Tips For Choosing Your Headshot
You’ve have just received a link to the unretouched photos from your entire headshot session. There are anywhere from 50 to 400 photos depending on how many looks you had in your session, and the photographer you worked with. You LOVE them. ALL of them. How do you decide which to choose?! Here is a great method:
Use your gut instinct. Create a favorites folder based on your initial reaction to the photos. Then leave them for some time. It might be an hour but it also might be a day or a week. It’ll depend on you.
Do a second round focusing this time on the photos on your favorites list. Remove any photos that you aren’t in love with.
Repeat these steps until you’ve narrowed it down
Now, this is only one method, but it is the method that is most likely to yield results that will make you happiest since you are the one in control. Once you have your choices narrowed down to perhaps five per look, you can ask for the opinions of others to help narrow your choice. But beware...
Your parents will always choose the ones that remind them of you as their child! More than likely they will choose the photo with a BIG smile. This MIGHT be exactly the right photo...but it likely isn’t. Print this photo for your family as a gift to them.
Friends may fall into a similar trap as family. Unless they are in the industry and are aware of exactly what you are trying to showcase with your photo, I would also take their advice with a grain of salt.
Ask. People. In. The. Industry.
First and foremost, ask your representation to weigh in. After all, they are the ones submitting for you and know what casting are looking for. Ask teachers and coaches you have worked with. They know you as a professional and they know your work - probably better than your representation does if you see them in class regularly. Their insight will be invaluable.
Two important questions:
Does this photo look like me? This is SO important. Too often people choose the most glamorous photo but they don’t look like that daily. Can you recreate the look? If so, and it’s a look you would use, then go for it. If not, ditch it.
Do my eyes tell a story? Are they alive? Active? Choose a photo that has something interesting happening in your eyes. If it looks like you have a secret, then it’s a winner!
Remember that ultimately YOU should LOVE the photo you choose. Whichever photo you choose, just be sure that you are proud to show the photo to professionals in the industry and you're off to a great start.
