As an actor, headshots are hugely important to your overall success. They are the first impression that will be made on casting directors, given out to agents that you are asking to represent you, and will show the world how you represent yourself as an actor looking for work.
This means that having a strong headshot is often the difference between success and failure at getting noticed in the entertainment industry. While breaking into the industry is often the hardest part about getting started as an actor, this makes having a good headshot one of the most important parts of being an actor overall.
In this guide we will cover the best practices for an acting headshot, as well as how to go about getting one.
What Is Your Acting Headshot?
A headshot is just as it sounds: a (photo) shot of your head. The picture is taken at a close range from the shoulders and up and shows an image of the face, with good enough lighting to make out all your features.
You can think of your headshot as a visual resume. It’s a picture that represents you as a brand. It is asked for at auditions, in online applications, and by managers before they’ll agree to represent you.
Headshots can also be used as advertisement material. You can hand them out to people you meet in the industry, or post them on your personal websites or social media pages. It works to remind people of who you are, and should be thought of as your personal pitch for work.
Headshot Formatting Requirements
Like any formal document, there are actually quite stringent standards for an actor’s headshot. It can be either a printed photo (usually submitted at theater auditions or when interacting with a casting director or agent), or a digital headshot (common for film, commercial, or print auditions).
Printed headshots should be portraits 8 by 10 inches and printed in color. You should also include your name on the front of your printed headshot. On the back of the headshot you should include your resume, scaled down to fit on the back of the photo. It should be stapled to the headshot with the pinched sides of the staples on the back (resume side) in all four corners, about ¼-inch away from the sides of the photo.
This ensures that your photo stays with your working history, and allows the casting director or agent to easily look at both what you look like and what you have done in the past to ascertain whether they would like you for a role. Keeping the headshot nice and tidy helps to promote a professional demeanor.
Digital headshots should be compressed into photo files in .jpeg, .png, .jpg, or .tiff format. These photos should be kept high resolution but don’t require your name on the front. These are likely to be submitted with online applications, so will remain digitally attached to your resume.
Best Practices for Acting Headshots
1. Dress Well
Make sure that you wear nice, flattering clothing that suits your coloring. You will want to avoid dressing in anything that takes attention away from your face, so try to avoid bright patterns or large statement pieces of jewelry.
As a general rule, it’s a great idea to wear solid colors. Try going for shades that flatter your skin tone or that bring out the color of your eyes. If you have any pieces of clothing that often get you compliments on how they look against your skin, this is the time to wear them.
Most people should avoid wearing white, as it tends to leech the warmth from your skin and hair and make you look washed out. It can also blend into the background and make you seem to disappear when standing against neutral colors.
Black is also usually best avoided, as it absorbs all the surrounding lighting. This means it can cause some artificial trickery with the camera, creating unwanted shadows in the images.
You can also tailor your wardrobe to a particular role if you tend to be typecast. For instance, if you often play bright and bubble characters, opting for lighter and brighter shades in your headshots would fit that image. If you often play dark, depressed detectives, a layered outfit with a leather jacket might be the best look.
2. Posing
Choosing your pose is an essential part of your headshot. Posing allows you to create a story with your headshot that can help to tell the viewer more about you as an actor. As a general rule, there are three poses that are often used:
- Straight on facing the camera: This classic pose is the most basic, but gives the viewer a nice shot of the face and can show off all of the features that you have.
- Slightly leaning forward: A more dynamic version of the classic, this pose helps to engage the viewer in the picture, while also showing your face clearly. This pose helps to create connection with the camera and can invoke a friendly tone.
- Over-the-shoulder: The most dramatic of all of the poses, this pose is great for storytelling. You can use it to show all kinds of emotions depending on your facial expressions, but the downside is that it tends to obscure some parts of the face.
Choosing the right pose for you can be difficult, but it is easier if you think of the picture as a moment in time that you are striving to capture. This helps to make the photo feel more dynamic and less like a still image, which adds dimension to your headshot and makes your picture stand out.
Whichever pose you choose, you should make sure you are comfortable with it. Remember, this headshot will represent you, so it’s important that you can comfortably express those emotions in your headshot in front of others when the time comes to act them out.
