Apr 1, 2025
You're not just a voice - a high-quality headshot can boost your
marketing, branding, and online presence. In this episode, the
BOSSes share expert tips from their experiences collaborating with
headshot photographers to ensure a session that captures your true
essence. From selecting the right outfits and makeup to
incorporating signature looks, we provide insights on creating
headshots that capture your brand. Authenticity is key, and with
the right preparation, you can showcase your uniqueness and connect
with your audience more powerfully. Remember, your unique features
are assets, not hindrances, and capturing them authentically can
lead to professional success.
00:05 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Hey guys, Anne Ganguzza here. Imagine a voiceover journey where
every step is filled with discovery and growth. That's the path I
want to work on with you, through nurturing coaching and creative
demo production. Let's unveil the true potential of your voice
together. It's not just about the destination, it's about the
gorgeous journey getting there. Are you ready to take the first
step? Connect with me at Anne Ganguzza.
00:37 - Intro (Announcement)
It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level.
These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being
utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business
like a boss a VO boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne
Ganguzza.
00:56 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss Podcast and the Boss
Superpower Series. I'm here with my lovely, lovely co-host, Lau
Lapides. Hi, Lau Lapides, how are you? I'm great, how are you? I am
wonderful, wonderful. So, Lau, this week it's funny how many times
I usually ask my students for their headshots so that I can help
promote their demos that we've just finished and I produced and I
like to put them in my YouTube channel, and I like to put a
headshot with demo and testimonial. And it amazes me how many voice
actors don't really have a good headshot or don't have one. They're
like, well, I'm waiting to get my headshots or I haven't thought
about getting headshots yet. Or can I just give you this picture,
and it's funny because I think headshots are so important for our
careers, and so maybe we should talk about why do we need headshots
and what goes into a good headshot.
01:51 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I love that, annie. It's such a long time coming too, because I
hear so many clients and some of my talent actually most of my
talent now are really on the headshot wagon for their websites, for
their whatever they're doing.
02:03
A lot of them are actors on IMDb, on Actors Access, on Casting
Networks, you name it. They're kind of all over the moon, and so
one of the things we talk about all the time is you have to have
great headshots, not only for your marketing, your PR, for your
business, but also it's important if you're ever going to do
on-camera work, and some of them do really want to do on-camera
work authentically. They're excited about doing industrials or
training videos or whatever, and so we have to have industry
standard, professional demos. I think one of the biggest problems
we see, annie, is people going to their mother's brother's first
cousin to shoot their headshots, and it's always bad when they do
that, because you're doing that to save money and we have to be
careful of that.
02:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think that there's a lot to be said for a
really good shot on your iPhone, because you know the cameras are
getting better and better. However, there's a lot to be said for
going to get a professional headshot, and I am a big believer in
that, and anybody who just goes to my website or has ever gone to
my website knows how much I utilize my headshots in my website for
like every other page and it really helps in my marketing, in my
branding, I mean.
03:19 - Lau Lapides (Host)
And we get so tired. Annie, god bless you. I know you and I, who
use our shots all the time. I get so tired of the same shots. Yeah,
me too. I myself did three headshot shoots last year alone. I did
three and I'm like, oh my gosh, it's like I'm an A-lister. No, I'm
just a business owner. I'm a business owner that wants to have
different feels, looks, appeals for different kinds of things,
yeah, that work for different instances, and I'll tell you
what.
03:50 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
So my last headshot right, when we talk about what goes, it may be
prepping for your headshot, but what goes into it, because I've
been doing this for so long and I have the same headshot
photographer that I've had for probably 10 years and she knows me
very well and I know her very well. And this last time, when I
went, I literally brought at least 10 different changes of clothes
and that is kind of excessive. But I knew what I wanted, right, I
knew the different types of shots that I wanted and it took me
weeks to curate my outfits, but it really worked for me, right, it
really worked for me.
04:18
And I got a variety of different shots and literally we shot
probably the entire day, which you know it was not necessarily a
cheap thing, but I have gotten so much use and so much footage out
of these headshots that it's been really incredible, I mean
honestly. And she even did video, and the video helped too, because
I've got video that's on my website as well. And me in action me
behind the mic, me doing different things. So let's talk about
first of all. Tell me why you think it's necessary these days to
have a good headshot.
