Cameron is an acting student at Flinders University's Drama Centre. I first met him when I photographed the Drama centre's 2015 production - a 3-hour epic. He came in to the studio last week to get new headshots to supplement the ones he had done as part of the course. These were done on location, so he wanted a clean, fresh studio look that reflected his professional goals to be recognised as an emerging acting talent, and to get noticed by casting directors. It is so important for actors to have a headshot that reflects their attitude to their career. I have interviewed many casting directors and all agree that a professional headshot is immediately impressive and expresses a positive attitude.
We approached the session with 3 slightly different looks with 3 changes of shirts, and I mixed the background tone and drama of the shots by shooting against a white background as well as a grey background. Cameron was SO easy to work with. His confidence is evident, and I really like the way he approached the shoot - with unwavering focus and determination. He responded really well to micro directions and this made it very easy to pose him in the light and focus on getting the right look.
Like most people, Cameron has a small eye difference, and although this is evident in these images I didn't want to over-edit the shots. I know that casting directors expect actors to look exactly as they do in life, so Cameron's shots are not 'tweaked' for things like eye balance or ear shape etc. However I can make those changes on request and often I do them for my own portfolio where total authenticity is less critical but where the final image needs to be polished.
I am looking forward to seeing Cameron's career evolve. He had just been cast in a TV series when we did our shoot, and I know he is going interstate with the rest of his peers at the Drama Centre for their annual showcase - I hope he is well armed with copies of his headshot to hand out!