Everyone Needs Headshots in Los Angeles

Why does it seem everyone needs headshots in Los Angeles.  I’ve been asked to shoot headshots for people and for all kinds of reasons.  Of course the most common reason for headshots is that someone is looking to pursue a career in acting.  Well, that I understand.  Headshots for a job interview?  That one I’m a little confused by.  OK, Ok it was a job as a bartender.  I guess if your hiring a bartender it’s best to hire a good looking bartender.  Dating headshots.  Now of course you need a great photo to add to your online profile.  I’d like to think that one of my headshots has been reasonable for someone’s true love.  If anyone I’ve shoot headshots for has found the person of their dreams, because of one of my photos, let me know.  It like to hear if I’ve contributed to someone’s happiness. 

A Beautiful Headshots is all in the Eyes

Beautiful Headshots are all in the eyes.  Yes, we all heard people say this, but what does it mean and how do we accomplish it.  It’s a 2 sided approach.  First, the photographer needs to do their part.  Natural lighting is the best to make your eyes pop.  With natural light being bright your pupils constrict.  This gives your eyes more color.  When you are in the studio it’s much darker.  Your pupils dilate.  Your eye color is a smaller band around a large black pupil.  More eye color is better.  The photographer also needs to coach and direct you to make sure you are giving the proper connection with the camera.  For your part you should practice.  Use a mirror and practice expressions.  Your looking to have bright engaged eye contact.  Avoid looking flat and sleepy.  A little practice will really help you get that pop in your eyes.

One of the most common mistakes for Headshots.

On of the most common mistakes for actors coming to my studio to have there headshots taken is wardrobe selection.  The main thing is you want to your top to be part of the frame to your face. You need to bring tops that look good on you, that don’t look worn out, and that have a flattering color.  These are just the basics and should be very easy, but I see countless actors bring ugly, worn out, junk as their wardrobe for the shoot.  I think in the past year I’ve had ONE person bring perfect clothes for their shoot.  Everyone else brings OK stuff that I can work with, but they could have done better.  Basic rules: No white, No logos, New looking nice clothes, Casual clothes, No tank tops (I’ve had girls bring just 2 tank tops as their complete wardrobe selection for their shoot.  A tank top does not frame your face.  It’s just 2 thin straps on your shoulders, not much of a frame) No Low cut tops (once again you need to frame your face).  Your headshots should be very important and your wardrobe preparation is your first step it having beautiful headshots.

The Art Director

The Art Director puts it all together.  Many time the photographer is the art director for their own fashion photos.  In bigger budget shoots there will be a separate person as the Art Director, however, lets just talk about you as a fashion photographer acting as the art director.

Many time you and your client will come up with the basic concept of the photo.  At this point you need to put together the different pieces and make them fit together.  The model, styling, makeup/hair, your lighting and the location.  You must make sure that all of these components are in line with the concept of the photo.  Communicate with your makeup and stylist and make sure they are on the right track.  Scout your location to see that it has the feel you are looking for.  Develop your lighting scheme to create the mood the photo needs.

I hope that discussing these elements of a successful photo have helped you.  Take some time looking at photos and see if you can break down these elements in them.

The Importance of Casting

I just finished a casting for one of my clients.  I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have the right subject for your photos.  We looked at about 60 of the best models in Los Angeles and we still have a difficult time finding the right model for our photo shoot.  You need to find the right look for the right clothes, location, mood and feel of the photo.   I see countless photos from beginning photographers the look good, but the model they’ve chosen is not up to par with the rest of the photo.   Remember “the photo is only going to look as good as the model you’ve selected to be in that photo.”

Lighting

Good lighting, it’s subjective, but everyone knows bad lighting when they see it.  Experiment, create, and take inspiration from other photos, movies, and TV.  But the main thins is to just do it. Then look at your photos and see if they compare to photos that you think have good lighting.  It can be simple or complex.  It really doesn’t matter.  One light can look great, or you may need 10 lights to get the look you want.  The main thing is that it needs to look good.  That’s something you’ll have to decide on your own…good lighting…it’s subjective.  Bad lighting is obvious.

