What Should I Look for in an NYC Actor Headshot Photographer?

Headshot Strategy for ActorsHeadshot Prep

May 6

1. Do you see the actor first?

This is one of the first things I’d pay attention to.

A photographer should have taste. They should have control. They should have a point of view. A little signature is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s part of what you’re hiring them for.

But, remember, these days actor headshots live on Actors Access, Casting Networks, agent submissions, manager pitches, email attachments, and grids of tiny thumbnails surrounded by hundreds of other actors. Think postage stamp.

When your headshot is reduced to a small thumbnail, what reads first?

Do we see you? Your presence? Your casting? Your emotional life?

Or do we mostly see the lighting style, crop, background blur, color treatment, or “headshot look”?

Do all of their shots look the same?

Style can help a photo feel intentional, current, and professional. It can give the image taste and polish. It can help place the actor in an everywhere and nowhere kind of place, but if the style gets too heavy-handed, too trendy, the photo can start to be more about the photographer than the actor.

For actor headshots, the actor has to stay at the center of the image. Not literally of course. I love off center framing. But they need to be the driving force pulling us in to know more.

For film and tv, casting is usually trying to “get” you quickly. They’re looking at your face, your presence, your energy, your possible fit in their world. So in my opinion, the style of the photograph should sharpen that read, not compete with it.

It should say, “Here’s this actor. Here’s what they look like now. Here’s what they bring. And here’s where they might fit.”

That’s the balance I care about with every shoot. Taste, craft, and visual point of view are great. They just shouldn’t overpower the person the headshot is supposed to introduce.

I wrote about what a headshot actually needs to doa little while ago.

2. Does the photographer understand how casting actually looks at headshots for Film and TV and Commercials? And, yes, theatre to a large extent?

Your headshot has to work fast.

I’m gonna say it again in case ya skipped the last paragraph. Casting often meets you first in a grid of thumbnails on a screen. They may be looking at hundreds of actors for one role. Your photo needs to give them enough information to be curious enough to click on your face, or remember you for a later project, or to place you now in their current world.

Thumbnails are tiny sometimes. Too vague can disappear. Too styled can feel fake and costumey. Too polished can erase what makes you interesting and human. (Even at thumbnail scale, small details can convey meaning.) And in my opinion, too much next to a tree is always too much next to a tree. And too deadface is … nobody wants to work with deadface. Lol. (Twinkle it up.)

Your headshot has to work before anyone opens it full size. I’ve written more about what makes a headshot successful before anyone clicks, but the short version is this: casting is scanning for clarity, presence, and a reason to stay with the image and to find their actor.

3. Do they start with strategy before shoot day?

This is a big one for me. Think of it this way. Marketing teams have a plan before they shoot whatever product they’re selling right? They start with strategy.

A strong session shouldn’t begin with ‘bring a few shirts and we’ll wing it.’

Before we shoot, I want to know what your current materials are doing, what they’re missing, what your reps want (if you’ve got them), where you’re being called in, where you’d like to be getting called in, and what kinds of roles feel close enough to target honestly right now. I break that down more in where to begin before you book a session.

That pre-shoot work matters. It gives every look a reason to exist.

If one shot is meant to help with grounded procedural authority, that affects what we select for wardrobe and backgrounds or locations.

If another shot is meant to feel warmer, maybe a bit commercial and more accessible, that becomes a different set of choices.

I like to plan a little bit at least a little bit and then be open to surprises along the way.

4. Do they know how to direct actors?

This one’s kinda hard to tell sometimes right unless you know someone who’s shot with them. You’ve probably seen headshots out there where the actor isn’t quite connected to the camera with their expression right? Or where if they had just dropped that left shoulder a little bit, they wouldn’t look so hunchy or whatever. A little direction can make a shot.

Most of us actors suck at posing. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and it’s proven out.

I know what it feels like to be on your side of the lens (I’m still an actor). It can be a little out of body on the other side of a camera. Where you’re sort of watching yourself with your minds eye and tryying to connect with the camera. You’re trying to be open, specific, castable, relaxed, and somehow not weird about your face, your hands, your hopes, or your entire life. And hoping they capture something good. Yep. Been there.

In a session, I can always see the difference between “give me serious” and “this should feel like you’re competent under pressure, but not trying to prove it. You’re undercover and need to be introduced to that suspect over there”…or whatever we come up with in the moment. The expression gets just a little deeper or more inviting or just a little more human and real.

There’s a visual difference between “smile” and “someone just gave you good news, but you’re trying not to make too big a deal out of it.” Bpoth are useful but usually the eyes are better on the one with a story.

I find in my sessions, that it by engaging the actors imagination and giving them something to do and play, it often helps get some of those nerves out of the way, too.

