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How can I choose a Headshot Photographer?

In 2011 Casting Call Pro undertook a survey of it’s members and they asked two questions regarding headshots.

Here is what the results told us:

How regularly do you get new headshots?

Once a year – 15.9%
Every 1 – 2 years – 43.4%
Every 3 years or so – 32.2%
Every 5 years – 6.7%
More than 5 years – 2.7%

How much would you spend on headshots?

up to £100 -29.4%
£100 – £150: 29.2%
up to £200: 24.2%
£200 – £300: 12.1%
£300+ : 5.1%

So almost half of their members get new headshots every couple of years and almost half pay between £100 and £200, with some even paying over £300.

This means every couple of years you are probably searching around for someone new to capture you and ‘your essence’ for the casting world to see.

Just a quick google of “headshot photographer’s” made me want to lie down in a dark room for a week!

How on earth do you choose who to go to?

Thankfully photographer and arts journalist Michael Wharley has a series of videos which lift the lid on the headshot world and show you what you should be looking for. His videos explain how to ‘Take Control of Your Headshots’ and lose the fear factor associated with getting your headshots taken.

This short video explores:

How much time do you need?
Indoors or Outdoors?
Colour or Black and White?
How much should it cost?
Its all in the eyes
Do you need to go with a headshot specialist?