Makeup and Hair

This is a continuation of styling but deserves its own category.  When I was shooting in Italy at the start of my photography career, I was shooting for some of the modeling agencies in Milan.  At one of the agencies, was a booker, who was also a photographer.  He gave me some great advice.  He said, “You really need to keep after you makeup and hair people.  You can’t let them getaway with doing a mediocre job.  Anything that’s in the photo is your responsibility.  If you show me a photo and I don’t like the hair and makeup in the shot.  It’s not the makeup artists fault.  It’s your fault, because you took a picture of it.”  This is something I still think about to this day.  It’s great advice for any photographer.

Don’t just turn the model over to your makeup artist and let them do what ever they want.  Have a creative discussion about what you want the makeup and hair to look like.  Also, give the makeup artist an overview how you envision the shot.  Let them come forward with their creative ideas.  It’s good to have your creative team engaged in the creative process.  They may have some great ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of.  They will also be more invested in the shot when the feel they are bringing something to the table. 

Finally, before you start shooting look over the makeup artist work and see if it’s what you where looking for.  Don’t be afraid to let them know if you’d like them to change something.  Remember it’s your shot.

Styling

Styling is a much bigger part of a successful photo them most people realize.  You need to take the subject you have in front of you and elevate it to a higher level.  One way to do this is to get creative with your styling.  Think of the styling in your fashion shots as 40% of the photo.  It can really make the difference between someone just standing against a wall and a great fashion shot.

You can add to the styling of your subject by layering clothes or adding accessories.  Both of these are very simple, but to do it in a creative way is the trick.

You can get a lot of styling ideas and influence from some of the more artistic fashion magazines.  Italian vogue, Paris Vogue, Donna, Collezioni Donna, Elle France to name a few.  

So, start thinking about styling as much as you think about lighting…

Five Elements of a Successful Photo.

For the next five posts I’m going to cover 5 elements of a successful photo.  They are:

Styling (clothing accessories …)
Makeup and hair (This is a continuation of styling but deserves its own category)
Lighting (Photography is all about the lighting)
Casting (who do we use in the photo and why)
Art Direction (how it all comes together artistically)

I’ll cover each of these elements in detail in my post to follow.  Check back and give me your feed back

Milan Italy, Fashion Capital

There are many paths to becoming a photographer.  The most common are attending a great photography school and assisting other photographers to learn the trade.  The path that I chose was going to Milan Italy.  Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world and the Italians have been doing great design a lot longer than most people on the earth.  This combination creates a unique environment of creativity for the fashion photographer.   Italian Vogue is considered the premier fashion magazine. 

I went to Milan in 1995 and stayed for 1-1/2 years.    Milan was a great place for me to learn and develop as a photographer.  I believe my time there was crucial to my development. When I first arrived I’d only been shooting for a short time I really wasn’t ready to be cast into the big world of fashion but, ignorance is bliss.  I believe that if you wait to you’re ready, you’ll never accomplish the things you need to.

If you’re thinking of going to Milan here’s the scoop.

First decide that you are going.  What you say.  I don’t know anyone in Milan, how am I going to find a place to stay?  How do I start shooting?  Who do I shoot for?  And all the other unanswered questions… Once you decide it will be a big part of your life.  You’ll meet other photographers and models who have already been there or are also planning on going.  You’ll start networking and before you know it all those questions will answer themselves.  Of course you’ll need to save a little cash as well.

After you get there the most common starting point is to shoot for the modeling agencies.  This is great practice.  The agencies in Milan expect your models tests to look like an editorial in a magazine.  This will push you to develop as a photographer.  If you stay there long enough you can start to shoot for some of the local magazines and move up from there.  No matter how far you go, the experience will be one you can only get there.  So if you’re thinking of going…just do it! Ciao