Photographer

[kcgc]

Hi All,



I am a new member and just after some help please



I am starting out my acting career, and looking for a photographer. I have twice had headshots done that 2 separate casting agents told me were rubbish.



Can anyone recommend someone in London, ideally with hair/make-up included.



Thanks

[faginsgirl]

Hi.



If you go to your local library they should be able to help you, they might have a list of recomended local photographers, and also, if you ask them for the `writers and artists 2010 handbook` there should be companies who cater for that sort of thing in there.



If not, I would ring a reputable agency from the listings in the handbook and ask them if they could recomend a photographer, after all, thier actors should use a good one if the agency is any good.



xx

[Arfur Teacake]

name='kcgc']Hi All,



I am a new member and just after some help please



I am starting out my acting career, and looking for a photographer. I have twice had headshots done that 2 separate casting agents told me were rubbish.



Can anyone recommend someone in London, ideally with hair/make-up included.



Thanks

Dont sound like very good casting agencies..So what do they do then? just accept expensive photographs stick them in an album and hope somebody will look at them? ..then say thank you for their cut?



Maybe you should be visiting agents with a CV and a passport picture?- if they like you they will sort out the rest.

[faginsgirl]

name='Arfur Teacake']Dont sound like very good casting agencies..So what do they do then? just accept expensive photographs stick them in an album and hope somebody will look at them? ..then say thank you for their cut?



Maybe you should be visiting agents with a CV and a passport picture?- if they like you they will sort out the rest.

Yes Art, I must admit, in the past I have sent in a home snap shot of myself to an agency and got some work, then got some really good proffessional ones done and haven`t had anything since! Years ago now.



If your face fits they will have you. When you get relevant parts the set photographers do your profile pictures anyway, so you can send them back to your agent to apply for your next part.



xx

[christoph404]

Did they say why the photos were rubbish? Were they just technically bad? ie out of focus or just not in the style of a standard "actor headshot" I knew an actor who had their portrait done by one of London's top fashion photographers ( not me) and their agent said it was rubbish! Well it was a beautiful picture, very artistically lit and would have easily graced the pages of any high fashion magazine, the trouble was it didn't really bear much resemblance to the person and made them look ten years younger and much better looking than they actually were! So not really suitable for the purpose, therefore rubbish! I think casting agents and agents don't have much of a clue about photography so if they see anything slightly different from the bog standard black and white head shot with head slightly tilted with your forefinger and thumb supporting your chin, they freak out! Im a photographer and I used to do actors head shots years ago, its actually quite tricky to produce something useable because the photo really does have to look like the person without any tricksy or overly arty lighting and most actors I photographed actually hated having their casting photo done because they weren't able to hide behind a mask of a character, it had to be the real them looking as natural as possible! If you are just starting your acting career I would say having a decent head shot is critical, it could harm you if you don't get it right and that means investing in a photographer with a reputation for delivering the goods in that field. Have you looked at the ads in "Contact" which is the handbook published by "Spotlight"? Its full of reputable and approved suppliers to film and stage including photographers. The best photographers have ads with two or three examples of their work and I would advise you to visit a few and have a look at their work online before making your choice. The best photographers have a portfolio of pictures of an instantly repeatable style, or consistent style, and you need to choose someone like that so that you have an idea as to what the result will be, so go out and get hold of "Contacts", and have a look at the websites of all the photographers on there. Good luck with that,

Chris