ActorPhotographer.com

Folks familiar with my services know that I specialize in “natural light” headshots, which simply put means I shoot headshots outside. The obvious alternative to natural light headshots are studio-based headshots (I’m sure you can guess where those are shot ;)).

I was recently asked, “which is better?” and my answer was, “It depends on the photographer”.

In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you get your headshots done in a studio or outside in natural light. What matters is getting a great headshot…and that can be done inside or out by any photographer who really knows what they’re doing. Some photographers prefer to work in a studio environment where everything can be controlled down to the smallest detail. Others, like myself, prefer to take headshots in natural light.

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If you’re an actor or model and your agent or agency is really pushing hard for you to work with a specific photographer, or if your photographer is really pushing hard for you to work with a make-up artist, keep in mind that it often means that the person pushing the services of someone else is likely getting a little kickback or referral bonus for doing so. You can usually tell by how insistent they are in making their referrals.

It’s not that uncommon and it’s not necessarily a bad thing so long as they have your best interest in mind and the person they recommend actually offers great services and the overall price you are expected to pay is within your budget.

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One place where you can potentially run into problems, however, is when you end up paying more than you want for the services they are almost insisting you go with or if the services you end up paying for are of a lesser quality than what you wanted. And another possible issue is being comfortable with and have trust in whomever you work with as I believe this is vital (in most cases) to capturing the best photos possible.

My suggestion is to take recommendations from your agent or your photographer into consideration, but don’t just blindly go with whoever they suggest.

I am often asked by the models I work with, ”How do I pick the right photographers to work with?”.

When you’re just starting out, it can be difficult to judge one photographer from another. Models who join OneModelPlace, for example, are often deluged with emails from amateur and professional photographers alike who all seek to work with the model (or aspiring model) in one capacity or another.

Depending on the model, their experience level, and the information they post in their OMP profile, requests from photographers vary from TFP requests to offers to pay the model for their time. With so many options coming in, how does one know who to work with or what priority to place on the various requests?

When it comes down to picking a photographer to work with, trust your intuition. If it seems like an amateur operation, it probably is. Being “full time” does not guarantee a true professional quality operation.

Here are some of the things you should consider before choosing to work with a photographer…

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In browsing the contents of actor and model related forums, I am often surprised by the number of people who decided to work with photographers without thinking to ask certain questions before they committed to working with them.

I can understand how this happens. Many photographer’s web sites are plagued with a total lack of information. In some cases I think this is done to intentionally avoid having to commit to certain details concerning how they work and the services they provide. Things like whether prints or just digital files are included with the shoot, or how many photos is expected to receive and whether all the photos or proofs will be available on a CD or made available online.

Unfortunately, if the photographer doesn’t provide this information, it’s up to the client to ask. So be sure you do you homework and get your questions answered beforehand, instead of going into a shoot with certain expectations if specific details are not available on a photographer’s website or haven’t been discussed in your correspondence.

While some photographers may feel it is helpful to leave things vague, so that they will have the advantage in the event certain topics come up after the shoot, I’ve found that that providing as much information as possible with regards to photo shoot packages, details, etc. is actually very helpful in attracting clients and saves me a considerable amount of time not having to answer questions.

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