Headshot Photographer Los Angeles

Ismael was referred to me by his acting coach.  I’ve shot several of his classmates and have a few more coming up.  Of the ones that I have shot, it’s funny to imagine them all in a class together since they’re such a dynamic bunch.  Ismael is 18, a student at NY Film Academy, and his family just moved to California a year ago from Puerto Rico.   He told me that in one of his first acting classes (while he was still very timid, he adds), he had to improvise a role as a sexual molester.  Ha!  With this face?  Unbelievable

Today, I’m going in to see William Morris Endeavor for the first time.  Can’t wait to see what their office is like.

Mycah is a recent graduate of UCLA and just started acting.  I thought this location would work well for his skin tone.  Great kid with a very positive energy.

Marielle was a referral from a friend of mine, and I’m going to steal a title from Toni Morrison to describe her – The Bluest Eyes!  It’s a shade of blue that you just get lost in staring into, even looking through the camera.  Very striking, and she’s got a vivacious personality.

One of the best things about my jobs now that I didn’t get to experience before when I was a software engineer is that I always get to meet new people.  Whether it’s someone standing in front of my camera or someone sitting in my hairstyling chair, there’s always the opportunity with my new professions to talk and get to know the person.  Simply put, it’s part of my job, and I like that aspect very much.  Some of my clients end up becoming friends, and even the ones that I don’t keep in contact with afterwards, we’ve shared time together before they’re off with new photos or a haircut.

Dr. Erick Stone came to me as an agency referral, and I knew within the first few minutes of meeting him that I was going to like this guy.  He’s just a great, down-to-earth family man.  A graduate of USC medical school, Dr. Stone practiced emergency medicine for a large portion of his life before facing occupational burnout.  The remedy?  He started taking acting classes.  :)  Acting sparked a renewed interest in him, and he soon quit his medical practice.  It’s often said that passion plays an integral role in success, and it didn’t take long before Dr. Stone was snatched up by a commercial agent.  I was his first headshot photographer, and I was encouraged by his story.  It’s never too late to follow your passion!

I can’t believe this is my first post for 2013.  A lot of things are happening in my life right now with my other career path (I’m also a hairstylist), so unfortunately, it pushes the priority of this blog back a little bit.  I’ll try to stay on top of it.  It’s good to be updating, because I am still shooting!

Christina was a referral from a good friend of mine.  You know you’re working with a seasoned commercial actress when she tells you that she’s filmed six national commercials in the last two years!  Wowzers!  Just take one look at her commercial headshots below, and you’ll know the reason for her success.  This is one marketable face.

Despite being such a successful commercial actress, Christina is still trying to make headway on the theatrical front, so one of our primary goals of our session was to get a strong theatrical headshot.  For that, we headed to one of my favorite headshot locations.  If you saw the Dark Knight Rises, this is where the police chase scene was filmed about 45 minutes into the movie.  It’s also the ending scene with the helicopter.  I see this location used all the time in movies, and it’s funny because I know it well enough that sometimes when they pull a fast location switch (in the chase scene for example, they turn a corner, and the location actually switches), I’ll know it.  Anyway, I digress.  Here are some of Christina’s theatrical shots.

Here’s a link to one of Christina’s past SuperBowl commercials:  Commercial

I asked Shawn how he found me, and it turns out that it was his mother, who was quite an actress back in the day who found me online and picked me out of 30 headshot photographers!  Pretty cool.

Taylor was referred to me through his agent.  We did a seven look session, which can be really long and taxing, but Taylor came fully prepared and organized.  He brought a list detailing each outfit for each look.  We operated throughout the shoot like a well-oiled machine, knocking out the looks.  I’ve been getting consistent referrals from his agency, and I really like shooting their actors, because their agent knows exactly what he wants and makes the actor do their homework in picking out the wardrobe.  Definitely helps to make the shoot easy and fun.

Had a fun time shooting with the beautiful and energetic Savannah from Utah!  She was sent over from one of the agencies that I shoot for to get some updated, clean, commercial headshots.  Savannah has an affinity for girlie pink and the macabre…quite a combo, huh? ha!  There’s an important lesson to be learned from Savannah’s shoot.  While she was getting her hair done, the stylist styled her bangs to the side.  When Savannah saw herself in the mirror, she requested that the bangs be brushed forward because that’s how she normally goes into castings.  Kudos to her for wanting to be accurately represented in her headshots.  Know your look!  Also, shoutout to Shiou at Michael John Salon for the awesome makeup and hair.  Shiou  brings it every single time!

I’ve been getting headshot referrals from The Wallis Talent Agency, a fantastic little agency with some great talent.  Two of my clients were sent from them last week, and Ethan was one of them.  First of all, I just have to say, this Colorado native is so talented.  He sings, acts, writes, does stand up, and has an awesome personality.  He had me smiling the whole session.  I hope this kid goes far.

Lisa is a musical theater/acting student and one of my recent clients.  She has such pretty features that she reminds me of a doll.  Both the hairstylist and I marveled at how amazing her hair is.  The length, the color, the texture; future hair commercial model here for certain.  For the outdoor shots, it was the first time that I shot during golden hour.  That definitely had its own challenges (with the diminishing light…we were racing!) and color balance, but I think it also brought a different softness to the skin tone.