Smiling with your eyes, Squinching (by Peter Hurley), and other ways to pose for a headshot.

So, everyone always hears about how to pose, how to do expressions, how to move, and "smile with your eyes" has been around for a while. In fact, Peter Hurley did a video about it (which is long and I didn't make though most of it) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff7nltdBCHs - and a friend of mine commented on the video and the Model Mayhem thread "that must be a joke". I'm not going that far, as learning new expressions has advantages and it's own merits.

I get asked all kinds of stuff about expressions like that along with what to wear and all that sort of stuff. Thing of it is, I don't really have the answer, and doing odd (for you) expressions can and do look uncomfortable to a viewer. You don't want to walk into a interview for a job and have a half finished draft resume, likewise you wouldn't want to walk into a casting or meeting with a headshot that looks uncomfortable and forced.

My best advice to those getting headshots is to practice, learn how you want to present yourself, and look though your market and try to figure out what the person looking at your headshot wants to see. So if you're a model, are you going to do more commercial (as in everywhere but NYC and LA just about) or are you going for more of a fashion look. As a actor do you want more of a serious image, dark, light, funny, what do you think would fit into the roles you want to play? For a business person, what do your clients and consumers want to see, someone in a suit or more of a casual look?

I can help and give advice, believe me I can, but in the end it's really all about how you want to present yourself, who your viewer is, and what the market is like, and again, how you want to approach it. I can give direction, but the majority of choices are up to you and I'm here to help you get the best results you can.




Andrew Thomas Evans
www.andrewthomasevans.com

Headshot Photography and Printing

I've been getting more calls lately of not only headshots for professionals and talent in the area, but also new models who need them for a upcoming meeting or event. I'm going to try and go over a bit on what is involved with shooting headshots and getting prints either locally or online. Unlike comp-cards headshots are pretty easy, don't take too long, could be expensive ($1-2 a piece), but can be done same day at most printers.

So first off, a headshot is your business card if you're a model or actor. It's what you leave with potential clients, agencies, put online, and use to represent yourself. Now I'm not going to get into what kind of looks work best for what, but they need to be professional and give a honest representation of you. Unlike comp-cards they are normally pretty quick to shoot, with studio time lasting anywhere from 1-2 hours, and they can be quicker to retouch. Where as I don't really like doing last minute comp cards and retouching 25-30 images in a day or two, I don't mind doing that with 5 images that are just headshots. So, if needed, it's not a big deal to get files out within a few days of the shoot.

From there, you have a few options to get them printed. Locally, I would suggest going with National Camera, but costco, target, or just about anyone will do a decent job printing them and all be around in the same ballpark of price. If you can wait a few days and want to save more I would suggest www.adoramapix.com/ as post office shipping to me here in downtown Minneapolis only takes a day or two, and 8x10 or 9x12 prints are usually around a dollar or two each. Cost is going to be around there no matter where you go, and although per piece they are more expensive than comp-cards, you're more than likely not going to hand out 50 of them in a day, so it's not like you're going to need 100 or 200 of them at a time.

That's really about it, they are straight forward photo prints, anyone can print them with decent quality, and within the same week you should be able to do a shoot and get the prints. Again, it's not a great idea to sit around and wait until the last minute, but if you do they are something easier to work with and get done in a tight deadline.

This is something where if you had a photo printer you could more than likely do them yourselves. Personally I don't have a printer - I don't do prints for clients, and ordering online is easier for me than keeping ink stocked and printer heads clean - but if you had a good or decent printer this is something you can do at home and it should be just fine to hand out if it looks good.



Andrew Thomas Evans
www.andrewthomasevans.com

One light headshot shots!

So I was toying around with the idea of headshots with just one light, well, one big light - 4 foot octabox - and it worked out really well. I guess the road to figuring this out was pretty long, but after a few years it finally stuck.

What's good about this setup is that you can get light that's a little bit dramitic, but also is even enough to flatter just about anyone.

=)

Try it out!

Is this fashion, a portrait, or just a regular headshot?

So at the Laura Fulk preview shoot I was able to take a shot of the model for the makeup and hair artists... I'm pretty proud of it, the model is totally sweet, the hair and makeup were awesome, and it's a really cool shot.

More images from that day will be up at http://www.laurafulk.com/ at some point in time. I can't give anything away, and this headshot dosen't really give anything away - other than I hope you have a spare change of pants near by when the images get up... They are that sweet!

I show it to a friend and he said "dude, that's not fashion" - now granted this friend is out in NYC, he shoots fashion, so maybe it isn't? Or maybe he is just jealous that I get to shoot something like that, or I did it here in Mpls?

Who knows, no big deal!

Let's take a look at headshots!

This all started from a question I got a while back. Someone asked me if I could shoot a headshot that could stand up in other markets, and what the differences in those markets are. I thought about it, scratched my head, called friends, and was puzzled as far as how to answer it because the differences aren't really there as far as what's a good shot here and what's a good shot out on the coasts - this posting is an expanded essay on my answer to them.

