Why Get New Headshots?

Why Get New Headshots?

by William Lulow

Over my many years in business, I have often gotten requests for headshots where folks have said, “I haven’t had this done in years. It’s time for me to get new headshots.” Well, in today’s world of online meetings, purchases, chats, Zoom sessions, and just about everything else, I think headshots should be renewed every year or so. Most people have the idea that once they get a good one, they shouldn’t have to redo it for years. And others don’t think that investing in new headshots is really necessary at all. When they have something they like, just stick to it.

I’m not just trying to sell my own services as much as instructing folks that we all change EVERY DAY. And what image you projected five years ago, is not necessarily the one you want to go with today. There are also many more photographers out there today than there were even five years ago. I have also said before, that no two photographers see the same subject the same way. Which is why I have also said that a portrait (maybe not so much as a headshot) is as much a picture of the photographer as it is his/her subject. This may sound like a crazy notion, but think about it. If you study the famous portrait photographers of the last century, you will find they often photographed the same people. They were also celebrities, many of them, so different magazines or other press outlets would commission different photographers to photograph them. So, at least a dozen photographers photographed Marilyn Monroe, J.P Morgan or Robert Redford, yet each image was different in the way the photographer approached the subject.

So, in the same way, I actually think it is a good idea for certain people to have portraits done by different photographers. One version is never the quintessential one. It just represents one person’s view of another person at a given point in time. And that’s exactly where the notion of getting a new portrait comes in. A portrait is really how the photographer sees the subject. A headshot, is a much more narrowly defined image altogether. If you are an actor/actress, your headshot needs to look like you, but at your best. And since this changes with time, actors need to update their headshots much more frequently. These have to show the person’s face and maybe more of his or her body (maybe a three-quarter length shot) and it has to be well lit so that casting directors can get a clear picture of exactly what the person looks like. This is needed for many reasons. They are often looking for a certain “type” person. They are looking for how the actor can be made up to fit a particular role. Or, they may just be looking to see what someone’s “look” is at a given time. And that’s what changes. Even your own image of yourself can change! So, that, itself, needs to be updated at some kind of regular interval.

A portrait, on the other hand, can be loosely defined as an image of someone in the photographer’s or painter’s mind’s eye. Which accounts for why the same people look different to different artists. Here is an example of the same person photographed by two different photographers:

I won’t say who the photographers were, but you can obviously see the difference in styles. The lighting is different, the expressions are different and the entire tone of each image is different.

So, if you are looking to get new and different headshots, you should follow through with that intention on a semi-regular basis. I would say every three to five years or so, or in the case of those who maintain a good public presence, maybe every year or two. Few of us look the same year after year. So, choosing a photographer to do your headshots really becomes a matter of deciding the kind of image you wish to project and then finding a photographer’s portfolio of images that most closely resembles what you have in mind. Then you will know that you will be happy with the results. It’s only when you haven’t thought it through that you might not be satisfied.