04:50 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Oh, 100% airtight, you need a headshot. I would even say that if
you're not a performer, I would say that if you are working in
banking, if you're a real estate person, if you're an attorney, you
need excellent even for your LinkedIn Like that's become a big
thing shots for your LinkedIn, but still the shots are not great
that you're seeing in corporate America. They just really are not
great. So I would suggest that you look up you Google or you go to
your coaching team and say I need excellent photographers in my
area within this radius that are actor headshot photographers, not
business photographers, not wedding photographers, not child
photographers, but they understand the sensibility of a
professional headshot and I need to have that because I'm going to
be putting out my photo everywhere, whether I'm doing it in my own
advertising, whether I'm working a project and they want me to send
them shots for that project.
05:47
I mean, there's so many Social media. Put your great shots on
social media. There's so many reasons why you have to have it now
right. That's one of the biggest mistakes I see happen. Just to
save a few bucks is to go to someone who's inexpensive or go to a
family member or try to do it yourself. I think it's very difficult
because there's a certain sense that a headshot photographer has
about lighting you, about your makeup, about knowing what
translates on camera.
06:16
Yeah, I mean it's really everything, and it's the sensibility of
making you look like you, not a glamorized version of you, but you
on an awesome day.
06:27 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Well, back in the day, like the Sears or JCPenney.
06:30 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Yeah, glamour shots. No that you would just go and they all had the
same background.
06:33 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Yeah, I love those, but they were all very much like a similar
style, right, and so I think what we need to do as creatives and
entrepreneurs is, no matter who you are actually, I think the more
you can showcase your personality through your headshots, the
better and more effective they will be, and so, for me, when I was
picking out my outfits, I was trying to figure out okay, who am I,
what aspects of my personality do I want to showcase, and where am
I going to use these headshots? And so I knew that I would use a
lot of them for my website.
07:04
I knew that I was going to use a lot of them for social media
advertisements about what I do, so of course, I needed props.
Right, and props were. I brought every single pair of glasses, by
the way, and on my Ann Genguza coaching page you'll see a video
shot of me with about 12 different pairs of glasses, because that's
just part of my personality, right I?
07:22
love it. And also I'm hoping that some eyewear company will say oh
Ann, please be a brand ambassador for us because I love glasses.
But I did. I brought like 10 different pairs of glasses.
07:32
It was something I literally had to plan when I was going for my
shot and I had to make sure that she knew that I had at least eight
different looks that I wanted to shoot and that usually they charge
based upon how many looks and then they charge on how many
digital.
07:47
Because she gave me all digital shots and because I've known her
forever, I'm like just give me all the shots, right, and then I'll
pay you to edit the ones that I think I'll use ultimately. And that
is a time consuming process, but it was definitely well worth my
time and I paid for makeup and hair on the day and I wanted to make
sure I had three different hairstyles as well. So that is like
okay, when am I going to take the straight hair shot? And then we
have to have time to curl my hair and when am I going to take the
curled hair headshot? And then what am I going to do? Am I going to
keep it all in front of me? Am I going to maybe put half of it
back. So there's all sorts of different looks that I was curating
for those headshots.
08:25 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Absolutely. I think those are all important points, and you're a
pro and you've been doing this for years and years and years, and
so you're at a point where you're doing really a pro shot. You're
doing a pro shoot. That's really also full body shots, and that's
something— I did full body shots as well. I think there's a couple
steps that I think the early entry person needs to follow so they
don't get overwhelmed, and the first one is finding a photographer
and finding someone within a geographical distance that you're
willing to travel, and finding someone within your budget. So you
have to understand what your budget is and what the market rate
will bear and put those people by your coaches so that they can
okay it for you, so that you're not going to a charlatan or someone
who really doesn't have a gallery of actual headshots, but really
more of a wedding photographer. You have to be careful of that
right. So it's really selecting the right photographer for you and
also knowing am I doing headshots only or am I doing full body
shots?
09:21 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
as well.
09:22 - Lau Lapides (Host)
And that's another decision to make, which will cost you a lot more
money to do that.
