MY LITTLE CHAMELEON
Ellena is one of my closest friends in the NYC/UCB community and I was so happy to be able to take her headshots again. She was one of the first handful of people that I ever took headshots of and it’s so gratifying to see how much her demeanor has changed infront of the camera and how my stylistic eye has changed as well. I even put her in some of my roommates dresses, clothes that I know that she wouldn’t necessarily pick for herself, but you’re not always going to be playing yourself when you get casted for projects.
One of the huge things that has changed in headshots in the last couple of years is that you no longer have just a commercial headshot and a dramatic headshot. You now can tailor make your headshots to the parts you apply for and get a leg up on the rest of the competition. You want to play a pissed off hipster? Get that picture. Quirky Librarian? Put on some glasses and a tight bun. Young Mom? Wear a cardigan or V neck sweater. You want to make it as easy as possible for these casting directors to see you in that role. I think Ellena did a great job of vary her look to really satisfy as many roles as possible. You should plan ahead, just like she did!
My friend Angela was nice enough to reblog this to her NYC Actor Blog and she did bring up some great advice and was able to clear up any confusion my advice might’ve given people. She’s the best. I also reccommend her blog for anyone who is trying to figure out how to be an actor in NYC and all you can do for yourself without having an agent (including on how to get an agent, or at least how to cultivate the relationships you need to to get one!).
Boop!
LETS GO BACK TO THE BASICS
This is my new friend Shannon P, who I so graciously met through the connection of Anna who was last featured on this very blog. Shannon went to NYU Tisch and was no stranger to headshots themselves, but felt that when she was meeting with agents and managers, the look that she was giving off in her pictures wasn’t the look that she was presenting to them in person when they met. Shannon was feeling the disconnect and decided it was time to get new pictures but before she chose to work with me, we met up at a Starbucks and just got on the same page.
I know I’ve written about this in the past, and some people opt to do it and others don’t — but we basically went in that meeting and mapped out our entire session that we would be having in the next week. WE MAPPED IT OUT. No lollygagging allowed. Anyway, we really wanted to play up quirky side and tailor the session to her and we did. We had such a blast.
I learned a lot in this session as well and now will make it mandatory to have this meet up session before hand so that we can deal with all of your questions and wardrobe malfunctions before it happens…because we’re next leveling this babe!
I have some January/February availability open and would love to take your headshots or your friends shots. Spread the word!
CHAOS THEORY!
We had our first show on Tuesday and TRENCHES went up first. It was scary and fun and I’m glad that we are getting to share with everyone what we’ve been working on for a while now. My organic class started back in March of 2011 and it ran for 12 weeks. Then we started up with the same people (except our beloved friend Joshua who because of work couldn’t continue with us) and worked our butts off another 8 weeks, trying to push what improv is and could be. Trying to see if we can trust each other for an hour, keep momentum up, keep surprising ourselves, stay present. I’ve only been in a handful of classes that have gotten this supportive and mushy and in love and it’s so rare but so great.
No limits on form. It can be as abstract or straight-forward. Fast or slow. Game heavy & character heavy. It just never stops morphing. It turns us all into little improv scientist. What will this move do? Will it have a huge reaction or impact to the piece or will it just help something else explode? Can we ruin it if we try? Does Murphys Law want to become present tonight? TRUST TRUST TRUST.
We look so serious in some of these pictures. I always find it funny when improv teams have serious pictures….I JUST DO. Also, I have more pictures of these people than I do of my own family or meals. Weird. Please enjoy this little morsel into our class/group.
TUESDAYS at 11 @ UCBNY January 10, 17, 24, 31 and February 7th!
Wear your partyhats, little cheeseburgers. ITS FRIDAY NIGHT.
(Source: nicklugo, via pizzzatime)
REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD.
