Acting Actor Headshot Portraiture

ACTING ACTOR / HEADSHOTS PORTRAITURE

Acting Actor Film TV Theatre Headshots Portraiture Christchurch New Zealand

Terrific actor headshots must have three qualities. They should accurately show what you look like on a great day. They should capture a unique and interesting aspect of your personality. And they should be engaging, creative and original photographs. If you want a really good headshot, let me take it for you.

Your portrait session will be a fun and enjoyable experience. I'll reflect who you are and show you at your very best. 

My focus is on a small collection of high resolution digital images for you to have. You can forward them onto any agency to be easily uploaded to their websites, get prints of any size you choose and to share on social media.  

I have a wonderful studio at 47 Fisher Ave, Beckenham. Easy to get to and free parking. We generally take most shots in the studio with white to any shade of grey to black background. We can take some photos outside and utilise the lovely garden and classic villa.

After our portrait session, we can on the spot or arrange a viewing session to show you the best of the bunch for you to pick your favourites. Then I spend a couple of hours editing / tweaking ever so realistically and professionally your final images so they look absolutely spot on! Pimples, blemishes, wrinkles, darkness under eyes, anything can be very realistically and professionally lessened or removed. The final images will be delivered in an email download link within 3 business days. 

RATES: (include gst. and no hidden costs)

1 look, up to 45 min. shooting time & up to 5 edited images of your choice = $445  

2 looks, up to 1.5 hrs shooting time & up to 10 edited images of your choice = $595

3 looks, up to 2.25 hrs shooting time & up to 15 edited images of your choice = $745

4 looks, up to 3 hrs shooting time & up to 20 edited images of your choice = $895

Hair makeup & styling is $190 for 1 look, $220 for 2 looks, $250 for 3 looks, $280 for 4 looks. Cash is required which is paid directly on the day. You're also welcome to choose who you would like to use or do your own. I do not mind if you would like someone to come along to the shoot to help you out.

I always work with maximum passion and professionalism that will make your headshot awesome. You are guaranteed custom-made work of the highest quality. I would love to hear from you; please feel free to get in touch for more information.

Every digital image ordered will receive a free 6x4 inch / postcard size print. These are great to see your images as a hardcopy. I can arrange 8x10/12 inch (A4) prints for only the cost of the printing = $10 each.

My goal is to give you the best service and product possible. And if me I would maybe like to have the 2nd & 3rd best images from our session as reference to how I posed and acted. So I can provide you with those images incase you decide you like to have one of the images as edited later in life or just to know we picked the best.

Travel - I do not mind travelling to any other location around Christchurch for no extra fee. You may already have enough studio shots or want the feel of an environmental / urban look. 

Booking - You're very much welcome to make a time to meet up in advance under no obligation so I can help you plan your session in person. If time or distance is not easy than we can chat via phone / email. Upon booking you will be required to pay the full amount from anytime upto 24 hrs prior via internet banking or at the start of our session in cash. I provide a 100% money back (no questions asked) cancellation fee. So do not worry if someone not feeling well or the weather is terrible and you want to postpone or cancel. On the day of the photo session we will meet at the location you have chosen and the creative fun will begin.

Hair, makeup & styling - I can recommend and help organise the best makeup hair & stylist for your shoot.

Clothing - Bring a small range of your favourite clothing of what you think you like to be photographed in so we can see what fits, looks good in front of the camera or not. I and the stylist can help you deicide. Check if they are creased and if so iron prior and bring on coat hangers. We do have an iron here but it will save time ironing and photoshopping out creases.

For girls, casual is great, but cheap t-­shirts don’t read well. Think about blouses and dresses with nice necklines, you’ll mainly be shot from the waist up but a structured torso on a dress often reads well. Otherwise, a nice cardigan over a tank top. Scarves are usually too bulky, and also avoid necklaces.

A couple of quick tips:

Man tip - Not a bad idea to take some shots with facial hair and then some clean-shaven. This means your agent has a few options to use when specific roles come up.

Girl tip - Don’t rock up to your shoot with regrowth, a bad colour or an old cut.

Music - You're welcome to put together a playlist to listen to during our session. We have bluetooth and Spotify at the studio. Put together a playlist of songs that inspire you. Just remember to keep it up-beat. If you don't I have a few tunes ready to roll.

Some questions and answers: 

What do photographers mean when they use the term LOOK? This is photographer jargon that denotes the number of outfits you’d like to be photographed wearing during your headshot session. In most cases a photographer's fee will increase for each additional “look”. Most of the time a corporate client will only need a 1-look headshot session. The corporate client looking for images of themselves to use on their website or for social media websites like LinkedIn or Twitter are looking to convey something very specific. The great majority of the time this message is confidence and approachability. The typical corporate client isn’t necessarily interested in displaying character diversity or range in the same way that an actor might. Actors and models are often interested in additional “looks”. It really has a lot to with your casting. What roles are you usually cast in? What roles do you want to be cast in? We use different looks to help you with different casting options. These additional clothing changes offer the industry professional to show more range. Rather than having 1 headshot that they use for everything, they have the ability of choosing which headshot best showcases their ability to fit a specific role. It’s not uncommon for women to change a hairstyle and or make-up with each additional look. It’s also common practice for men to shoot their first look with a 5 o’clock shadow or beard and then shave for additional looks. This is Marketing for Actors 101. Additional looks give you, the actor, more precision in your marketing plan. You want to make sure that the casting director can visualise you in the roll you’re auditioning for. 

