My Theory About Headshots:

Every photographer in the City of Los Angeles is going to take a well lit, in focus, photograph of you - if they don't, report them to the Better Business Bureau. I believe the difference between a good headshot and a great headshot comes down to your rapport with the person behind the camera: does your photographer make you feel comfortable, do you feel like you can kick back, relax and really be yourself with her/him, do you feel comfortable saying "no" to your photographer? Because your headshot will seldom be by itself on a table--it will most often be with ten other people who are your "type" and who are also being considered for the TCBY commercial. What is it about your headshot that will draw focus over the other 9? Well, if you are doing something that is uniquely you--bursting out laughing, honestly responding to something, etc.-- then no one else can have that because it is indigenous to only you. I believe that you can only get to a place of honest response, though, if you really feel comfortable with your photographer. I, therefore, encourage people to do consultations with many different photographers to figure out who they "click" with (no pun intended, tee-hee....). Remember that Headshots are a service industry. You are dropping a huge chunk of change and you should feel comfortable calling the shots (what's with me and the puns today?). It should be your day--you should be wearing your favorite outfit, listening to your favorite tunes, and sitting comfortably, not posed, because what better way to inform a photograph about yourself than to sit in the way you would actually sit, wear the things you would actually wear, listen to the music you would actually listen to, and drink the booze you would actually drink......wait, um, ignore that last part........ So that's my theory and I'm stickin' to it.

What to Wear:

Black & White: The most important thing in a headshot is direction and focus in the eyes, so you want to wear things that draw focus to your face--you want to wear things that contrast your skin tone. So, if you are Caucasian you want to wear black, forest green, navy blue, brown, maroon, and, actually, white is great too if you're not blonde. If you are darker completed, make sure you touch base with me before you shoot so we can pick out shades are that are specific to your skin tone. For example, if you are African American you would want to wear things like heather gray, oatmeal, cream, and pastels. Black is fine too. In fact, you just can't go wrong with black no matter who you are. Wear things that you would actually wear--things that make you feel crazy, sexy, cool. If you're the kind of person who loves to wear overalls, bring your overalls. Tank tops, and turtlenecks are just fine--don't let anybody tell you different.

Color: Color is a wacky medium.  Everything reads differently in color on different people.  So a good rule of thumb is, if you look good in it in life, you will look good in it in a color photograph.  That being said, if you have brown hair, and brown looks good on you -because it picks up the color in your hair – brown may not be a good color to shoot in because it compliments you rather than makes you pop.  We’re going for the pop, people. So what I usually recommend is for you to bring a ton of stuff.  Some people really get popped in pastels, some people really pop in jewel tone colors.  I had a guy bring a bright orange shirt once, and I thought “that’s gonna look terrible” and he looked FANTASTIC on camera.  I once had a girl bring three different red tops and only one of them looked good on her – one had too much blue in it, one had too much orange, etc.  So you can see, even the slightest thing can make a color more right or wrong for you.  I had a client once who had those amazing blue eyes – you know the kind that stop you in your tracks, and so everyone told him to wear blue all the time, to bring them out – but in a headshot, we found that wearing blue obscured his blue eyes, because there was so much blue in the picture already, that they didn’t stand out.  When we put him in green, however, his eyes were the only thing blue in the shot, the green brought them out just fine, and his eyes just jumped off the page, and down the street, and now he’s blind, poor soul… Conversely, I have found that people with green eyes definitely pop better when wearing green.  So, please to bring a good variety of colors.  I won’t be able to tell you what is going to work specifically for you until I see you in the light holding the shirt up to your chin. There is no such thing as bringing too much stuff.  I will be mad at you if you bring 4 tops, I won’t be mad at you if you bring 104 tops.  Also, keep in mind that if you wear something round necked, like a sweater set, tank top, t-shirt, it will read lower status, sporty, ingenuey (yes it's a word! Even if spell check doesn't think so), young mom/dad.  If you wear something with a collar, like a button down, a suit, a blouse, it will read higher status, like, maybe you have a job, like a secretary, or a lawyer, or doctor.  So, again, bring a variety.  And in both black and white and color - no logos and try to stay away from patterns. Plaid is fine.  What you wear on the bottom doesn’t matter so much, I am mainly concerned with the colors that will be close to your face, so unless you are freakishly flexible, jeans, black pants, skirts, whatever is fine.

Make-Up:

When I say "make-up included", what I mean is: I do your make-up if you feel comfortable with that. What that entails for men is basic blemish cover up and powder. What that entails for women is basic blemish cover up and powder, and what I like to call "make-up assist". If you cannot recreate the hair or make-up in your headshot for an audition then you will not look like your headshot, so, I will have you do your eyes the way you would do them for an audition and then I will highlight and shadow you properly for camera. If you know that you would feel more comfortable with a professional hair and make-up artist I work with some great people who I'd be happy to schedule for you (remember, the day is all about you feeling comfortable) but note, that an outside make-up artist will cost somewhere between $100 to $150 on top of your session fee.

Music:

Bring your favorite tunes - I always have a CD player and depending on where I am shooting, I sometimes have iPOD speakers, but don't count on it. I have yet to join The Oughts. Give me the 80s or give me death.