Category: Actor

Adding Value To Your Corporate Headshot

How do you add value to your corporate headshot? I had a situation the other day where a doctor was coming to my studio for a new set of corporate headshots for his website. His wife did all of the communication prior to the session. The afternoon before the session, I gave him a call for a quick chat to ascertain who I will be having in front of my camera. For most of my headshot sessions, I need those few minutes to find a connection while informing the potential client about their headshot session and answer any questions they may have. He also informed me of his aversion to camera and photography as the subject. I jokingly advised him that on the day I would rip off what he perceived as camera avoidance malaise away and it would then  become my problem hence he would not need to worry but have fun. He proceeded to say, if I could guarantee it then we were on. My word was ‘’done’’.

From our chat I knew that he was actually an awesome guy to be around socially but his serious aversion to being in front of a camera was also vivid. Bruno The Corporate Headshot Doctor diagnosed that he suffered an acute case of Picture Avoidance Syndrome. So in order to combat that, I would have to prescribe the following:

  1. One dose of welcome and salutations upon arrival at the car
  2. One dose of massive social interaction
  3. One dose of role playing (college buddies reunion)
  4. One dose of One To One on the fly (discuss family, kids, grand children) – this I called Sherlock Holmesing my client.

The morning of the session, I made connection with my client right away as I stepped outside of the studio to greet him at his car. His first words were ‘’Gosh you are much taller than I thought’’. I am actually 6’8’’ (203cm) tall. My reply was ‘’Here goes another one picking on me instead of picking on someone their own size’’.  He was in company of his wife, we all had a great laugh and there was our connection. At that instant we all were almost on a friend to friend basis. Now that I got him chilled, all I needed to do was to beef him up for his headshot session. Since we were already on a friend to friend basis, we carried on with our pleasantries and jovial interaction.

All along I was already working on him. I was Sherlock Holmesing his face to judge which side was more prominent and favourable to the camera. We must have spent 30 minutes just goof-balling and finding out more about each other literally. When it was time to get the show on the road, I noticed his picture avoidance syndrome kicking in. A few test shots confirmed his aversion. So for the remedy, I decided to instigate another conversation that did not have anything to do with corporate headshot session. I introduced our pretended old university buddy days and got him to play that role. He took off with the role and started recounting a true story of his college days with one of his friends with whom he and his wife had spent time with just days prior. His demeanour was completely transformed and we played with that story telling for a few shots. Once I got him where I knew I could finally get that awesome shot for him, I instructed him to go change into one of the shirts he brought along for the session. Only a handful of shots after he returned in front of my camera, BOOM SHAKALAKA ”I got the shot” I told myself.

Just to confirm that I crafted the headshot I was happy to give him, I went through the process of reviewing the images with both he and his wife. As I cycled through the photos, all three of us exclaimed in unison ‘’THAT ONE’’.  I turned around for some Hi-5 action, my client said that his grand children would love this photo. There was a slight moment of silence as we both got emotional. It then hit me again that it was never about the dials, buttons and whistles on my camera and the big lights in my studio. It is all about our character and charm as individuals. Making our characters attractive to others does add value to our services and products. The value here for my client was the experience, the fun, the interaction and the photography was just the vehicle to craft the headshot he really needed for which he was so adverse to because he had never had such a pleasant experience.

My Mentor and friend Peter Hurley says ”I am 90% Psychologist and 10% Photographer”

This client is actually a Clinical Psychologist.

Young Perth Actor Invests In His New Headshots

Last week I did photograph 2 Perth actors who coincidently are represented by the same agency.

One of the actors was a young gentleman I had photographed in February 2016 years for his first set of actor headshots. Those shots ended up getting him an audition.

Now a year and a half later, he is returning for a new set of headshots. The interesting point here is that the agency representing him has a dedicated headshot photographer, however his mother chose to have me craft his new headshots even it will cost her twice as much because of the standard and quality of the images.

The young gentleman is very articulate however very reserved by nature until he gets to know you. I was made aware of this during our previous session. Back then I made sure to connect with him when I first met him at the car on their arrival at my studio. This second time was a lot easier because of the connection and interaction we had on the previous occasion.

On this second session, we had a great time goof-balling in the studio and the results were outstanding.

Mother knows best.

Would you have gone for cheaper price or know quality based on previous experience?

Actor Headshots – How Important It Is For You Getting Noticed?

A headshot as it stands a close up of your face, neck and a little bit of shoulder(s); your headshot is a synopsis of your whole being in one snapshot that is captivating enough to stop a casting director, producer, writer or a director going through 100s if not 1000s of actor portfolios to take a second look at your headshot look to see if you fit a role they have on offer.

Your headshot is as important as how your approach to your professional acting career. Your headshot is not the one you or your friend snapped with the IPhone. It is not the one your family and friends think you look good. It is not the one you think you look cool. It is not definitely the one you had taken at the Post Office or Passport Photo Service kiosk.

A good actor headshot that truly looks like you showing your personality and represents you the best is made by the use of good lighting which is the main ingredient in photography plus bringing your exuberant personality to the fore which is also an art in headshot photography. Photo means light and Graphos in Greek means to write or to draw. So a professional photographer specialising in headshots knows how to carve your face using light to show you at your best to the viewers you intend to captivate.

Time to rethink your headshot….