Do I need a hairstylist for my headshot session? If you hire our makeup artist services, they all come prepared to help you with your hair, but at the end of the day an updo would be inappropriate for a headshot session. You know your hair better than anyone. This picture is intended to represent you on your best day. You know how you want your hair to look and you’re probably going to do a better job on your own hair than a stranger. We’re here to help if needed.

Do I need a makeup artist for my headshot session? Need is such a strong word. In a perfect world, all women who schedule headshot sessions with me would use my make-up team. Doing your make-up for a headshot isn’t really the same thing as doing your make-up for going to work. My team is amazing at what they do and I can always tell in the finished product whether or not someone hired my make-up artist or did it herself. Our team of talented MUA’s understand our lighting techniques and how the camera perceives colour. All that being said, the answer is no, I don’t require you to use my team, or a make-up artist at all. I do feel that it makes a difference, but it’s not a deal breaker. If you’ve hired my make-up artist for your headshot session, please come to the studio without any makeup on and be sure to moisturise well. I typically prefer that men don’t wear any make-up during their headshot session. 

How many outfits should I bring to my headshot session? Please feel free to bring as many outfits as you like. I seriously have people bring their whole closets to the studio. It’s definitely better to err on the side of caution. Please don’t bring anything that you don’t feel like a rock star in. It has to fit you well and you have to feel confident wearing it. If you want my opinion I’ll be happy to give it to you. If you’re truly torn and indifferent I’m happy to make the final decision. If you don’t have anything that you love in your closet, go shopping! Leave the tags on, we’ll shoot around them. You can return them after your session. Please remember that you book your session by “looks”. If you booked a 1-look headshot session please understand that this means that you’ll only be able to be photographed in one outfit. 

What should I wear to my headshot session? There are only a few hard and fast rules to this question. Follow these tips and you should be in good shape. Wear something you like. If you don’t have anything you like, go and buy something. Leave the tags on it if you want. We can work around it and you can return it later. Wear something that fits you well. Make sure that it’s not wrinkled and keep your pets away from your clothes before your headshot session. Stay away from loud prints, as they’re too distracting. Earth tones and gemstones tend to make for the best colour pallets. I’m also a huge fan of the colour grey. It just works! Short sleeve/sleeveless shirts can be problematic. If you’ve got the arms for it, go for it, if you don’t love your arms, you’re probably not going to love the picture of you in the shirt. I recommend my corporate clients dress as they would for a client meeting. If it’s business casual, then a button down shirt or polo shirt is just fine. If it’s a suit and tie kind of industry, then rock the suit and tie. I recommend my actors keep things simple. Solid colour T-shirts can be great. Layers are great. Interesting necklines are great. Just don’t let the clothes outshine you in front of the camera. Ladies, if you feel better in heels, wear your favourite heels. They won't be in the shot, but their presence will be made known in your smile.

Avoid bright fluorescent colours as they will wash the photo out and contrast too much with skin tones. Blues, greens and greys work well on everyone, as do browns. White is great on everyone, as long as it’s a fresh crisp white not a 3 year old cotton­-on t­-shirt. What I suggest you do is try to choose clothing that makes you pop e.g. colours that compliment your eyes and skin tone. Plain black t­-shirts (classic drama school look) and variations in black will work – e.g. a nice tank top on a girl.

If there is an outfit you always feel like a babe in, bring it. ­You need to feel comfortable and attractive; being at ease is really important as it will read in the photos. Try to avoid patterned clothing, it’s usually distracting, as are labels or visible designs.
Layers are particularly great for guys; t-­shirt under zip hoodie, under leather jacket.. Etc

I recommend keeping accessories to minimum. Earrings shouldn’t dangle. Small studs are great. Necklaces shouldn’t be “chunky” or “blingy”. These shots are headshots. Less is more. The product is you, not the fashion. The fashion is there to accentuate you and your features, and not be a distraction from them.

What happens during my photo shoot? All headshot and portrait sessions can be customised to suit your needs. We generally start with a few warm-up exercises to get to know each other and get you comfortable in front of the camera, this includes and is followed by what I refer to as ‘coaching’. This ‘coaching’ is just a way for me to take you through some tips and tricks for taking a perfect photo that not only speed up the whole process, but also apply to ‘real world’ situations, such as personal photos, ‘selfies’, group photos etc. Our main goal throughout the shoot is to make you feel as comfortable as possible, have a lot of fun and ensure you leave with great images. 

Can I see my images during the shoot? Yes, in studio we shoot tethered to a computer, so your images are readily available for viewing and basic modification straight away. This allows me to coach you into the best poses and expressions, ensuring that we get the best headshots possible. 

Extra prints in the future - You have the high resolution digital images to choose to get reprints and enlargements anytime in the future. Most places do terrible printing. But there are two places in Christchurch that do fantastic printing - Photo And Digital in Addington and Photo And Video in Merivale Mall. You can order online or just take your images in on a USB and they will help you choose your print and size for you with great service. You are very much welcome to get me to organise this for no fee to make it easy for you.

A cheesy but very helpful link - How To Create a Portfolio for Acting