Headshots

sweet caroline · August 6, 2011

These two siblings were offered a place with an agency, so it was time to do some headshots.

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divamum · August 6, 2011

Nice job, Caroline! Is it for modelling, or acting?

Love 3/4/6 just as they are.

The main nit I have overall is where there are multiple colours in the backgrounds, eg 8 is adorable, but the bg is split 50/50 vertically between the green and the brick - it takes the emphasis off the subject, IMO. I'd prefer to lose the green, as the brick is more neutral, but it looks like it would be easier to crop from the right on that one so that only the green is left. Regardless of which side it comes from it will be a tight shot, but it's such a good expression it would be a shame not to use it!

1 & 2 are both great, but crop out the green. Close-cropping is fine if it's for acting; I'll let people in the modelling world comment as to whether it's ok for those kinds of shots.

If you shoot any more of these kids, I'd try to pull them forward from the brick so more of it is blurred out - I think the proximity of a wall works better with an adult (eg senior portraits) because they're bigger relative to the size of the bricks; I find they look a little big and bold next to this little cutie, eg in 5. That may just be a personal preference of mine, however; YMMV!

What I really love about all of them is that you've captured their age so nicely - that's hard to do! These are lovely, natural kid-shots.

So good to see you posting again!

sweet caroline · August 6, 2011

Thanks so much for your feedback, Diva. I was hoping to hear from you. I believe they plan to do both modeling and acting. These kids are so smart and cooperative at only 2.5 years and 4.5 years. I probably could have had the girl move away from the wall. The little boy was "holding it up with his back." I'll try a tighter crop on 8.

I'm just starting to try to get into headshots, so I appreciate critique. I have a friend at an agency and they are looking for more photographers.

divamum · August 6, 2011

Do they want/need 3/4 shots as well? I think it might be nice to have some with kids this age. If they're modelling, it will help show their proportions, and you can just get some great shots of kids doing kid stuff. Again, I don't know that much about this age group (or modelling agencies) so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but if I were taking some, I'd probably try to get some stuff that could, if needed, round out a z-card.

Also - and I DO know this firsthand from a friend in Vancouver with a kid who's wound up doing a fair bit of extras/commercial work - provide them with a *range* of expressions. Particularly with kids (and, I'm guessing, even more particularly with younger kids), it's helpful to show what they can deliver. So a big grin, a more serious one, a playful one, one that plays to their age, one that plays to the ages they might be able to portray (for instance, the little girl above does actually look older than 4.5 in a couple of those - I'd have believed 6 or 7 in #7).

/ruminations

dogwood · August 6, 2011

These look great. Only suggestion would be to get a couple of other moods. I know you're working with kids so that isn't always easy. But variety can help book work for actors/models. These do look really nice though! You did a great job. I just started shooting headshots too after a couple of client requests. Hey, can't say no to something someone is willing to pay money for, right?

sweet caroline · August 6, 2011

I do know that the agency specifically wants a certain number of prints of one headshot with resumes attached to the back, rather than 3/4 or full length. So, the parents will need to choose one pic of each child for that purpose. They will also be choosing 3-5 pics of each kid to post on some talent websites. I do have a little variation on expression, but the grins I got from the little girl were all with her chin up or some other angle that does not make for a good headshot. She wasn't feeling well yesterday morning, so we may re-shoot her. She takes direction very well, and knows me, so she can probably deliver expressions if I call them out (when she is feeling well.) We got a decent range for the two year old.

Again, thanks for the comments.

divamum · August 6, 2011

Those sound like actor submissions if they're attaching resumes to the back and yes, in that context it would be typical for it to be an actual headshot rather than full-length pix.

Because it's so easy to get prints done these days - and even print "to order" - a lot of actors I know have their 3 (or more) shots available, and then their agents submit the most appropriate one for any casting call (both hard copies and digitally). I expect it's the same with kids - my Vancouver friend was advised to have 3 "looks" for her boy, depending on the submission. He is also with an agency, mostly for background acting work (of which there is a LOT in Vancouver these days!!!) but he has also been getting calls for parts with lines, usually for commercials and/or training videos. Hardest thing with his shots was finding some that looked his age - he's tall and physically (rather than emotionally) mature, and it was HARD to get shots of him that looked like a young teen; he could have passed for 17+ in many of them.

Btw, do you think you could clone out the doorway lines on 7? It might be nice to have a completely clear bg on that one. Those eyes of hers are just adorable and it would draw the viewer's attention right to them if the bg was 100% clean :

Lastly, if they're expected to get their own mass reproduction done (some agencies handle that, some don't), I can personally recommend abcpictures.com in Missouri. They're lithos rather than actual photos, but the quality is excellent - given the high volume hard copy headshots are often needed, it's an affordable solution and entirely adequate quality for the purpose. I haven't had any done in colour, but they were excellent for the last batch of BW's I ordered from them.

zoomer · August 6, 2011

5 8 9 for me. Nice photos of a couple cute kids.

sweet caroline · August 7, 2011

I can absolutely clone out the doorway lines. Good call.

If I recall from the e-mail the mom forwarded, the agency just wants 8 prints w/resumes mailed in with the contract and other forms. They will also have additional pics of the kids on their website (young children's pics are hidden unless an authorized party enters a username and password.) I think most is done electronically, so they don't need a ton of prints. They just a few on hand in case they get called for an audition. Plus, they will have to update them so frequently it won't make sense to get too many prints. I am going to remember that resource in case I have any adult actors asking me!