New Headshots for Meghan Dreyfuss!

Meghan Dreyfuss just recently finished a seven year stay with Mamma Mia! As an understudy, she played the role of Sophie. She came in recently to update her headshots. -C

How Much Does a Headshot Cost in NYC?

Recently I've been trying to figure out how I should price my headshots, specifically I was trying to figure out what the average market value was. I decided to take a snapshot of the headshot photography market in NYC by looking through all sixty-two portfolios hosted on Reproductions East, the top headshot printers in NYC.

http://www.reproductions.com/NYC/banner/banner.php

Of the sixty-two photographers hosted, fifty-one of them listed their rates and price packages. The rest either did not list them at all (you'd have to set up an appointment), or after spending time looking through their site, I just couldn't find out what their rates were.

After compiling all the different price packages together, I found average market value, as of February 26, 2010, to be approximately $600. The prices ranged from a ten look shoot for $1,745, all the way down to a quick twenty minute session for $99.

Here's a bar graph showing the distribution of price packages. It is as accurate as the information I could find on each photographer's website, which may not be up to date.

Most price packages are near average market value and slightly above it, between $500 and $800.

This information is most useful in getting a general idea of what's available on the market in terms of price, but it's not a good way of telling if you're getting a bargain or getting ripped off.

One photographer can offer multiple packages. The one photographer who listed the top fee of $1,745, also offered a package for $345. Also, price packages vary drastically in terms of number of shots taken, hours spent on the shoot, and number of wardrobe changes. Maybe you don't need much and you're good with an hour, two wardrobe changes, and 100 frames. Maybe you're putting together a website and you need five hours, six wardrobe changes, 800 frames, makeup and hair, and indoor and outdoor shots.

Price alone is not an indicator of quality. I've met actors who've gotten a lot of work using headshots that they got for free, and actors who've spent $1,000 on headshots that they can't even use. Sometimes you don't need to spend a lot (or anything) to get a great headshot, and sometimes you get what you pay for.

So how much should you pay for a headshot in NYC? Well it turns out that it's not such a straight-forward answer. The market is extremely diverse, and each photographer is going to bring different things out of you depending on their approach and their setup, independent of price. Even if you land someone with a great reputation for taking headshots with an impressive portfolio, you might just not get along with them for whatever reason. If you don't vibe with your photographer, things have the potential to go downhill pretty quickly.

If you're looking for a good headshot photographer, my advice would be to find a friend with great headshots, ask them who took it, and find out what their experience was like during their shoot. While I think you should consider the marketing and look through portfolios, I'd trust the experiences of my peers over a fancy website any day. -C

New Headshots for Hallie Goodman!

Hallie had to be one of the easiest people I've ever shot. She had a ton of energy and enthusiasm, which goes to show that the more fun you have while getting your headshots, the better they come out, and that's for both smiling and not smiling shots. Being comfortable with your photographer and knowing that it's OK to take risks is what helps to make your photos more unique. Playing it safe all the time hoping to get a good photo, being self-conscious, letting unspoken insecurities rule the shoot, are all recipes for disaster. -C

Headshots: Jared Cross

Laura Cable BCBG Test

Trying some ideas with a few BCBG dresses that my good friend Laura Cable brought by. -C

Headshots: Cheslea Calloway

Cheslea Calloway is a comedian, actor, writer, and producer who came in for his first ever set of professional headshots.  Check out his blog, The Altered Beast! -C

Headshots: Marta Prachar

Natasha Denis Beauty Shots

Natasha Denis is one of the makeup artists we've been using and she's absolutely fantastic! She's incredibly easy to work with and she's been vital in getting a lot of our shots to that next level. Here are some photos we took from a recent shoot with her. The models are Amanda Lensink and Meghan Elizabeth. -C

Test Shoot of Catherine Schmetter's Line at Maven Design

We're working with Catherine Schmetter, a fashion designer with her own line called Maven Design. We're collaborating with her to put together her new look book and a press kit. We've been doing a few test shoots and playing around with some ideas.

