Headshots. Actors, singers, and models are amongst those who need need professionally shot photos for their portfolio. These days though most of us seem to need a headshot. For work, social media or our leisure time a headshot is often essential and if we are going to have one it really should be a good one. In fact one is often not enough and it probably needs updating every year.

This Saturday I had the pleasure of taking some new headshots for actor and fight director Matt Gardner (@mattactswithswords). Matt is currently playing Kaliban in YSC’s touring production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and he realised that new beard meant new headshot opportunity. Like many actors Matt knows that a photo can be more than a representation of what you look like, it can also be a way of showing some of the characters and roles you are perfect for. The shot below for example, though more of an environmental portrait than a headshot, is one of my favourites of Matt in a business setting.

This Saturday the weather was more sunny than we encountered at Canary Wharf, so we looked for some suitable locations with good backgrounds that avoided the contrasty glare of the sun. When I process any portraits or headsets I know they are likely to be used on screens and in print and needed in colour or black & white so I always create special versions for each. Here are some of the shots: