Black and White or Color

When I started out as an actor, black and white was the standard. You printed your headshot, stapled your resume to the back, and that was that. Those days are gone. Color is now the industry standard for audition submissions. And casting directors expect it. If you love black and white save it for your online profiles or use it as a thank you card after a callback. It photographs beautifully and stands out in a non-audition context. Just don’t lead with it when you’re trying to get in the room.

Clothing

Go with solid colors. Avoid busy patterns, because they pull the viewer’s eye away from your face, and your face is the whole point. Stay away from solid white and bright red as well; white tends to blow out under studio lighting and red can create color casts on skin. Instead, lean into tones that work with your complexion: browns, light pinks, blues, grays, greens, and in some cases black. Your clothes should support your face, not compete with it. The same goes for jewelry. Leave the statement pieces at home. If someone looks at your headshot and notices your necklace before they notice your eyes, something has gone wrong.

Border or No Border

I’m in the border camp. There’s something that reads as intentional and professional about a clean white border around a print. It frames the image the way a mat frames a photograph on a wall. If you have an agent, the lower border is also a practical place to put their contact information. That said, if you have representation, defer to them on this one. They know what they want on the materials they’re handing out.

Gloss or Matte

Go matte. Full stop. A gloss finish is for family portraits you’re going to frame and hang above the mantle. A headshot is a professional document. Matte reads that way. It also handles better. It doesn’t pick up fingerprints, it sits flat in a stack, and it doesn’t create glare under office lighting when a casting director is flipping through a pile of them.

Posing and Framing

The purpose of the image is to show who you are using your face. Simple as that. Don’t get so close to the camera that you crop the top of your head. Yes, it emphasizes your eyes, but casting wants to see your hair too. They’re picturing you in a role before they’ve met you. Get your shoulders in the frame, but stop there. They can gauge your build well enough from the head and shoulders; you don’t need to give them more than that.

For guys, crossed arms actually work well in a headshot. I know it has a reputation for looking closed off, but in a framed image it reads as confident and gives the photo some structure. For women, I’d recommend something softer. A hand crossing toward the other arm tends to frame nicely without the same energy. And look at the camera. Your eyes should be the first thing anyone sees when they look at the image.

If you have a beard in your photo, show up to the audition with that same beard. Don’t make them wonder if they called in the right person.

Smile or No Smile

This one comes down to how you want to be seen. If you’re going to smile, make it genuine. A forced smile reads immediately, and it will undermine every other thing you’re trying to communicate. If you’re not going to smile, that’s completely valid, but don’t fill the space with a frown or a scowl. Unless that’s a very deliberate creative choice, it tends to limit the types of roles you’ll be called in for. Think of your expression as the first line of your audition. What are you saying before you’ve said anything?

Portrait or Landscape

My default recommendation is portrait orientation, and it has been for a long time. That said, this is one area where the industry is shifting, and I’m seeing more landscape headshots than I used to, particularly for actors with a strong online presence. Before you decide, talk to your photographer about where the images will be posted. For corporate headshots, portrait is almost universally expected. For actors, the honest answer is to look at what working actors in your market are doing, or ask an agent or casting director directly. Whatever you choose, make it a deliberate choice, not an accidental one.

Backdrop

In the studio I use a combination of grey, white, and black backdrops to give clients options. My default recommendation is grey. The backdrop should be invisible, or close to it. The moment a viewer has a thought about what’s behind you, you’ve lost them. Grey sits neutrally behind almost any skin tone and any clothing choice. It doesn’t compete. If someone looks at your headshot and thinks ‘oh, nice grey backdrop,’ that’s still too much. It should just disappear.

Look Unique, Look Natural

Here’s the part no checklist can fully capture. With all these guidelines around clothing, framing, and format, how do you actually stand out? That’s the question, isn’t it? Don’t look at the camera the way you’d look at a DMV lens. Your eyes are the window into your personality, so use them. If you’re the wacky, charismatic guy in every room you walk into, let that come through. If you’re the serious, intense type who gets cast as the detective or the surgeon, commit to that. Just make sure it’s genuinely you and not a character you’re playing for the photo. Casting directors have seen millions of headshots. They can tell.

I know actors are reluctant to get typecast, and I understand that. Everyone wants range. But when you’re starting out, range is a luxury. Pick the version of yourself that is most marketable and lead with it. When you’re famous, you can change things up.

If this is for business purposes, focus on looking professional. This isn’t as much about showing your personality as it is about helping you get hired.

Your Shot Before the Shot: Prep Day

How you show up to the shoot matters more than most people realize. Get a full night of sleep because the camera will notice if you didn’t. Drink water the day before. Avoid anything that makes your face puffy (alcohol, sodium-heavy food, a night out at the dance club). If you’re getting a haircut before the shoot, do it a few days out, not the morning of. Fresh haircuts often look a little too fresh in photos. You want to look like the best version of your everyday self, not like you just came from the salon.

