Arizona Headshots and Photographers

My first headshot was a cropped photo of me at a party with beer bottles in the background. Out of focus. Printed at home on cheap paper. I hung it on posters at every college and trade school in town, with pull-off tabs, and then walked into my first class, which happened to be taught by a local casting director, who called me up in front of the room to explain why it was the worst headshot she had seen in twenty years. I tell that story in my book because I broke every rule there is, and because every actor who asks me where to get headshots is really asking how not to do that.

So here is the answer, in three parts: what the picture has to do, who in Arizona we send actors to, and what to expect when you book.

What an actor headshot is for

It is not a beautiful picture of you. Plenty of beautiful pictures make terrible headshots. The point of the headshot is to sell the actor. A casting director opens a folder of two hundred faces and gives each one about a second, and in that second your picture has to say who you are and what you’d be cast as, and then the person in the room has to look like the person in the picture. That’s the whole test. Honest, current, and specific.

Which is why the photographer matters. A good portrait photographer knows how to make you look your best. A good headshot photographer knows the difference between your best and your castable, and they’ll push you toward the second one. Ask any photographer you’re considering how many actors they shoot. If the answer is “a few,” keep looking.

Arizona headshot photographers we send actors to

This page used to list eight. I checked every one of them this month, and most have moved on to weddings, families or other careers, so here are the two still doing actor work in Phoenix that we’re glad to put our name next to. This is the short list we hand out at the studio.

Byron Medina, HeadshotsAZ

Byron shoots actor and executive headshots out of North Scottsdale. Fashion and commercial background, which shows in how quickly he finds the angle. His wife Sylvia does hair and makeup, and if you’ve never had that done for a headshot, do it once and you’ll never skip it again. headshotsaz.com

Brad Reed Photography

Brad works both sides of the camera as a model and actor, so he knows what it’s like to stand where you’re standing, and he understands what an agent is going to do with the file. Take a spin through the headshots page on his site before you book anyone; it’s a good picture of what castable looks like. Rates through his contact page. bradreedphotography.com

Two more sources. If you’re signed with an agency, ask them first; every agency in the valley has photographers they trust, and the agent has to sell the picture, so their opinion counts. And if you’re in class with us, ask your teacher. We see a lot of headshots come through the casting room and we know whose work holds up.

What a session costs

In Phoenix, plan on a few hundred dollars for a solid actor session and more for a full package with hair, makeup and several looks. When you’re starting out it’s fine to be modest about what you spend; a clear, honest, in-focus picture from a working headshot photographer beats an expensive one from a wedding photographer every time. Once you can afford to, be selective, look hard at the work, and pay for the person whose actors look like people you’d cast.

Before you book

• Bring two looks minimum. One commercial, the friendly version of you that sells insurance, and one theatrical, the version that could carry a scene in a drama. Solid colors. Nothing that dates.
• Look like the picture. Same hair, same facial hair, same weight, within reason. The fastest way to lose a room is to walk in as somebody else.
• Print professionally. Once you’ve picked the shot, have it printed by a real print house, never at home or the corner copy shop. Use the same file everywhere: casting profiles, your website, your social pages.
• Retake every couple of years, or sooner if you’ve changed. A headshot is a promise about who will walk in.

Wondering what to wear to the session, or to the audition the session gets you? That one deserves its own post, and it has one.

I did eventually get a real headshot. It didn’t get me cast. Training did. But it stopped the casting directors from laughing, which turned out to be step one.