Amazing Headshots: Shandon Youngclaus Photography : Los Angeles Premier Headshot Photographer
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what to expect
| Before the Shoot Preparation is crucial to having a successful headshot session. We can’t stress this enough. Here are some things to consider while preparing for your headshot session. Consult with Your Agent or Manager. It’s incredibly important that you talk with your agent or manager before the shoot. Most likely they have a very specific way in which they want to market you. They may see you differently than you see yourself, or maybe they see a trend in the breakdowns and want you to get a shot that would accommodate the trend. Some agencies have pet peeves about the clothing you wear, and others might like to see a certain style in the photography. Some love fun designs on shirts, some hate them. So make sure you get the opinions of your representation before you show them your proof sheets. We can also provide wardrobe consultations and personal shopping experiences. A stylist will meet with you, help create a game plan and then shop with you to help you find the right clothing choices to maximize the effectiveness of your photos. A well-styled photo shoot will help you fit into the Hollywood casting mold, and simultaneously ensure that you stand out from the cookie cutter competition. Groom Ahead. Don’t wait until the day before your shoot to do last minute grooming. Give yourself a few days between your haircut/coloring/waxing/tanning session and your shoot. We want you at your best, not while you’re healing (physically or emotionally). WHAT TO WEAR: Here are some suggestions that might help you in choosing your clothing for the shoot. Choose colors that compliment your own coloring. When choosing colors for color shots, there are a few things to consider. Consider what colors look good with your eyes or hair or skin tone. If you don’t know what colors look good on you, consider having a professional stylist or colorist take you through your color palette. Most commercial agents prefer bright, colorful clothing with little or no pattern. Solid color clothing will keep the focus on you. Most theatrical agents prefer muted clothing with little or no pattern. High contrast patterns are bad. Generally, you want to stay away from patterns or distracting logos. Texture is Great. Clothing with texture gives your photos more dimension. Wear the kinds of clothes your characters would wear. Take a look at film and television and the types of roles you (and your manager or agent) see you playing, then consider dressing yourself for those roles. Think of clothes that suggest character rather than costumes. Bring more than you think you will wear. We shoot anywhere from 3-5 looks depending on your package. If you bring a lot of clothing, we can choose the best choices from your wardrobe. During the Shoot Like any other part of the entertainment industry, your photo shoot is a collaborative process. Everyone has a critical part to play in creating the photos that will represent you in the game. Here’s what you can expect from us. We provide a comfortable environment to wait and prepare for your shoot. Before each session we look at clothing options, and choose the outfits that will give you the most variety for your shoot. After choosing clothing, we discuss makeup and hair options for each look, creating a precise game plan for the session. After we plan your shoot, we get you into hair and makeup. Our trained makeup artists will spend about 45 minutes consulting with you and applying your makeup. Light hair styling is included, but we suggest you come with your hair styled as you would if you were going to an audition. The makeup artist will stay throughout the session for touchups and will augment the makeup to coincide with your different outfits. The emphasis on the shoot is variety. So when we are shooting, we make sure to give you a wide array of lighting and location setups, providing not just a physical context to your shot, but also atmosphere. We make sure your photos tell stories. Shandon will coach and direct you through the shoot, supplying you with objectives—helping you to achieve an emotional context to your shots. This emphasis on objective, gives you the opportunity to show your range as an actor. You can also expect technical excellence. The photos will be lit well, composed well, and exposed correctly. The shots will be in focus and accurately balanced in color and tone. This may sound obvious, but we are consistently surprised by the lack of technical precision in our clients’ portfolios from previous shoots with other photographers. We shoot a lot of photos in each session and we shoot accurately. In fact, it is not uncommon for clients to forget to process the photos after the shoot, because they look so good right out of the camera. (For more on developing and processing your photos for print and web posting, refer to After the Shoot) And because the shoot is collaborative, here’s what we should expect from you: Arrive on time (or a little bit early). Not only is punctuality a common courtesy to any collaboration, it is critical to starting your session from a position of power. You’ll be more relaxed and you can focus on the task at hand. Be prepared and do your homework. Preparation is crucial to having a good headshot session. (Check out Before the Shoot for more information and tips on how to prepare yourself for your session.) Be willing and able to provide the emotional connection. We are working hard to pull your most marketable qualities out, but we can’t do it alone. Trust us. There’s a reason you came to us instead of having your friend snap some photos of you in the backyard. After the Shoot Preparing Your Photos For Duplication: Once you’ve viewed and chosen the photos you will use in your marketing, you should have them prepped before printing or posting to the web. You might think the photos look amazing right out of the camera, but every photo can be adjusted to improve the dynamic range or digitally altered to remove distractions and keep the attention on you and your energy. Photo optimization through the computer is the digital equivalent of the work photographers would conventionally do in the darkroom. We adjust contrast, tone, color, and saturation. At this time we can also make adjustments digitally that were not possible in the conventional darkroom, like custom color enhancements and seamless retouching. Our philosophy about retouching is simple. Eliminate distractions and that’s it. If you are distracted by a stray hair or a blemish or a logo on a shirt, we can remove those distractions so the focus of the photo is on you and your energy. And while we’re good enough to seamlessly alter the shape of your body or the structure of your face, we recommend proceeding with caution. If a casting director is calling you in to audition because of your photo, you have the responsibility to arrive at the audition looking like your photo. You’re ultimate goal is to be cast in the role, not just brought in for the audition. When we prepare your photos for duplication, you are ensured the highest quality of service and expertise. We spend the time it takes to make your photos look amazing, and in the process save you time and money. You have the convenience of approving retouching from your home computer, which means fewer trips to the lab. And because of our close relationship with Argentum Photo Lab, when you approve your photo for printing, your printed proof is ready the next business day. Other Prepress Services: You have several options when it comes to who will retouch and prep your files for duplication and web posting. There are also many options for printing. A great photo can be destroyed by a bad retoucher or lab. Over the years we’ve seen that retouchers and pressmen are as varied as photographers. Our photo finishing department is skilled in the art of portrait retouching. We know all the tricks to make retouching look seemless, leaving you looking great and the photo looking organic. We also have our software and monitors calibrated to our labs of choice, so there is no guess work when it comes to color and tone adjustments. Many clients have taken their photos to a friend or a relative who is a graphic artist or web designer in hopes to save a few dollars. You are welcome to do this, but we recommend proceeding with extreme caution. Just because someone has used photo editing software, doesn’t make them an expert. You spent the money to have a professional shoot your photos, why would you not trust a professional to finish and print them. |
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