Narrative to the Video

Click to read the video narrative

Time	Caption
00:02	Choosing a headshot photographer
00:03	there are hundreds of headshot
00:09	photographers in the UK but which one should you go to and why
00:13	I think for lots of people that comes down to a gut feeling
00:16	a sense that are specific photographer is going to get something special
00:19	out of you on the day
00:20	and that gut feeling is really important so don’t disregard it
00:23	If I was and I was choosing a headshot photographer these are the factors I would consider
00:27	how much time do you need to get good pictures
00:31	it depends, a session can last anywhere from one hour
00:35	to the whole day and it can be confusing. Often a photographer can offer
00:39	two or three different packages of different lengths and you’ve got to decide
00:42	which is the best for you
00:43	now that is a personal decision. Only you know how long it takes you to relax in
00:47	front of camera
00:48	I would say this: it can be tempting to go for the shortest package
00:52	and because it’s cheap and saves you some money but don’t underestimate
00:56	how hard it is, or how hard it can be, to relax in front of camera.
00:59	Personally I often find that the most productive part of a session is the last
01:03	half an hour
01:04	no matter how long it is. The other factor to consider with session length
01:08	is how much range you want to try and get out if your shoot. How many changes
01:12	of top have you got planned, do you have complicated hair and makeup changes
01:16	that you want to make,
01:17	if you’re a guy do you want to shave to differentiate your looks,
01:20	all these things can really eat into the shoot time that you’ve got
01:23	and it might mean that you want to plan for longer shoot.
01:27	Studio light versus Natural Light
01:28	so which is better: studio or natural light?
01:32	Well the answer is neither is better, they just have different qualities.
01:36	We’re working inside today and we’re using the natural light which as you can see
01:40	is quite soft on my face, you don’t have any sense of where there are deep dark shadows.
01:43	If you shoot outside in the shade we’d have similarly kind soft light
01:48	but we’d also be at the mercy of the wind and the rain and bright sunshine which is
01:52	not a headshots friend.
01:54	What we do get outside, on the plus side, is a sense of context:
01:58	an urban background
01:59	or a slightly more edgy feel, perhaps something a little more dynamic.
02:02	As you can see from this set up studio light can be very different to natural light
02:07	what it does is it gives us potentially a lot more control over how we show the
02:11	shape and the structure of the face compared to natural light. So in this setup,
02:15	which is probably what you might think of as classic headshots from history,
02:19	the light’s coming from this direction and leaving this side of my face
02:23	in deep shadow. What that does is gives a sense of the structure and shape
02:27	the face. But it doesn’t have to be that way: in this slightly more crisp and
02:32	commercial set up
02:33	what we’re doing is using light instead of shadow to show the structure and shape of
02:36	my face
02:37	these two lights from either side are hitting my cheekbones and neck here
02:41	and creating a sense of the three dimensionality. That’s just one
02:49	option which hopefully gives you a sense of how a photographer could use
02:52	natural light or studio light
02:53	to show off your casting range. Make sure you know what you want
02:57	and make sure you’re getting that from your session. Some photographers will only
03:00	shoot outside,
03:01	some will shoot naturally lit but indoors and some will shoot
03:05	studio lit in a studio. If you’re lucky and this is a good option
03:09	some will do all of the above, and some photographers will even mix in a little
03:13	bit of studio lighting
03:14	into a predominantly naturally lit shot for the best of both worlds.
03:18	Colour versus black and white
03:22	so do you need colour or black-and-white headshots? Well there’s no real right or wrong answer here
03:25	historically headshots have always been black and white, in the last five or six
03:30	years there has been a really strong trend in the industry towards colour
03:33	and I certainly see, as a headshot photographer, agents and casting professionals
03:37	are expecting colour. We’re gonna deal with this topic in depth in another video
03:42	what I would say is this: black and white photos give a great sense of the structure
03:46	of your face
03:47	they can be very dynamic that can be very atmospheric. Colour photos, well they
03:51	do the same things, but they also give us a great sense
03:53	or your skin tone, your eye colour, your hair colour,
03:56	and that means the casting professional, the employer, is getting
04:00	a sense of you as a whole package before you ever
04:02	walk into the room. What does that mean now about the photographer you work with?
04:05	Well, just make sure you know what you’re getting before the session. Most
04:09	digital photographers will shoot in colour and do black and white conversion later.
04:14	How much should you pay?
04:17	Well you can pay anywhere from fifty pounds to nearly 600 in the UK for headshots.
04:21	How much should you actually pay? Well take a look at my blog piece comparing
04:26	headshot photographer prices
04:27	for a sense of the market and different price brackets.
04:31	What my research suggests
04:32	is that anywhere above 250 pounds, you’re going to get
04:35	industry standard photos that are a good accurate preview of you for casting purposes
04:40	that make you look good and that you in your agent going to be happy with.
04:44	Between 250 pounds and 600 hundred pounds:
04:48	what are you paying for? Well you’re paying for perhaps the extra time you spend with
04:52	the photographer,
04:53	you might be paying for a couple of extra changes of top, or a couple
04:57	of extra retouch prints. You could also be paying for the reputation of the photographer
05:02	Are six hundred-pound photos better than 300 pound photos?
05:06	well that’s up to you to decide.
05:09	Are the photos any good?
05:10	Whether a photo is good or not is of course a bit subjective
05:13	I’m going to in a separate video look at what makes a good headshot
05:17	What I’d say is headshots is all about the eyes.
05:21	So here’s a simple test you can apply if you’re trying to decide whether
05:25	to work with a photographer
05:26	and that’s the catchlight test: to check for little reflections in the eyes
05:31	of the photographers photo. So what we’re looking for is the reflection, whether of
05:35	the studio light
05:36	whether of the sky, or even of a silver or gold reflector.
05:41	Now you’ll see those little specks in the eye,
05:44	maybe the top may be at the bottom, and what they do is fill the iris
05:48	with light, make the colour really sing.
05:49	They also, alongside whatever you’re doing as an acting thought
05:54	they make you feel awake and sparky and connected
05:58	and they’re especially important if you’ve got any shade of darker eyes.
06:01	Should you go with a headshot specialist?
06:05	do you need to work with the photographer who specialises in headshots?
06:07	Well not every photographer can take a brilliant headshot
06:11	However good they are and and that’s because headshots are actually quite a
06:14	specific form of portrait.
06:16	They are not model shots, they are not reportage shots. They sit somewhere in the middle.
06:21	And why is that? Well they need to do two jobs for you, they need to be an accurate
06:25	preview of you for casting purposes,
06:27	so that the you who walks into the audition is the you in the photo
06:32	but importantly they are also your branding, they need to make you look good because
06:36	they need to promote you and catch people’s attention.
06:38	A specialist headshot photographer understands how to get that balance just right.
06:42	What you also get with a headshot specialist is the benefit of their expertise
06:47	they’ve shot hundreds and hundreds of people, so they will look at you and know
06:51	exactly how to shoot
06:52	you to make the most of your eye colour, your skin tone, your hair colour and your
06:56	face shape
06:57	to make sure that you get the best possible shots. Hopefully that’s all really
07:04	at check out the list of UK headshot photographers
07:07	at Casting Call Pro and I’d also recommend: the search and comparison
07:11	tools
07:12	at a new site called Headshot Hunter which is really fantastic.
07:16	I’m going to be releasing a few more videos in this ‘take control of your head shot series
07:21	so please subscribe via the link and look forward to seeing you again soon

Useful Links

Blog piece comparing headshot photographers

List of UK headshot photographers at Casting Call Pro

New search and comparison tool, Headshot Hunter

About Michael Wharley

A “Top Theatre Photographer…leading voice on headshot trends” (The Stage), Michael is an award-winning, London-based Photographer specialising in portrait, advertising & editorial photography for the entertainment industries

As well as shooting play and film poster imagery, Michael regularly works with clients of agencies including BWH, United, Angel & Francis, Felix de Wolfe and many, many more. Each year, he works with students from all major UK drama schools.

“I trained as an actor myself at Central, and worked on the stage for six years, so I vividly remember both how important headshots are, and how hard it can be to approach a session. That’s why, as well as running my studio in Waterloo, providing editorial, advertising and portrait photography services for the business, I try to do more than just take headshots.”

“I aim to provide cutting-edge industry expertise, knowledge that will help my clients, but also other actors going for sessions elsewhere, whether it’s an in-depth feature article, or a Youtube advice video.”