3. Background
The background of your headshot is also important to consider. As a general rule, a well- lit, uncluttered background is the best environment for your headshot, as you want the focus of the image to be on you.
You can add different elements to the photo through the background and lighting to enhance the story. For instance, if you are going for mysterious and flirty, an over the shoulder pose with a dark backdrop and muted lighting will go better than the same pose against a light background under bright white lights.
You can also choose to take your pictures in different locations, such as outside for soft, natural light. This type of lighting often creates natural highlights and shadows in the face and thus looks nicer, but can be subject to changes in the weather.
How to Get an Acting Headshot?
There are a few different methods for going about getting your own acting headshots. Some of those methods are better than others, and each of them have their own pros and cons.
1. The DIY Method
So long as you have access to a camera, you can take your own acting headshots. However, unless you are a professional photographer, it is very unlikely that doing your own acting headshots will get you the most optimal results.
Don’t forget, your acting headshots are vital for your acting career. It’s the very first thing that will be seen by everyone who is looking to hire you, and it quite literally represents who you are and how you work as an actor.
Although it might be tempting to just quickly snap a few selfies when you think you are looking nice, this will ultimately work against you. Having a strong, professional portrait, with an appropriate background, that has been clearly taken by a different person is the best way to get your acting headshots.
You might also be thinking about asking some friends to help you out with a quick home photoshoot. This might result in some nice photographs at first glance, but it’s also important to think about the differences between home photography, and the professionals. For instance, do you have the ability to retouch your photos and edit any imbalances in the lighting?
For such a key part of your acting career, it’s important to invest in a professional photo.
2. Professional Photography
If doing it yourself is out of the question, the next option is finding a professional photographer in your area to take some acting headshots for you. This can be quite a task, so here are some tips from the industry to help make the search easier.
Try asking around those in your acting circle for referrals. If you have a group of people around you who act professionally, chances are that they have also had to go through the process of getting their headshots taken.
Make sure that you look at the type of photography that they have had done, and be sure it aligns with the vision you have for your own headshots. If they have a completely different type of acting career, and thus went for different choices in their headshots, it might be worth investigating the photographer’s portfolio further to be sure they have the range to do your ideas justice.
Another option for finding a photographer is to search your local area on the internet. You can also use tools like social media to find portfolios of artists you like, and see where they are located. If they’re visiting your area soon, maybe you could seize that moment to book a session with them.
Once you have found your photographer, there are a few things to consider. The first is price. Different photographers will have variable costs depending on what is included in their packages and their experience in the industry.
You should also be sure to ask about exactly what is included in the photography bundle you decide to purchase. For example, what kind of editing or retouching is included in the cost of the session?
Unfortunately, for many people the cost of a professional photoshoot is prohibitive, with photographers charging anywhere from $400-$1500 per session. This is also a running expense, with headshots needing to be updated at least every two years, or whenever you have a significant change in appearance like coloring your hair, or losing or gaining weight.
3. AI Photography
One of the most fortuitous inventions of modern times for the struggling young actor is the invention of AI photography. With the ability of AI to create images, you no longer need to rely on professional photography to create high quality, high resolution, professional style headshots.
Instead, you can simply upload several images of yourself into an AI image generator, and watch as it creates an abundance of AI headshots for you. These headshots are a fraction of the cost of a traditional photoshoot, with all the benefits.
However, there are some issues with AI. One of those issues is the lack of data privacy. This is a serious concern, and something that people need to be wary of when choosing the AI image generator for their headshots.
For a secure AI image generator, choose PixelPose. This company uses an AI algorithm to analyze several of your own photos in order to learn your unique face, and then creates anywhere from 20-100 high quality headshots depending on the package you choose.
However, unlike other generators, Portrait Pal does not store your data. After the image has been generated, all images you have uploaded are instantly deleted, and any files of your data are destroyed for good. Your privacy is of the utmost concern, and it will not be compromised by this system.
With the most basic package, you get 20 headshots with 5 different poses, backgrounds and outfits. This is plenty for any actor to use as headshots, but you can upgrade to larger packages to have more photos to choose from when applying to different roles if you want to.
This option is cheap, fast, and high quality. It has all the pros of traditional photography, and all the pros of the DIY method, with none of the cons of either. If you want an easy way to get some great headshots, PixelPose is a great option for actors.