An Actor Promotes: Part IIa - Doing the Headshot Dance

HEADSHOTS. The quest for the perfect headshot is never ending. One or more good headshots are probably the single most important marketing tools an actor, particularly a beginning actor, will have at his/her disposal. The importance of having a good headshot is hard to over emphasize. Even when you have the perfect shot, if you ever do, in a few weeks (for a child actor) or a few monts or a year, you’ll find yourself once again looking for the next perfect headshot. I won’t go into all the reasons why that last statement is true, but it is…trust me. Headshots seem to cost a small fortune to have shot and then another small fortune to have printed.

Over the years I’ve spent several thousand dollars on headshot photography…just the photo sessions. My most recent headshots are at the top of this page. These shots were done by a terrific local headshot photographer named Kathy Whittaker, and I think I got great value for the money I spent. And she wasn’t the most expensive photographer I was considering. (Find a link to Kathy’s site in the Blogroll. BTW…I didn’t get a fee break to say nice things about the photographer.)

The money I’ve spend on headshots doesn’t make me an expert, but I do think I’ve picked up a few things that at least the beginning actor or a young actor’s parents might find useful.

First off you have to choose a photographer. Duh! This is not an easy task as many times the struggling (do actors ever NOT struggle at some aspect of the business?) actor has COST as the deciding factor in selection of a photographer or other promotional service. Over emphasizing cost -on the low side or the high side - can lead to a serious mistake if the quality of the resulting photos is sub-par or if the photographer just doesn’t shoot in a style that captures YOU. Cheap is good if the results are good. Cheap is bad if the results aren’t what you need…you’ve just added to the final expense because you’ll end up having to do the whole thing all over again. On the other hand, the most expensive shooter isn’t necessrily the best shooter for YOU. All I can say here is DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

That may take some time. Just for grins, I did a Google search on the word “Headshots”. Guess how many results I got? 5,660,000! To narrow that down just a bit I then searched on the term “Actor Headshots Austin,TX”. That brought the results down to a more manageable 22,000 hits. Hah! “Austin Headshot Photographers” yields almost 8,000 hits. Obviously, with a little refinement in an internet search, most actors will find a sufficient number of potential photographers to consider. Sometimes there seems to be too much information.

How can we cut through all this clutter? This is where common sense has to kick in. Get recommendations from actor friends. If you’re taking an acting class, poll your fellow actors. Ask your competition at auditions who shot those awesome shots they’re holding. And if you have an agent, definitely get their input. Get on the web sites for all the local agents. In a few minutes you can scan every photo they have online.

Agents will love me saying this but if you find a shot you think is a killer shot that fits your type, call the agency and QUICKLY and POLITELY ask if they know who shot s0-and-so’s headshots that are on the web site. What can it hurt? Of course if you get snapped at or hung up on, don’t blame me and don’t take it personally. In fact, get used to it. I can’t tell you how many Sunset Strip agent’s office doors I’ve had slammed in my face. It comes with the territory. Embrace the rejections…they’ll make a good story someday.

Just a word of caution, particularly for beginners. In the ‘old days’ it was not uncommon for unscrupulous agents, so called casting directors or acting ‘teachers’ and others to get referral fees from photographers. For the out and out scammers, that was actually their real source of income - money from wannabe actors for headshots. Then, as technology improved, the scams moved to demo tapes…and on it goes. So, the best advice is get referrals, check out several potential photographers and don’t make cost the only factor you consider.

Try to narrow down the list from referrals etc. by visiting the photographer’s web site. No web site…put them on the back burner for the moment. Are headshots a major part of the photographer’s business? How much web site space do they devote to headshot galleries as opposed to say, wedding photography? In the bigger markets it will be no trick at all to find many photographers who shoot nothing but headshots.

In smaller markets, expect to use a photographer who covers the board.

Zero in on photographers whose work makes YOU stop and take notice. Once you have your choices narrowed to a manageable number, say 3-4, call and talk to the photographer or assistant.

Next time I’ll suggest some questions you should have ready to ask you potential photographer and some links to other web sites that will help you make an informed choice BEFORE you’ve spent your money on headshots.