Pamela Reed Photography

Headshots are by far one of the most important components to an actor or model’s portfolio. Without headshots you are not getting in “the door” period. With bad headshots you are not getting in “the door” either. You need them just to get an agent or talent representative. Heck you even need them just to be an assistant PA on a low-budget flick.

While perusing photographer websites this morning I came upon both the good and the bad. I saw images that were too soft, out of focus or straight out of the camera without any basic post processing. One of the most disturbing trends I found were portfolios full of headshot/portrait images with the EXACT SAME expression on your faces. While I am aware each type of headshot needs to portray a particular type of “look” I just can’t believe tight-lipped, bored and plastic are “looks” that talent and casting agents desire! And particularly unsettling were the shot after shot that looked like they had been torn out of your high school yearbook. So what is my point?

If you are going to take the time and energy required to study and pursue acting or modeling then you even more than I know how important a first impression makes. It can literally make or break a career. If you hand off a photograph that represents “who you are” then that ONE image better be sky falling, hands down, cry your eyes out show-stopping! When that perfect part comes up, you know, the one you have always dreamed of, the one you know you are so perfectly suited, you want the casting director to sit upright, smile big and exclaim loudly to the heavens “we found our Jennifer, Michael…!!!”. You got into acting because it is your passion. You ARE a very multi-dimensional person. So when you are sitting in front of a contraption that is recording YOU on a single, flat piece of paper that is just like everyone else’s what are you going to do to set yourself apart? Are you going to jump up and down swinging a monkey and spewing Hamlet or are you going to hand over a photograph that in one brief moment caught the essence that is you? All of the emotions that comprise who you are have to be summed up in one photograph. It better be in focus, it better show the best that you can be. And it better not look like your high school picture.

Headshots are an investment in YOUR future. Period. They are what get you in the door. That 8×10 piece of photographic paper is YOU. How do you want to present and represent yourself? Professional or amateur? Flat/Vacant or Alive/Multi-dimensional. A truly great photographer is going to present you with that moment. Not just a standard press and click on the automatic setting of his/her camera. But a true capture of your essence, your inner beauty. And you know what? Fancy lights, stands, etc. don’t a good photographer make. So when it is time to take the next step to becoming that star you always dreamed about take your time and research, research, research. Ask friends and colleagues for referrals. Go to the web or professional associations. And when you have narrowed down to a handful of potential photographic artists, meet with them. Be sure you have a real connection. Discuss what you get for your sitting fee. And above all other things look at that photographer’s work, don’t glance, really look at it. Analyze if he/she will “get” you. Is a sitting just about the money or does your photographer really care if you make it as an actor or model? During a time of economic uncertainty each dollar we spend must be spent wisely. And just for the record did you know that during times of war and strife the entertainment industry booms? Yep, it does. Because when times are tough we all look for some type of temporary escape. What better way than the movies and television?

So put on your dancing shoes. Stand in front of that still camera and be all you can be. Be natural, let that inner YOU shine.

Pamela Reed Photography

Model – Darla Downing

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