Perth – World Class Headshot At Your Doorstep

Lightbent Images & Photography is in a very special class when it comes to creating your headshot. Though I do portrait as well, my specialty is headshot. As the driving engine behind Lightbent, my specialised ability and artful way to bring your personality to the fore is no accident. Being the first Australian Associate Photographer  of NY based, world renown Headshot Photographer, Author, Speaker, Educator Peter HurleyThe Art Of Behind The Headshot – Illuminating The Face sets the quality of my work on a world stage.  

Also being a Mentor in the Headshot Crew which is Peter’s coaching platform which consists of over 15,000 headshot and portrait photographers from 134 countries, I help in the development of many photographers to hone their craft and skills for the opportunity to become one of handpicked associates of Peter.  

Peter commitments to excellence are infused in my work on a daily basis to give my clients the best headshot they had ever had. 

Is It A Headshot Or A Portrait?

Headshot

Chances are that you think your portrait can be used as a headshot. However there is a big difference between a portrait and a headshot.

Your professional headshot is about capturing, representing and encapsulating your personality, expression and looks by showing only the shot of your head (Headshot) and enough of your shoulder just below the clavicles. Any information below your chin is of no value to the viewer.

Professor Gary Martin CEO of Australian Institute of Management WA

Portrait

Your professional or environmental portrait tells more of a story. In the shots below of Professor Gary Martin, the portrait conveys to the viewer more about him. We can perhaps guess how tall it may be. We can ascertain his style by his posture and demeanour. Sometimes in a portrait, even by wearing the same clothes or outfits, having the same hairstyle, something like a dramatic lighting, expressive posture and poses will transform the image completely.

Professor Gary Martin CEO of Australian Institute of Management WA

What is the easy way to tell the difference?

Is the photo only showing only the upper part of the bust and is the person being themselves engaging the camera with their personality? Then most likely it is a headshot.

On the flip side, is the image is showing more between the head and waist line and more environment around the subject? Then you are most likely looking at a portrait.

You want that stylish professional headshot for your branding or a portrait to tell your story, I am just an email or a phone call away. Get in touch.

Perth Cinematic Headshot On The Go…What Is My Style?

I have been asked this question many times about my style by mostly other fellow photographers I meet for the first time. First thing that will come to mind is ”fashion style” to many of us when asked this question. Well I am not talking about my fashion style. I am talking about my photographic style.

To answer this question, I have to go back to my high school years when I was doing my first and last class taught photography course. When we had an assignment to shoot people, I always cropped the head and face to be the main thing in the frame. I never got any good grades for doing so but I personally liked it so much, I just kept doing it irrespect of whatever grade I was going to get. A couple of years passed since that semester of photography class, I picked up my camera when I was at university (college) and on a basketball game trip to Atlanta – Georgia (USA), while sitting at the airport waiting for our flight, I was snapping headshots of my teammates, the coaching and training staff, it was then thta I got hooked on headshots without knowing it. Amongst other things like shooting macro and landscape from time to time, I kept always coming back to shooting tight headshot of people.

Where did it become my call?

While living in Indoesia 7 years ago, I got even so drawn into people faces on the streets, traditional markets and local satelite villages amongst the high rises around our home in Jakarta. I found myself shooting only heads. I went on a photo walk organised by a team of husband and wife Commercial Photographer and Photo Tours organiser Melbourne The Photographer, all I seemed to take was tight headshot. He encouraged to do that if that felt natural for me but also to occasionally show the environment specially in a place like Jakarta.

My family and I moved the United Kingdom after leaving Indonesia, I coninued with my street portrait while shooting some Editorial and Fashion but I always had a few minutes of crafting some portrait (tight face shots) during any of my shoot sessions. Though I wanted to do mostly sports portrait but something always seemed to put me back to headshot.

Finding my way by way of admiring other photographers

As most people who found photography, there is nothing more beautiful than having an out of focus background behind your main subject in the image. I started concentrating on that and playing with my lighting. Then I needed to learn more about lighting to get more creative with what I wanted to do, I sought out the teaching of one of the best instructors and Masters of lighting in the world Frank Doorhof. I went to his studio in Emmeloord for some One On One sessions. Frank armed me with what I need about working with light and being creative with it. Though people asked me at times when I told them that Frank is the one who taught me my lighting techniques, ”but your work does not look like Frank’s”. That is when I always quote Bruce Lee the martial art guy ”Learn and absorb all you can, then make it your own”.

Where to go from here

When I started shooting my cinematic look, I did not know that there were people out there consistently doing it already. By accident, I stumbled across Dylan Patrick’s an awesome cinematic headshot photographer from New York at the time (now Los Angeles), then everything fell into place for me. Coming across Dylan a few months ago has been the catalyst of my current photography and going forward. I hooked up with Dylan through his Cinematic Headshot Facebook page since with many other photographer from around the world and we are discussing each other images everyday providing support and guidance to everyone in the group.

So what is my style?

People faces portrait is my style. How do I define my style, well I try to maintain a common thread throughout my cinematic headshot, in way of being consistent with my lighting and mood, encompassing other photographers’ work similar to mine that I admire into my own, continually refining what I am doing, keep experimenting and more spending more time in practicing and learning new techniques. All of that put together is the reflection of the world and the people in that world around me as seen through my own eyes and the eye of my lens and camera because I am always putting a little bit of myself into my images. That is my style.

This is where my style is now but in constant refinement and need of improvement as see below

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