Headshots Exposed

Lesson for the day: I need to squint more.

Apparently, squinty in photographic terms equals smouldering, and after a quick review of headshots taken for me this afternoon by Ottawa photographer Andrew Alexander, I think I need to smoulder more. Just in general. Who knew?

It’s been a good 10 years since I worked as a lab tech and camera salesman, and while (sadly for me) technology hasn’t advanced enough to have come up with a filter that reduces fugly, Andrew did a pretty crafty job today making a silk purse out of this sows ear.

I’d been wanting to get updated headshots done for the past few months, and as any actor knows, having a set of professional and artful head shots in ones arsenal is pretty key to starting out in the biz. Having become acquainted with a bunch of theatre-types over the last 6 months or so, and having seen as much theatre as I have over the past year, I’ve gotten to see a lot of headshots in theatre lobbies and programs, and over that time I’ve had occasion to see some of Andrew’s work and have been consistently impressed by it.

In a weird coincidence, as I was preparing to contact him to set up a shoot, he recently contacted me, to lend him a hand as a subject in a personal project he was working on which involved wading about in the fields of the Experimental Farm one evening last week. Having since seen a few images from that shoot, they only confirmed what I already knew, this guy has a keen and artistic eye for light, composition and depth of field and knows how to put together a compelling image. (Not quite sure what of value my mug brought to the party, but then what do I know.)

So after making the requisite arrangements, I spent the afternoon with Andrew shooting and reviewing a range of headshots, which turned out to be a valuable and educational experience. And apart from being not only proficient and professional, Andrew turns out to be an all around decent guy and an absolute pleasure to work with.

I met Andrew a while back at of all things  a party he had a hand in organizing where the main event was a screening of the Robot Chicken Star Wars episodes (…don’t judge me – if you haven’t seen them, they are just about the funniest things ever). Costumes were encouraged, and after striking down the idea of painting myself bronze and going as Han Solo frozen in Carbonite, I decided on the somewhat less labour intensive (and slightly less geeky, lets face it) Death Star costume, which in the end only cost me a black t-shirt, half a nerf soccer ball and some white paint. In the end, in true tv sitcom fashion, most of the other attendees ended up bailing on the whole costume thing, astutely realizing that everybody else probably would too, and I ended up looking a little (more) nerdy (…than usual) for having gone through with it, but in the end fun was had by all.

Anyhow, for someone who normally cringes at the thought of the world having to endure one more photograph of them in it, I had a great experience working with Andrew today and I think the final results are going to be fabulous. He’s one of the regions best and most artistically minded  photographers in my opinion and I’d recommend his services highly to any of you who might be in the market for new headshots.

Check him out at at www.andrewalexander.ca

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~ by oberholzert on August 18, 2010.