I'm going to break headshots down into 3 categories - Models, Actors, and Professionals. Granted I'm sure we can break those down more into commercial models, vs character models (normal people, older people, etc), TV actors vs theater vs whatever, and different kinds of professionals... But, for this posting 3 main categories work out just fine.

(I'm not going to go down the electronic music route and really break things down - http://techno.org/electronic-music-guide/ )

Now I do throw around words like "casual" and "anything goes" - this doesn't mean that the elements of design, or any lighting goes, just that anything well done to a professional standard goes. The whole post is more about style and retouching than anything technical as far as cropping and other deconstructions.


Model Headshots...

Type 1 - The new model.

This is just to get you in the door for open castings and agency visits. So this is a pretty boring shot that just shows yourself off, and they are usually accompanied by a front and side shot of you in a bikini or something - the general stuff you need.

I do suggest that if you want to model to first talk to legit agencies to test the water before throwing money at portfolios and headshots.

Type 2 - Working Models.

So let's take a look at some links...

http://rednyc.com/ - Red model Management
http://www.clickmodel.com - Click
http://www.elitemodel.com/ - Elite

Now, after looking though those sites - and they were just off the top of my head, what can we take from them as far as headshots? There are all kinds of styles represented across the board, we have art images, highly retouched beauty, no so retouched filmlesq, and everything in between.

So what we can take away, as far as fashion, is anything goes as long as it's well done and represents the model well. Some agencies may want a more toned down image, but generally those standards of "anything pretty much goes" holds up anywhere. Although commercial models may want something a little more toned down, but still if we look at local agencies here in Minneapolis...

http://www.wehmann.com/
http://www.meredithagency.com/index2.html
http://www.mooretalent.com/

We see a wide variety of shots - not as out there as the nyc agencies, but nothing to put a thumb on to say "this is what a model headshot is."


Actor Headshots...

http://www.freshfacesagency.com
www.blocnyc.com
http://www.fftmodels.com/adults.html
http://www.headshot-photography.com/portfolio.htm

Again, like models, just about anything goes here. There are studio shots, outdoor shots, retouched, not so retouched, and so on. What is common between them is that there is a little more emotion than model headshots, and it's a little less formal - more casual in the approach, retouching, and expression.

As I mentioned before, anything goes doesn't mean chuck cropping and elements of design out the window, but professional pictures with a range of styles that doesn't have one predominate feature about them in common other than they are of a model and cropped as a headshot.

Professional Headshots...

I'm not going to really post any examples here since we've seen so many of them. They are all around us, on billboards, commercials, in stores, on promotional material, etc. The one thing they have in common is their goal is "I want to sell you something" or "would you buy insurance from me." They are meant to show that someone is a professional, easy to work with, and open to answer questions. Or in the case of some lawyers, that they are serious about what they do and can get results.

What you have to consider with these, is that sometimes they can be a second thought - and they can look like a second thought. So if you're a professional please pay attention to your pictures and make sure you get one that fits your business, that's well done, and that doesn't get people thinking "I can take pictures for you" - because if the general public is thinking that then they aren't thinking about buying your services.


The "real" difference between a headshot shooter here in the midwest and someone in NYC or LA.

I'm mostly serious here, but after talking with a few friends in other larger markets we came to the conclusion that the main difference is, wait for it, overhead and the market.

Think about that for a minute. The demand and competition is more for everyone in larger markets, which means that some of the passable shots that can get a working model/actor by here in Minneapolis may not cut it out in NYC. That doesn't mean that someone here can't take a good shot - we can - that doesn't mean there is any huge style difference - there isn't - it just means that there is more of demand and the market is more critical out there than here.

The other difference is overhead and rates charged. Someone out in NYC can charge $700-1400 for headshots because the market there both can support that amount and the cost of living demands that amount. So again, there really isn't a big difference in quality between someone there and here in the Midwest, just the cost of doing business. Granted there will be celebrity photographers who have a following and charge large amounts due to it, but that happens in any industry.

The difference between headshot photographers.

There aren't as many technical tips and tricks as there were with film. Everyone has the same programs, everyone is online, everyone has the same equipment and access to the same equipment. It all comes down to the individual photographers style, their technical skill, and how well received their pictures are in the market - this goes for any art, and headshots aren't any different.


Since this could be a hot button issue here is a disclaimer...

If you're a new model, actor, working model, working actor, professional, or anyone who needs headshots then I suggest you do some research in your market and see who is doing what and who can provide you with images that showcase yourself and that can be beneficial to you. The reason for this post isn't to lower the bar, but to knock down some myths about headshots and show that the main difference between them is a little bit of style and the photographers vision. I also don't get any work by the links I posted, they are just examples.

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