Makeup

For women, I’d always recommend wearing makeup for a headshot session. The key word is natural. It should look like you on a good day walking into an audition, not you getting ready for a night out. Studio lighting is unforgiving, and a little polish goes a long way. Some men also choose to wear makeup for a shoot, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The rule is the same: if you’re wearing it, it should be invisible. Use it to reduce shine or address anything you’d rather not have the camera catch. Don’t use it to look younger or dramatically different. The headshot needs to look like you, because you are eventually going to walk into a room.

Relax

This might be the most important item on the list. If you can’t relax in front of a single photographer in a quiet studio, ask yourself how you’re going to handle an audition room full of people waiting to judge you. The shoot is practice. Treat it that way. A good photographer will help you get there, that’s part of the job, but you have to be willing to let go of whatever is making you stiff. The camera reads tension instantly and mercilessly.

Keep It Current

If you walk into an audition and don’t look like your headshot, you’ve created a problem for yourself before you’ve opened your mouth. A headshot should be updated every couple of years at minimum, and sooner if you change your hair, grow or lose a beard, or do anything else that alters how you present. It’s not a portrait for your wall; it’s a business card, and it needs to be accurate.

The headshot is your first impression. In many cases, it’s the only impression you get before someone decides whether to call you in or not. Treat it with the same seriousness you’d give an audition, because the headshot is what gets you that audition.

The post Advice for Getting a Headshot appeared first on D Studios Photography.

When Olga came in and told me about her book, it was great to find someone working to keep the Irish language alive, and not just keep it alive, but present it in a way that people can understand. Very few people I know speak the language. Personally, I tend to find the language irritating when driving and I have to read signs in both English and Irish. And, the extent of my knowledge of the Irish langauge is the word “sláinte”. But, I know through my friends how much pride they take in Irish history and culture, and I can appreciate it when they tell me the value of the language and why it is worth keeping it alive.

With all the above said, check out the book “Ireland as Gaeilge: A User-Friendly Guide to the Irish Language” You will support a local (Indie) author and learn a bit about the language at the same time. A win-win!

“Ireland as Gaeilge tells the story of the Irish language in a popular and engaging way, combining historical and linguistic facts with a light tone”

I’ve known Felipe for around three years now, and his enthusiasm and energy for what he does has always impressed me. Felipe is an expert in personal branding and social media influencing. Recently he wrote a book on “Advanced LinkedIn” to share some of his knowledge on the subject of LinkedIn. The book contains useful information on not just using LinkedIn as an online CV, but also a platform to expand your circle of influence and your brand.

Back in 2014 we did one for Denis Sampson. The booked titled “The Found Voice: Writers’ Beginnings, uses the means of literary biography and criticism to do something rarely attempted–to understand how a key creative period establishes the authoritative voice of a unique artist.”

The post Photography for Book Covers appeared first on D Studios Photography.

When asked for additional photo editing I usually reply with, “Technically yes, I can do it, but I think you look beautiful just the way you are.” I believe in natural photography, I believe that a photograph should be a relatively accurate representation of a person’s looks. It doesn’t matter if that photo was taken on a film camera or a digital camera. I consider myself a photographer, not a digital artist. Digital artists are great in what they do; it is just a different form of creative expression in my opinion. My job as a photographer involves making you look beautiful while you are in front of me – using the right light, the right angle, but mostly helping you to feel relaxed and at your best.

When people ask me for extra Photoshop work, yes, I can do it, and for me it’s not a bad deal because I will usually charge more money for the extra time I spend doing the work. But the reality is, it’s not about the money. I believe in truth in photography and just because we have the tools to alter images doesn’t mean we should always use them. I believe we should be proud of who we are and our looks and it should not matter if we are two years old, twenty, or eighty.

At D Studios, we will always go through the images from a session and remove any blemishes. Pimples appear and disappear so it makes sense to remove those from an image. Babies and children get scratches and bruises, so it makes sense to remove those as well. When it comes to the natural signs of aging however, our faces are our faces and we should be proud of how we look. Yes, many of us are not in our twenties anymore, and that’s fine.

I have a few wrinkles and a couple of age spots on my face. I don’t like them and yes, I could Photoshop them out of any pictures I’m in, but why? If I want to see a picture of myself without wrinkles and age spots I can look at one that was taken when my face didn’t have any. Now my face has them, and when a picture is taken of me, I want it to be an accurate representation of my appearance, not a digital painting of what I want to look like.

So please, if you come to D Studios Photography, know that we think you are lovely just the way you are. What makes us a great studio isn’t creating an image on a computer, what makes us great is our relaxed environment that brings out your natural beauty.

“All of these lines across my face Tell you the story of who I am.”

Brandi Carlile – The Story.

The post Will You Photoshop My Wrinkles? appeared first on D Studios Photography.

here is a bonus picture in some funky outfit he bought.

The post Great Actor, Great Headshots appeared first on D Studios Photography.

You both were wonderful.

All the best,

D Studios

The post Girls Day Out in Blue appeared first on D Studios Photography.