If you’re a budding actor, or a veteran looking to re-fresh your personal brand, then an updated headshot is a must. I’ve worked with loads of agents and actors, so I’ve complied my most asked questions about an actors headshot shoot…

Where does the shoot take place?

The majority of our sessions take place in our studio located in Como, Sydney. Here at the studio we have a full service professional studio as well as gorgeous Hamptons style deck for those natural light and “in situ” editorial style shots. We also have a beautiful garden. If your needs require something different, we are available to go on location for a small fee.

What do I wear for my session?

You should bring plenty of options to the shoot, we will go over it before hand and here’s a link to my Personal Branding eMag that contains my pricing and loads more top prep tips, but here are some pointers for you to get you started:

Always bring clothes that match your style and personality.

Avoid black clothes or white clothes, they tend to lose detail in some photographs. Look for charcoals, navy and creme’s instead.

Stay away from clothes with busy patterns. Solid colors are best.

Make sure any clothes that you bring are clean and neatly pressed. This goes double for collared shirts and suits. The camera picks up a lot more detail than you think.

Blue Jeans always look great on camera, unless they are dingy and torn. For headshots your lower half won’t make it in to most of the pictures, but don’t neglect to pick out some good pants for the shoot.

Make sure to dress comfortable but classy, v-neck and u-neck sweaters and shirts are great. For women tank-tops are always good, stay away from clothes that are too tight or uncomfortable.

Collared button down shirts are great, a solid color with a crisp-clean white shirt underneath for the men and a stylish solid color for women. All shirts need to be clean and pressed.

Be rested and drink plenty of water the day before your shoot, it is amazing for your skin.

Don’t bring any jewelry or props; the shoot is all about you, not accessories.

Any color is great for tops, but remember that bright colors can draw away from your face so pick something muted that matches your eye color and skin tone.

What about hair and makeup?

Hair and makeup is not included in the session fee. Most of the time men can get by without using professional hair and makeup, but we recommend a powder or foundation to help even out skin tones and to keep the face from looking shiny and is helpful if you have fair skin or are prone to redness. You can pick up a powder in your color at any department store, we recommend the MAC counter or a beauty supply store where you can get professional help picking the right color.

For women we always recommend professional makeup. A professional makeup artist knows how to make you look your best for the camera.

You can bring your own makeup artist to the shoot, or we can book our favourite HMUA’s that we work with all the time and love!

Our studio is open for you to have your hair and makeup done before your session, just make sure to let us know when you schedule your appointment.

How long does it take to get my images?

For most headshot sessions our turnaround time is three business days to get your gallery of images. Once you make your retouching selections it is typically another two to three business days before your final, edited images are delivered to you. If you have a deadline and need something even faster, be sure to let us know when you book.

How much retouching do you do?

Straight out of the camera your images will be pretty much ready to go. We use the right lighting and posing techniques to make you look your best. Before we deliver the images to you we sort through and ditch any of the blinky or blurry ones, color-correct and crop them.

You can order images to be digitally retouched as an add on to your session. Each image you order is then given the highest level of attention to reduce and remove wrinkles and blemishes as well as stray hairs and dark circles. The key is to enhance the image without making you look fake.

Getting a facial several days to a week before the shoot can ensure that your skin will look its best. It is important for you to look natural, and too much retouching can make you look fake.

It’s my first time, what kind of acting headshots do I need?

As an actor, the type of shots you need is going to be determined by a few factors including your market (where you live and work), your type (what you look and act like), what you want to audition for and more. Here are a couple of things to consider.

  • You should always consult your agent on what you need. They have experience in the industry and more importantly, they know what you need to book more jobs.
  • If you don’t have an agent yet then by default you want to get a clean, simple, commercial headshot. Basically a smiling, looking-at-the-camera head and shoulders image with minimal retouching to show potential agents and casting directors what you look like.
  • Remember that the majority of casting for film and television, at least in the early stages, is done online. Casting directors look at an array of small thumbnails to determine the initial round of auditions so it’s important that your headshot is impactful and close up. A small thumbnail of your whole body from head to toe will make your face a lot less visable at that size.
  • Don’t worry too much about specific character shots unless directed by your agent. Your two basic looks will be commercial (upbeat and happy) and theatrical (more dramatic).

If you’d like more information about your headshot, you can contact the studio or download our eBook

To make a booking or chat to us in the studio, call 0414 412 069 during business hours or email anytime sam@jettyblue.com.au

One of the things I love about my job is when I get to meet business owners who are passionate about what they do and I get to help them tell their story to their customers using images. I do this through personal branding.

In these times of modern technology and advanced information age means that with a decent website, being active on a few social media platforms and a mobile phone just about anyone can call themselves an expert. Brilliant! Right?

So, in this multitude of opportunities for consumers, how does one find the ‘right’ person that has the solution to solve my problem? And how will I know they are the right person so I don’t end up wasting my time and money?

How do you search for a vendor? Google? Yellow pages? Trading Post? Facebook? Most often our first port of call is their website. What are people looking for when they’re on your website? PROOF! Proof that you exist, proof that you have similar values to them, proof that you have credibility. This search for proof extends way past your website, its communicated in your emails, blog posts, books you write, facebook posts, print marketing, Traditional media.

