want to play. I’ve been working with actors and models for years helping them pick out the very best outfits to really put their best foot forward.
3. Go easy on the makeup
I would highly suggest you bring in a professional makeup artist. I can’t stress that enough. There’s a huge difference between the makeup that you do when you’re going out for the night, and makeup that looks great under professional studio lights. I really can’t stress this one enough. I know most people seem to think they do a fine job on their own makeup, and I’m sure they do, but keep in mind that makeup job will get blown up to an 8x10. Which means it really has to be perfect otherwise you will be able to see where it didn’t blend properly.
4. Don’t overdo it with the skin
Remember what I said about distractions? Skin is one of those distractions. Ladies that means you can’t get to excessive with the cleavage. For the guys, that means you should keep your shirt on. I know how much you want to show off all that hard work you’ve put into the gym, but the focus should remain on your face. If you want to show off what you’ve worked on, think about wearing a tighter fitting shirt. You can show off both your face, and give a hint of what you’ve spent hours in the gym working on.
5. Don’t think I’m going to go crazy on the photoshop
At the end of the day you really want your headshot to look like you. You don’t want a glamour shot from the 80’s, and you certainly want to make sure that this is a real representation of you. If you walk in and a casting director doesn’t recognize you, well… you might have wanted to hire a different photographer. I promise I can make you look like the very best possible version of you, and you’ll look fantastic. I’m not going to drastically change the way that you look though.
I know it can be tempting to find someone who has a camera to take your picture, but you have to remember that this is a representation of you, and your business. In other businesses a headshot isn’t as important as your resume, but in this business it’s just as important. Showing a casting director that you take your career seriously is a great step towards getting the part.