I wrote more about why some headshots feel alive and others just feel posed, check it out.

5. Do they treat wardrobe as strategy, not decoration?

Wardrobe is not just “bring a few options.” That ends up backfiring in more ways that even wanna get into right now. (But good idea for a follow up post - lol. I could tell you some stories.)

Think about any tv show or film you’ve watched recently. Wardrobe gives social context. Same is true in a headshot.

A blazer is not automatically a lawyer. A henley is not automatically blue collar. A sweater is not automatically warm and friendly. A leather jacket is not automatically edgy.

The question is: what does this clothing help casting understand about YOU?

Does it feel and look like something you would actually wear? Does it help us place you without turning into a costume?

That last part is important.

No props. No costumes. No fake character slapped on top. I’m ok with glasses (just not blue blockers or transitions), andm yeah, I’ve been known to sneak in some hats and wigs here and there when we wanted it and could do it without calling attention to it.

I think your wardrobe should hint at a world, not announce a costume. We’ve gotta see the actor first. I wrote more about how to suggest character without turning the shot into a costume, because this is one of the easiest places for actors to overcorrect when they don’t have guidance.

You know this, I’m sure, but I’m gonna say it anyway. You do not need to show up to your headshot session dressed as “doctor,” “cop,” “teacher,” “villain,” or “sad person with complicated past.”

Wardrobe should give us a clue. A hint as to where some of the roles that you can easily rock live.

If you’re trying to figure out howwatdrobe can affect the read, here’s more on how to make your headshot send the right signal.

6. Do the looks serve different roles?

A useful headshot session should give you different usable versions of yourself.

One look might need to feel grounded and accessible.

Another might need clean professional authority.

Another might need warmth.

Another might need intelligence, pressure, or guardedness.

Another might lean a little more offbeat, sharp, funny, complicated, or lived-in.

Here’s the thing. Those should not all be the same expression and framing with a different shirt. Casting isn’t going “if only that tee shirt was green instead of blue. (Click click.) Oh phew, he IS wearing the same shirt only in blue in the other photo. Let’s call them in!”

Each image should help casting understand something useful that makes you, well, you.

You wanna build a headshot package, not just a gallery of nice photos with the same expression.

7. Do they help you understand which shots are actually useful?

Here’s another one that’s hard to guage unless you talk to an actor that’s worked with the photog you’re checking out. IMO a good photographer shouldn’t hand you a gallery and vanish into the bushes Homer Simpson style.

You should leave with some sense of what you made together and a sense of where and how you might use your new shots.

During a session, I like to review images together and sort of recap to be sure we’ve covered our intended ideas and then some.

And then we chat after you’ve had some time to look at your shots and then select your favs and also I tell ya my favs. Sometimes our favs totally align, but often I’ll find some hidden gems that the actor hadn’t considered. (regardless I give you everything at high res as shot)

“This one feels warmer.”

“This one has more procedural authority.”

“This one reads more guarded.”

“This one is interesting, but it may be too vague at thumbnail size.”

“This one feels like you’re trying to sell us the idea instead of just being in it.”

I LOVE to weigh in to help you understand your own casting materials instead of treating the final gallery like a mysterious buffet of options.

9. Do you trust their taste and judgment?

Taste is harder to measure than price, session length, or number of retouches, but it matters.

You’re hiring someone to make a lot of small decisions with you and for you.

Where should we shoot?

How close should the framing be for each look?

Is this shirt helping now that we’re seeing it in real life?

Is this background distracting? Let’s move three feet over and clean it up.

Is this expression alive or just pleasant?

Is this shot strong, or just technically fine?

Is this image useful for casting, or only flattering?

Those small decisions add up. And I’ll tell ya and show ya as we go so we’re on the same page.

A good actor headshot photographer needs technical skill, yes. But they also need judgment. They need to know when to push, when to simplify, when to adjust, and when to stop fussing because the actor is already there.

So what should you look for? Give me the TL;DR

Look for someone who understands actors.

Look for someone who considers headshots as marketing materials.

Look for someone whose work has taste without making every actor feel like part of the same template.

Look for someone who can help you plan before the shoot, direct you during the shoot, and make images that feel clear, specific, current, and usable.

All of that!

Because your headshot is not just there to make you look attractive.

It’s there to help casting know what to do with you.

And in a city full of actors and photographers, that clarity matters.

Ready to plan your next headshots?

If you’re preparing for new actor headshots in NYC, I’d love to help you build a session around the roles, worlds, and qualities you’re actually trying to target.

We’ll start with strategy, look at what your current materials are doing, plan wardrobe with purpose, and make sure each shot has a job before we ever start shooting.

Book a session and let’s build a set headshots that feel specific, useful, and actually connected to the actor you are now.