Makeup by Natasha Denis.  Check out her website!

Models Maika Nakaoka (check out her blog bestylicious!), Luisa Gautreaux, and Natalia Sharucci. -C

Modeling Tips for Actors and Dancers

In working with actors and dancers who haven't done much modeling before, I find that there's a bit of a learning curve involved when trying to transfer their skills to modeling.

Essentially the biggest differences concern duration and tempo.

First, in talking about duration, what I mean here is how long you hold a particular pose. Usually in dancing and in acting, there's a certain flow that goes on from one movement into another. This transition, however, cannot be captured by a camera, or at least, not captured well. I think back to Annie Leibovitz who said, "dance cannot be photographed...and there is something beautiful about that." The camera records and perceives time differently than video cameras and the human eye. It basically strips away the flow of time and replaces it with an implied sense of it, a sort of proxy. Timing to a model, or at least to me as a photographer, works differently than in a typical dance performance or scene.

When a model who is an actor or dancer goes into a specific pose, or explores an idea, there's a tendency to continue flowing through the movement, as if they are being observed by something that understands and can witness the concept of time. But this just simply isn't the case with a camera. It has enough problems trying to imply a sense of depth, let alone time.

The issue arises when the photographer isn't quick enough to capture a shot, or wants to capture the shot in multiple ways, but the model has already blown through it to the next thing. If the pose can't be recreated, then an idea, a moment, is essentially lost and effort has to be made to try and recreate it again. There's nothing wrong with that in itself, as it's going to happen through out the shoot anyway, but it eats up time. It's just less efficient.

So one thing actors and dancers can use as a guideline is the sound of the shutter clicking or the pop of the flash. If you go into a pose, try not to change it until you hear the shutter click, or even click a few times. The click becomes your metronome for duration. It gives you a base to work off of to get a feeling for how long you should be holding any particular pose or exploring a particular idea.

The next thing to look out for is tempo, or the speed with which you move from one pose to the next. In general, it's best to slow down, at least as a warm up. Pose, hold, click. Pose, hold, click. Depending on the energy of the shoot, the intent, and the speed of the clicks you hear coming from the camera, you're going to move faster or slower.

Now this doesn't mean you're never going to do a fast movement that has to be flowed through, like jumping into the air or committing to some movement that just cannot be stopped. It's going to happen all the time. Those kind of shots, however, have a different dynamic and tend to work better with performers than people who do only modeling. The perfect shot of a model jumping into the air will more than likely involve the model jumping up and down multiple times. It has a different pacing than just moving from pose to pose exploring looks. Just remember though, the faster you move into a pose, the more effort it will take to freeze it, and the more effort you use, the more tension will show in your photo (which might be good if that's what you're going for). An example of this is if the model is looking in one direction and then snaps their head at the camera, the natural tendency is for the eyes open wide as your body assumes it's doing that because something dangerous is happening. It's practically an involuntary action. But slow that down, and you bypass the whole eyes widening reflex.

So in summary, slow down first and then speed up the tempo as necessary. Hold your poses until you hear the shutter click and then move into the next pose if you have one. Think of the shutter as a changing beat that you move to; form a relationship with it. If you can't hear the shutter, then error on the side of slowing down and holding longer, unless the photographer instructs you differently.

As you get used to this, you can start playing around with duration and tempo on the fly and start exploring uncharted or more experimental territory, assuming the photographer you're working with is even interested in such things.

In conclusion, just remember, if you have a photographer who's quick enough to capture everything you do, then that's great! But why make their job any more difficult than it has to be? Give the photographer opportunity to capture what you're doing with an imperfect tool. When you're on set, it's in the best interest of the photographer and model to make eachother's lives easier, and if they communicate and work well together, it ultimately means better pictures and a much more efficient use of time.

Make it easier to capture good photos, not harder. -C