When you take a good look at several actors headshots shots you’ll notice they all have something in common, without realising it you’ll be drawn towards the eyes.
It’s always the eyes. Simply because they are the focal point of the whole shot, it is not your nose or your lips or the kind of jewellery you are wearing nor is it the background. Once we’ve ascertained that the eyes are the focal point how can we ensure they’re at their very best for your headshot? Firstly the eyes need to be looking in the correct direction. As an actors headshots photographer in London it’s my opinion that they should always look straight into the camera. Try to make a connection with the person that is looking at your headshot. This is essential for a great headshot and everyone needs a great headshot. If you look at some actor’s headshots you’ll see the actor focused on some mythical object miles away or gazing over the shoulder of the photographer leaving them with a blank lifeless look in their eyes. Something you’re more likely to see on a stuffed animal.
As your main calling card an actors headshot has to have impact. Therefore we don’t want our eyes to be blank and lifeless, do we? We want your eyes to be looking directly into the lens, focused in the correct place, and much more importantly to have some depth of emotional content in them. This is the way to make sure that whoever is looking at your headshot can see that you have more depth to your personality as an actor. Picking the right headshot photographer is very important – in fact it is absolutely crucial. When you choose the right actors headshot photographer he will help you express that emotion. Similar to a good director, inspiring and directing you to get your very best performance. Over the years I’ve had many, many actors compare the way I work to that of a good director, which I’ve always found to be a fantastic compliment and has helped me build an enviable reputation in London.
I’m aware that lots of actors cringe at the very thought of having their headshot taken, they find it uncomfortable looking straight into the lens, and worry about their minor imperfections and idiosyncrasies. This alone makes many actors unwilling to have un updated headshot done on a regular basis preferring to hold onto a good shot that maybe years out of date (this is something I’ll cover in another article). I fully understand the many reasons why actors find having a new headshot done so difficult and luckily I have my own style and techniques for getting around this.
In plain English we’ve established that it’s all your preparation, if you give a little thought to how you can help your actors headshot photographer to get the very best out of your headshot session then you’ll benefit tremendously by having yours stand out and make an impact. You may even actually enjoy it