Colour, colour, colour! I dad new headshots with John Clark recently and he said only colour was good enough because that is the true reflection of how you look and I trust his judgement! Hope that helps!
Sue: don't know. All I can say (personal opinion) is that in every single case where someone has put up B&W and color* versions of the same headshot I've preferred the monchrome one.
To me B&W seems to let the character through more.
John Clark is easily one of the most experienced headshot photographer there is, so I would certainly think about taking his advice on board. You're not going to walk into a casting in black and white so why not give yourself the best possible chance and show casting directors and directors what you really look like?
I really don't think there is a wrong or a right. CDs have their own opinion and who knows how they decide on "us" for the part? I change mine from B & W to colour on a regular basis just to "mix it up".
I think it's a good idea to have a mix of both in your portfolio, regardless of which you have as your main picture.
CDs to have mixed opinions but I don't think any CD is going to be strongly put off by the sight of b&w pics if their preference is colour, or vice versa.
I'm more for colour. Why? Because my first ever headshot was BW and casting teams and directors kept telling me to get colour as BW didn't show my red hair and to be honest didn't really look as much like me as a colour one seems to. Hair, eye and skin colour are what make us unique and stand out.
BW are elegant and lovely and you still need them for theatre jobs where CDs might be more traditional. I do feel like your main photo is a statement about you, however, and so the colour and style should be matched to the type of work you seek.
I've seen some lovely new colour shots appearing in the featured column and it automatically makes me assume the actor is 'with it' and knowledgable about the industry today and the competition. When I see a BW image and it's classically beautifully shot in BW (not greyscale) I assume the actor has class and probably more traditionally trained actor who does stage work. When I see an obviously or badly greyscaled photo I never seem to have much of an opinion at all.
We all make snap judgements whether we like it or not and you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. So, I reckon choose your image based on basic stereotypes associated with the image type. Let the portfolio do the rest of the work. :-)
As a photographer - though not as established as John Clark! - I also say colour.
Black and White has long been the tradition, but so has very 'neutral' images - something that has also been changing over the past few years. The industry seems to finally be catching up with the US and moving (slightly) towards their type of image.
At the end of the day the most common comment about a headshot is that it should look like you when you walk in the room. Though you might have your hair and eye colour, and other details on a CV or profile, a colour image shows much more than 'green' or 'blue' or 'brown', and if someone is Black, Caucasian, or Asian, there is a whole multitude of skin tones that can't be shown in a Black and White image.
Of course, there will still be some CDs who prefer the traditional, but overall I think it's all moving towards colour.
11 years ago
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