Hey everyone,
Here we are, Part 5 of 5. Headshot tips. Okay, choosing the photographer. Now, if you’re in a small market, you probably don’t have a lot of choices. But be careful. A lot of people who are “photographers” are not used to shooting headshots. You want to go online.
Go do some research. Google “top headshot photographers.” Go to their websites, see the looks that you like. If there’s an agency in your area and you’re not signed with that agency, ask somebody if there’s any way that you can get a sense of what they consider to be a good shot.
Do your research. Do what you can to see what you like and what’s in your market, and then of course, when you go to interview potential headshot photographers, you definitely want to look at their book, you want to look at their style, you want to look at the things that they’ve shot. You want to be able to say, “That’s the lighting and the look that I’m looking for.”
But now let’s just say you’re in a larger market. We’re in San Francisco. There are headshot photographers all over the place. Nothing like LA, but there’s plenty.
And so, who do you pick? One’s $500 to $600 a session. There’s one woman in this town who charges a lot. She’s very well known. She’s very, very good, but there’s somebody that charges $200 who’s just as good as she is. We just came somebody recently. I saw his shots and thought, “Well those are gorgeous. Those are beautiful, well lit. Everything’s solid.” He charges $200.
So you don’t necessarily have to pay the most to get the best headshot. You just have to find a style that you like, and just as importantly, a person that you like. Remember, when you first meet them, they’re trying to sell you.
They’re going to be in a really good mood, so you’re going to have to trust your gut because they’re trying to get you to book them. It’s just a one shot deal, so all the more reason why it’s a bit of a hustle. So be wary of that, trust your gut. Because you’re going to be working with them.
There is somebody in LA that I strongly recommend. I will add, right up front, that he’s an old, dear friend of mine, but that should say a lot. I’ve known him for 25, almost 30 years now, and he’s one of the top shooters in LA. His name is Michael Sanville and he’s just incredible.
He’s incredible – he was an actor, and he knows. He knows how hard it is to be on this side of the camera. He knows how important this is, and he cares, and he’s a really good man, and so he’ll help you. He’s warm, he’s relaxing. He’ll put you at ease.
And that’s really what you’re looking for, someone’s that’s not just collecting some money, but really loves what they’re doing and is trying to help, and you’ll feel the difference. So I cannot recommend enough the process of interviewing several and trusting your gut and just knowing that the most expensive does not necessarily mean the best. Okay? (Here’s Michael Sanville’s website if you’re interested in checking out his work – http://www.michaelsanville.com).
There’s a bunch more stuff on all of this, but for now, we’ll leave it as a 5 part series, okay? As always, thank you for your time. Thank you for your support. Share these, let others know. We greatly appreciate your time. We do. It’s really been an enjoyable process as this has been getting louder all over the world, so thank you for your support. Hope it helps.
 
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Alright, we’ll see you next week. We’ll see what we can advance for you. Thanks for joining us.