Now that you’ve gotten your headshots printed, how do you get feedback and critique of them? Who can you trust? You should be cautious about the feedback given by certain types of individuals, because your feedback is supposed to be an accurate representation of what you look like. The people you are most familiar with, such as your family and close personal friends, can often be biased. This is not to say their feedback is without value, but you should also solicit feedback from people outside your immediate circle of friends and family.
Almost anyone who isn’t a close friend or relative can provide feedback as to whether or not your headshot actually looks like you, but it is a bit more difficult to nail down who can judge the effectiveness of your headshot. Casting directors are the most likely candidates here, but it’s rather unlikely that you would have one at your disposal. The next “most qualified” person would be a professional photographer with headshot experience, but sometimes these individuals can just be out to get your business, and might give negative feedback just for that reason. Of course, there are some ethical photographers out there, but you should tread carefully.
The Internet is probably the best way to obtain feedback about your headshots from absolute strangers. Quite often, you can find forums on acting-related sites where you can post your headshot for review. This can be a good way to get critiqued, but remember that many people aren’t really qualified or informed enough about what makes for a good headshot to provide completely useful and accurate feedback. As a matter of fact, the general “acting public” can sometimes be far too forgiving of less-than-professional looking headshots, and it is important to be very critical when it comes to your headshots.
One suggestion is to provide a number of headshot options, such as your favorite five to ten headshots for people to choose from, and ask them to choose the best and tell you why. This way, you can get an idea of why people think something isn’t working, and you can go to your next headshot photo shoot armed with this information to come out with a better series of headshots.