Do you have professional Headshots for LinkedIN, Facebook, Twitter and the other Social Media platforms? You know that your prospects will only want you, and your products & services, when they know, like and trust you. This is why your Personal Brand is vital, to position yourself as a professional who’s credible, authentic and is the real deal.

The solution to building credibility and trust with your clients is to have a strong personal brand. After all, people only do business with other people they like, respect and trust.

So what is Personal Branding??? Unlike Corporate Brands, simply put your personal brand is who you are and how you show that to the world both online and in person. CLICK HERE to see for yourself!

First, let’s talk about personal branding. Think celebrities: Who do you like? Why do you like them? Who do you identify with & why? The reason you love or hate a celebrity is because of the image and elements of their personality & values they put out for us to see – after all, that’s all we’ll ever get to know about them!

These are personal brands. Why the Kardashians always wear black, white, silver and gold. Its why Richard Branson comes across as a likeable larikan, and why everybody loves Jimmy Fallon.

Anyone can and should have a strong personal brand. Who are you? What do you stand for? What are you known for? Do you express yourself with your wardrobe? Are you Kmart or Armani? We all like to be defined and feel understood and to understand others. It is human nature to categorize the world and people around us. Heard of stereotyping??? So, why not make a stand for what categories you are willing to be put into. No one can please everyone so commit to being proud of who you are. That way you will be attracting the kind of people you want to like and repelling those who never stood a chance with you anyway.

This is why you need to you build and maintain your Personal Brand to create a point of difference over your competitors. To successfully leverage your Personal Brand you need a well laid out plan on where, when and how you’re going to use your photos. But for today, I’m talking about using photography to communicate your personal brand.

Did you know??? the human brain can process entire images that the eye sees in as little as 13 milliseconds! That means that you’ve already seen this photo, processed it in your mind and decided whether you want to trust this person or not.

How does this information help you to build your Personal Brand?

1. Use images (photos or graphics) more than anything else to communicate your message. The information transfer is faster than video or the written word as both take some time to watch or read. Facebook photos generate higher engagement than posts with just text. That’s where I come in!

2. Use them frequently and in various mediums to maximise your exposure. Such as your website, on social media, in print and traditional media.

3. Do it right all the time because with every image you publish you are either enhancing or damaging your brand, so be consistent and use high quality imagery.

Your customers want to know about you! what makes you tick, your story and your personality. Focus on what problems you solve for your clients, why you are the right choice for them. Show more, tell less. It’s easier to absorb visual content that’s authentic and you’ll hold the viewer’s attention.

Your personal branding shoot images need to communicate to your customers:

1. What problems do you solve???: Show how you deliver on the problems you solve.

2. Keep it real and authentic: No stock images, Keep it real with actual photos of you and your team, in action, having fun at work so you can show some of that awesome culture you have created.

3. Toot your own horn: photos of you and your big name clients, sponsorships, promotions, exhibitions, VIPs, the people you associate with you at events.

4. Include your staff: At a minimum include a headshot of all your team and a short description of what they do for the customer and their role in the company. Go one better and show your team in action during their working day. If you’re a Solo Entrepreneur include photos of you in action – photos that give people insights as to who you are and what you do.

5. Keep it on brand: Keep the look and feel of what you present, on brand. Show your personality, your character, something quirky about you and always keep it professional. No drunken team building shots.

7. Tell your story with photos: Include where you came from how you started show some depth and volume in your history so that it gives people a sense of who you are as a person (people if you have a team) which adds huge amounts of trust and credibility. This will help fast track the Know-Like-Trust journey.

8. Include photos not of you: your office, your awards, covers of magazines, the media you’ve been featured in (TV, Newspapers magazine or Radio), articles you’ve written, books you’ve published (contributed, co-authored or fully written) plus products/services.

So how does JettyBlue Photography deliver you a solution to your personal branding problem? CLICK HERE to download my FREE Personal Branding E-Book!

If you want a world class brand, you just need to call in an expert. My Human Icon Alchemy Shoots are not just about pretty pictures for instagram – they are all about YOU. Being immersed completely in the experience and enjoying yourself is key to my process. After all, its my time too and I like to have FUN at any opportunity I can! Professionally directing every shoot, I work together with professional makeup, hair and fashion stylists to capture your perfect look and make your brand message sing.

And here’s a few real life examples of my imagery working hard for my clients:
http://fsinsights.com.au/
http://wyzefinance.com.au
http://boutiquelifecoaching.com.au/
http://helenowen.com.au/
http://sylviatroccoli.com.au/

All of these websites were created by the amazing team at www.divinecreative.com.au

Lastly, if you haven’t already checked it out, I’m on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and I’d love for you to connect with me so you can keep up to date with what’s happening in JettyBlue land.

If you are considering investing in the best personal branding images, lets connect over coffee and workshop your very own Human Icon Alchemy shoot!

Samantha Halpern
B. Visual Communications (Photography & Digital Imaging)
Dip. Fine Arts (Photography)
Fully Accredited Member of the AIPP since 2008

JettyBlue Photography
0414 412 069
+612 9575 7542
sam@jettyblue.com.au
www.facebook.com/jettyblue
jettyblue.com.au/blog
www.jettyblue.com.au