How to get great actors headshots

Recently I have had the opportunity to do a number of headshot sessions for actors in Reading and London.

I absolutely love doing them. But many actors find headshots awkward at best and, frankly, terrifying at worst!

This used to perplex me. My wife Sarah is an actress and I had seen her totally at ease with lights, cameras, audiences, you name it. But as soon as I sat her down and tried to take her picture, she became ever so slightly tense and irritable (soz dearest!)

[caption id="attachment_734" align="aligncenter" width="400"] My first headshot of Sarah from 2007[/caption]

I quickly learned that there is one very fundamental reason for this.

Sitting for a headshot is many things.... but it most certainly aint acting! 

Donegal wedding photography

In chess there's a saying 'the only way to get better is to play a smarter opponent'.

In photography that saying might read something like 'the only way to get better is to shoot with a smarter photographer'.

Fergal Megannety is one of the best (and therefore smartest!) photographers around. He has won numerous awards for his wedding photography and I happen to know just how good he is from personal experience - he was our wedding photographer back in 2007!