how do you find a place to get headshots for acting with little money?

Answer 1

Pick up a copy of Backstage and look in the ads for a deal. That's good enough to start off with. If that's still too much, you can have a friend who takes good pictures take them, usually right before sunset is good natural lighting. But eventually you will likely need professional shots because agents and casting directors can tell the amateur shots from the pros...

Answer 2

First, how old are you? Are you living in one of the major areas for theater or film, like LA, NY ? If you are 18 or under, and don't have an agent, you can have a friend take a photo of you with a digital camera. You can give that to an agent without spending a ton of money. If they take you as a client, they will recommend a photographer.

If you are going out there as an adult, they expect a bit more in a headshot. Just remember, your headshot is your calling card. It should look like you, and show who you are. Backstage is a resource, but if you know people who are doing what you want to do look at their pictures and if you like what you see, ask who took theirs.

If you really can't afford that get a friend with a digital camera and go outside like Orbit said and take a lot of pictures with different backgrounds, like a neighborhood with graffiti or exposed brick or trees and plants and use a really natural looking makeup and try several different changes of clothes. Don't wear wild prints or bulky fabric.
Simple is best in solid colors, maybe a jacket.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 3

Take them yourself. Here's how:

1) Get a hold of a nice digital camera. At least six mega-pixels. (Borrow one from someone.) And put it on a tripod.

2) Find a neutral back drop, preferrably outside. You need a backdrop that will not distract.

3) Take a lot of pictures! When I take headshots I usually take about 100 pictures. If you have a digital you might as well! Use several poses, backdrops, lighting, angles, etc... The more pictures you take the better odds you have of finding a good shot.

4) Go over all of your pictures and narrow it down to the best five.

5) Play around with some sort of photoshop-esqu program and make the pictures look better. (If you're not skilled with programs like these, try to find a friend who is. Otherwise trial and error should be better than nothing.

6) Send your prints to an online printing company. (Costco actually has pretty good prints, for a good price.) DO NOT just print them off of your computer.

Edit: Don't stress to much over a head shot. You need to have one, and it should look good, but I've talked to a lot of directors and none of them have said that a bad head shot would keep them from hiring you.

Answer 4

Ask your actor friends for the name of their headshot photographer. Headshots are expensive, it's part of being in the business. You can't take the photos yourself. You can't process them yourself.

Spend the money and get the headshots that meet the standards used by actors where you work and live.

Headshots are your professional "Business Card," it tells a lot about who you are. SPEND THE MONEY.
Or, find another career. If you don't have the money, wait until you have it.

Answer 5

If you wanta play the blues ya got's to pay the dues. There are reasons to have a proffesional head shot done. They want to know you are professional, they might want to print it in advertising and they can send it around to others who might be interested in your talent offerings. Typically the photo is included in your promo pack which should have your bio, experience, education and ect. The photo has to be made into a PMT (a lot of little dots) to be published in a newspaper, your photog should know all about this and anything else and thay can keep the negatives safe and you can place orders for what you need. But ya, it's gonna cost you some money to do it right.

Answer 6

Find a local college that has a photography program. Find a student, and make an offer............Headshots are pretty easy as far as professional photography goes, so most photography students are able and willing to do them for pretty cheap, and they'd probably have a lot better equipment then you'd be able to borrow yourself.