How Do I Pick?

On your on-line proofs you are able to create a "Favorites" page to help you whittle them down.  As a guideline what I tend to look for is: Does it look like you? Do you look good?  Is there something compelling going on behind your eyes?  If you only had one shot to represent you, to go in the program next to your bio, would this be it?

If you whittle it down and you still have 60 favorites, what I recommend doing is printing up 4X6s of all the shots you like.  It is amazing how clear your decision becomes when you can see the shots you are trying to decide between laid out side by side next to one another.  Making 4X6s can also be helpful if your agent wants to see a bunch of them bigger before s/he makes their final decision on which shots they want for you.

You can do this one of three ways.  One: just click on all the ones you want on your on-line proofs, and when you go to the checkout page, tell them that you want 4X6s.  Gray Tone will make them and ship them to your door.  I think they run about a buck each.

Two: take your disk to any photo store, Wolf, Ritz, Walgreen's, and either have them make prints for you, or I know some of those stores have those machines you just stick your disk in and you can make your own prints.  I said "stick your disk in"  stop laughing....

Three: (And I think this is the cheapest and easiest way to go), just upload your favorite shots to www.walgreens.com, or www.CVS.com, or www.KodakGallery.com, and order your prints through them. Walgreens and CVS run about 19 cents a print, and Kodak Gallery runs about 15 cents a print. With Kodak Gallery, you'll have to wait for them to mail your prints to you, but with Walgreens and CVS, you can order them while you are screwing around at your temp job (you will have to take a momentary break from Facebook to do this), and pick them up on your way home from work! Easy, Breezy, Covergirl!

How Do I Order?  What if I Want Touch Ups?

For Touch Ups all you need to do is e-mail your headhsot files from your disk to my rockin' touch up dude at alexisgideon@gmail.com (yes, his name is "Alexis", he is a dude). He charges $25 flat fee per print - which is awesome because most places charge $35 to start, and about $75 an hour.

When you e-mail Alexis, the dude, all you need to say is:

"Hi!  My name is __________ and I would like to order shots #43, #176, and #295.  Please touch them up!  Thanks!" (If you know you want specific things touched up, this is the place to specify.  Otherwise, we'll just assume you mean softening any lines around the eyes, blemish touch ups, whitening of eyes and teeth, and any color correction.)

And remember to attach said photo files to the e-mail (otherwise, Alexis, the dude, won't have anything to touch up, yo'.) If you hate computers and this seems too hard or involved, e-mail me, and I will help you. Is good?

When your touch ups are done, we will send them to you via e-mail to proof.  We will put your name and borders on your pics for you - feel free to request specific borders and fonts if you like!  If not, we'll do what we usually do, and if you hate it when you get the proof, we'll change it according to your specifications.  You can pay for them on-line by going to the "Prices and Policies" page and clicking "Retouching".  Alexis, the dude, can also invoice you directly.

Once you sign off on your proofs, I will send you your full sized files (which you will download to your desktop) and a link and instructions on how to order your repros with my promo code so that you get 15% off!!! The lab usually takes about 48 hours to turn your order around and will ship them right to your door so you don't have to schlepp around on the El in the freezing cold for a week to ten days to some remote destination is the Western Suburbs to get your friggin headshots. (If you're in LA, they can ship them to you - or you can swing by their convienient Hollywood location on Cahuenga just North of Melrose) Also - once you have your full sized files on your desktop, you can print one whenever you need one! Last minute audition, and you're out of headshots? No problemo! If your printer is good enough, print one out, and if it's not good enough, go print one out at CVS, Kinkos, or Walgreens! It's that easy!  And if you call now, you also get the Ginsu II Knife Set!!!

Note:  All my clients get a 15% discount on repros at Gray Tone (www.GrayTone.com)  Huzzah!

The link to order is http://graytone.com/hs_start.php, and my promo code is: MR1125

What If I Want Nothing To Do With You and Your Shenanigans?

Your other options are as follows:  You don't have to go through me at all.  You can order prints directly from Gray Tone Photo Lab and eliminate the middle man.  You can order through their website (your on-line proofs) and have them touch-up and format everything for you, and they will repro them and ship them.  They have your entire shoot on file.  Touch ups start at $35 per print and go up according to level of difficulty.  It's like the Olympics. After that it's $75 per hour they spend on your head.

You can also stay local if that makes you more comfortable.  You can take your disk or e-mail the shots you want off your disks to National Photo (www.nationaltalent.com) or A&B Photo ( www.a-bphoto.com), and they will do whatever touch ups and formatting you need, and run your repros.  I believe their touch ups also begin at $35 and go up from there.

If you are going to go it alone, I do have some suggestions:

Let whomever does your printing know things like if you would like to have white borders all around your headshot, or if you want your horizontal headshots placed vertically or horizontally on the page, whether or not you need any cropping done, etc. For horizontal headshots placed vertically, I recommend that they blow up the shot so that your face size is about the size of your fist - not including your hair and ears, just your face. Face = Fist.  Oooh, how Ike Turner of me....awkward.....I have included an example of what to do and what not to do below. For Verticals, I am not a big fan of head room, so I recommend them cropping the top of the picture close to your head. But those are just suggestions - go with what you like.

When you get your repros done is when they'll do things like put your name at the bottom. Two things that I suggest for your repros is matte prints, and having them put a black-line border around your picture - I think it really makes your headshot pop. (again, see samples below)   I do not recommend lithos for headshots – I don’t care how cheap they are, you’ll never need 300 pictures of yourself. Ever.  Ever.  Go with photographic quality if you can for headshots.  At Gray Tone photo quality and lithos are the same price until you get into the 300s, 500s, and 1000s.  For postcards, do go with lithos – they are sturdier and will fare better when you send them through the mail, you can write directly on the back of them without them bleeding through to the front of the picture, and you may well need 300 of them.

Recommendations

Los Angeles:

Gray Tone Photo Lab:
726 North Cahuenga (Cahuenga just North of Melrose)
Hollywood, CA 90038
323.467.4500
www.GrayTone.com

Chicago:

National Photo:
National GraphX and Imaging
9240 West Belmont Avenue
Franklin Park, Illinois 60131
847-671-1122
800-211-7978

www.nationaltalent.com

A&B Photo:
650 West Lake, 2nd Floor
312.454.4554
www.a-bphoto.com

Remember, everything is controllable in color - your skin tone, hair color, eye color, background color, I can add an arm - the sky's the limit! And yes, we can always turn your color headshots into black and white if you like. I have included some examples below.

If you have ANY questions or confusions, no matter how large or small, I encourage you to call or e-mail me!!!!!! I am a resource for you whenever you need me! There are no stupid questions!!!!

Take Care and May The Force Be With You!

Love - Maia
310.403.8448

1. Bad Crop vs. Good Crop - Horizontal
2. Bad Crop vs. Good Crop - Vertical
3. No black line border vs. Black line border
4. Color Headshot converted into Black and White Headshot - Studio Shot
5. Color Headshot converted into Black and White Headshot - Natural Light Shot
6. Color Headshot with a too dark background vs. Headshot color corrected by Maia
7. Photo Retouching Sample