I met Anna in 2008, while I was a senior in college and she was a baby sophomore who needed a headshot for a show at NYU. She was one of the first people I ever worked with and when the chance came up to work again, I couldn’t pass it up. Anna suggested that we take the photos on her roof because she had a certain aesthetic she had in mind. I have shot almost exclusively studio for the past year (with the exception of Morgan P.) so I was up for the challenge. Surprisingly, this photo was Frame 19 of ~1000. Sometimes it works that way and sometimes it takes time to get what you want but preparation & patience is all it takes!
I really enjoyed collaborating with Anna in what she wanted because together we were able to bring to life a picture that lived inside of her head. Here is to endless collaborations in the future. She is a gem!
I loved updating my website this week because it even reminded me of how lucky I am to do this!
GRAD SCHOOL BOUND
I met Norma through my good friend Julia W. (whose headshots I talk about in an earlier post here.) Julia and Norma went to high school together in NYC and when Norma needed a new headshot for grad school, Julia gave her my information.
Working with formally trained actors is a different feel to a session that was unexpected and so much fun. We got to create these fun characters that we were photographing and really got to think about what kind of roles Norma would be auditioning for and how a picture could really sell that. I think its an interesting approach that you can go in with, knowing that clothes and a hairstyle can make you look like a high school graduate and then a simple wardrobe change can elevate your status to corporate executive.
Norma is now in London getting her MFA in Acting and I wish the best for her in her new endeavour.
Norma reminds me of Amanda Peet and also a bit of Jocelyn Guest? If you have any friends who are in a theatre or drama program at need headshots, please don’t hesitate to have them contact me. YAYAYAYAY.
ONCE AGAIN IN THE SAME TOWN
Julie is from my hometown of Cincinnati, the home of the Flying Pig and Skyline Chili, yet we didn’t meet until we both were in NYC. Julie is a dream and reminds me of home and she’s also a very funny improviser who performs with Weekend Dad, The Smitts and Butterface.
For this shoot, all I was focused on was making sure that I brought out Julie’s warm nature and energy. I talk about energies a lot and its not to sound new agey, but for me its just a feeling that you get when a person is around. I think this picture captures Julie to a T.
I will be reblogging myself all week! Weeee.
A SET OF DREAMBOATS.
I am a very lucky photographer in which I get to take pictures of people that make me laugh and ones that I admire very much. I met Ryan after an improv show at a bar called Grassroots and 2 minutes later we were old friends. He needed a headshot for an audition in a crunch and I fit him in between a million other things. He was flexible and I was flexible and we both made it work.
One of the cool things that came with it was that his teammate Georgia, really liked the photos and opted to have me take her writers portrait. I was beyond flattered because it takes one thing to take a picture of your friend, but when someone picks you for the work you’ve done without really knowing you, it feels quite special. Georgia is a writer from Australia and works on projects from books to columns to screenplays. She also had a very busy schedule and was on many deadlines and we both were flexible enough to make it work.
TIP: Never be afraid to simply just ask a photographer if they can work with your special situation. If you need to break up your session between two different days, you want half studio/half street, or a longer session time, I am here to work with you to get the shot you like!
I am showing off some of the pictures I got to take this summer of some very lovely people. If you are looking to take new headshots, let me know by sending me an email at : melissagomezphoto@gmail.com.
Tomorrow features a fellow Ohioan! Love that midwest.
I am really noticing how much 140 characters can limit you and it challenges you to get creative with wordplay, or scrap your ending and come up with a better one, or one that actually fits.
My favorite one has to be the GOP debate one because it behavioral, while most of these require you to know the reference or stereotypes for it to work. I tried to think of another movie that Reese Witherspoon had been in and couldn’t remember for the life of me. I wasn’t even going to comment on it because of the whole “celeb” focus on Wednesday, but that one went out to my girl, Caitlin Tegart. Should’ve watched Election and Walk the Line to make a less obvious reference.
My topical tweets today were a bit too pop culture/”celeb” based and I can’t help it because that is the kind of imaginary shit I find funny, but I will try to diversify. I don’t think the Yahoo joke hit because I didn’t make it clear enough that Carol Bartz was the fired CEO, but I saw another tweet that was more concise & simple and hit it on the money. Economy of words is king.
