While giving a head shots for your audition check out the various coordinators/casting directors in your town or locality. Check with them the frames and the parts of the face body, angles, and lights taken by them of various actors previously. This will enable you to know if they are perfect for capturing your headshots.

Good and Bad Shots –

Photographer –

Before spending your precious money or hard-earned money of your parents, check out his/her portfolio of headshots and other pictures. The quality, color angles, etc. also need to be checked. You need to find the photographer’s studio and the studio lights.

Ways to Avoid Bad Headshots

Take your own decision while selecting a photographer. A photographer may be awesome for another person may not be good for you.

• Precaution – As far as your looks are concerned, you do not want to have a character shot like dressing up like a cop, doctor, etc. Taking a headshot with such dress-up will only be an insult to the casting director and you will be out of acting business in no time. It is best to wear regular clothing so that you look like a regular person instead of a character.
• Number of Shots to Be Given – Dress yourself presentable and pose yourself nicely. The first impression is the last impression. Give 3-4 poses which should be according to your age and personality. For example, a person of late 40s cannot dress up as a college student.
• Combination of Colors – Usually smiling and brighter colors are preferred to commercial headshots. The soft color combination is preferred for film/tv or theater. There is of course exception. Professional headshots are needed in case you wish to look serious.
• Looks – The main purpose of a headshot is to make you appear confident and emphasize your face and your eyes instead of the clothing. Select the clothing in which you are comfortable and look attractive. Selecting cute and trendy clothing may cause your photo to look unprofessional. A poor clothing choice will detract from the face and have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the headshot photo.
• Makeup, Size, Name, Resume, Print – Never dress up that would make you look too much glamorous.
• Your Headshot Should Look Like You- exactly the way you would be presented on the day of the audition.
• The standard size in India is 4x6 or 6xt and abroad it is 8x10. Selecting a size smaller than this size would be thrown in the garbage.
• As far as possible your name should only be printed on the front below your photo. Center, left or right is subjective.
• Printing stuff on the back should be avoided.
• Do not forget to include all the key points of your resume like email and cell number printed.
• Use white or black border around your photo. Staples can be neatly hidden be stapling where the photo and border meet.

Photographers Should Avoid –

• Taking of photo too close to you. Ask them to take it from a distance and not crop it too close where people cannot see your body. Your shots should give a fair idea to others as to how you physically look like.
• Weird angles of yours should not be taken. These angles will distort your personality on actually how you look like.
• Taking silly poses. Headshots taken should be as natural as rain. Do not make stupid poses as these will make you even stupider.

Examples of Silly Poses –

• Giving a pose by leaning forward as if sitting on a toilet.
• Sitting in a position where your hand is under your chin or touching your head as if you have a severe headache.
• Looking over other person shoulders which show a bad impact on your headshot. It is not natural.
• Raising your eyebrows.
• Dropping your jaws.
• Sitting down on the floor or on the bed or on the sofa with legs in front of your face. Keeping of legs in this manner shows that you wish to show off your sexy legs.

Remember as an actor/model your clothing is important and should fit you correctly since you wish to show the real image of your shape and size.

Also Read: Tips To Behave Properly To Get Role In Audition, Home Exercises For Actors To Look Hot And Win Auditions, Tips To Be Successful In Auditions And Avoid Failures, 10 Things To Know About Before Your Audition, Win An Auditions With Strong Emotions