Avoid This Mistake When Newly Moving to the LA Market

headshot photographers LA; Vanie poyey

I recently spoke to a woman who had taken new headshots just a couple of months before her big move to LA.

After using her headshots at workshops and other events with industry professionals from LA, she came to realize that they were not quite up to par with industry standards.☹️

Amelia Hefferon: Theatre headshot / Best Friend

While they were well photographed and high-quality, she was missing the distinction between looks.

She hadn’t gotten specific enough with her headshots, which is something no actor can do without if they want to get auditions in LA.

There are two elements that make a headshot effective in LA. One is specific looks, and the other is personality.

Art Hsu: Lawyer / Creative Tech

Darius Webster: Hero / Aaliyah Sadler: Edgy 3/4 shot for print work

You need to define not only your categories but also your specific sub-categories.

In other words, if you fall into the Girl Next Door category, which girl next door are you specifically? 

Are you the Love Interest, the Hipster, the Best Friend or the Tom Boy? etc.

Personality in a headshot is what’s going to help differentiate you from the competition because YOU are the differentiation.

Your personality is what makes you uniquely castable. Is that a word or did I just make that up?🤔

Anywhoo, you get the point.

Jacki Graham: Best Friend / Detective

Jasmine Ryan: Anti-heroine / Margie Foley: Blue Collar Mom

Julia Motta: Love Interest / Hipster / Troubled teen

But back to our story…

THIS ACTRESS HAD SPENT GOOD MONEY ON HER HEADSHOTS and was now shopping to re-do her headshots with an LA photographer because of her upcoming move.

You might be thinking, “Why not try them and see if they work?”

While she can do that, the truth is if she isn’t willing to be idle when she moves to LA, she’ll have to get new headshots right away.

She wanted to hit the ground running and in my opinion, she was smart to recognize her mistake and work towards fixing it as soon as possible.

Lisa Greyson: Politician / Girls’ Night out

Lynn Carter: Creative Professional / Bohemian

Before making the big move to another market, be sure to research the standards in that market first and only take new headshots with a local photographer if you’re confident their work can emulate the standards in the market you’re targeting.

Otherwise, the best option is to wait until you move and schedule a session with one of the many photographers in that market.

Marlee Forsyth: Best Friend / Andrew Dominic: Coach

Mirai: Hipster / Valerie D. Young: Fortune Teller

___

I love helping you by putting out this free information (often written on weekends and evenings) so please help me spread the word by commenting and or sharing this post on your social feed! 🙏