In recent years there’s been a sea change as far as actors’ headshots are concerned.
For years we’ve been black and white in this country. When I started shooting headshots, almost ten years ago, it was staunchly black and white here whilst in the US it was colour. I was already shooting in digital at that stage so I had the option to deliver the pictures in either colour or black and white but there was no point in delievery in colour because no one wanted them.
I think this was largely dictated by the fact that the Spotlight book printed only black and white actor headshots. However, the online option of displaying headshots has changed that. The Spotlight book remains black and white however they accept both colour and black and white on the website.Also, pretty much all photographers are shooting headshots on digital cameras, more about what that means in a minute.
Spotlight
When I asked Spotlight what the current recommendation was regarding colour or black and white headshots they said that they suggest actors post half and half, ie. a couple in colour and black and white.
When I asked what they thought was currently favoured by Casting Directors the official line was that “whether colour or black or white the headshot should be an accurate representation of how you would look arriving for an audition”, meaning you should be immediately recognisable from your headshot.
Read more from Pete and delve deeper into this topic on his blog.
Website:http://www.petebartlett.com/
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