09:25 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
It's more of an investment to do that and, for the most part, most
professional photographers have a website where you can look at
their portfolio and see the type of shots that they've taken before
and get a cost estimate. And I will say that this is something that
you have to prepare for. You have to actually say I am going to
make an investment in my headshots because they are important for
my business.
09:47 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Right, they are important and don't avoid it, don't treat it like
the plague, don't say oh.
09:51
I hate it, I don't want to do it. That's not a good start. You want
to really discipline your mind to say I need this because I'm
reaching out to my audience, I'm reaching out to potential clients
and they need to see me, they need to see who I am. So once you
select that photographer and you figure out what your budget is and
decide am I doing headshot, which is typical, like a bust-up shot,
or am I doing a full-body shot? Right, and you can discuss that
with your coaching team easily. Now you have to kind of figure out
what am I going to bring and I would say for a headshot.
10:23
What you said was not excessive. I say you bring the 5 to 10
tops.
10:28 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
It took me three trips from my car to the studio with all of my
stuff oh, it takes a lot of trips and shoes, because I knew I was
doing full body shots. I had to do shoes. I had boots and then I
had jewelry. I brought my entire jewelry like case. I had packed
that because I wanted to switch out jewelry as well. Yes, exactly,
and ultimately it was a long day. I was exhausted. However, it was
amazing. And then I did another photo shoot with the same
photographer. That was a different style. It wasn't four headshots
for my website or my business. It was Jerry and I, and it was Jerry
and I at the beach. I always wanted to do a shot at the pier with
Jerry and so I said well, let's make it a full day. And again, I
curated outfits and I actually took photos of myself in the outfits
and then got people's opinions or looked at myself, because
sometimes what you think looks great and when you take a photograph
of it, sometimes it doesn't look the same way.
11:21
And so I highly recommend that, if you can, you can get like a
really inexpensive like stand, a really inexpensive set of lights,
which I do for a lot of my marketing for brands that I work with
for clothing, and your iPhone right, I mean, that's how I do all of
my shots for that and a really good editing software that you can
have on your phone, which I have all of these things, by the way,
linked on anganguzacom in my shop section, because I love them and
I feel like for any voice actor it's good. Like the lighting that I
have in the studio is important. Lighting is, oh my gosh, almost
everything, and you also have to be considerate of where's the
studio. Are you going to do it inside or outside? And inside do
they do it with natural?
12:06
I think natural light is the very best lighting, and so if they
have a studio that has a lot of windows, that you can be facing the
windows, because that's your best light on your face, and so you
can practice on yourself and take lots of different pictures and
figure out what sort of positions, do I have a good side, do I have
a bad side, do I have preferences that you can then communicate to
your photographer and also, like I said, curate some outfits and
take some pictures of yourself in those outfits to see how they
look in a photo, and then maybe you can even send, like, here's a
look that I was thinking of.
12:40
You can even send those to your photographer ahead of time to see
what they think. That's just because I have a really good
relationship with mine, but it does help a lot to get their
professional opinion and she knows where to go with that camera to
get the best picture of me, because she probably took, I think, on
that day, maybe a thousand shots and I think I ended up with 500 of
them, but I'm using maybe 50. So, but still, that's a lot of
shots.
13:06 - Lau Lapides (Host)
That's huge. That's a lot of shots, I would say, for folks
listening in who are going for their first time, or maybe their
second time, but their first time in. It's scary it is. It's a
scary. You've got to get comfortable in front of the camera. It can
be upsetting, psychologically demanding, to look at yourself and
you want that photographer to work with you and show you what they
are shooting, as they're shooting it.
13:33 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Oh, absolutely, and ask to see those photos as they're shooting
them, deal with what you see, and that's something that you've got
to do.
13:42 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Whatever you need to do, meditate, drink water, see a therapist,
whatever you need to do, do not unload on the photographer. They're
just there to shoot you and make you look great. But the
psychological hurdles that you're going to need to overcome with
dealing with your age, your weight, your style I'm going to be
honest. I'm going to be transparent. Mom is going to tell you the
truth. It's going to be hard, it's not going to be easy.
14:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
It's like looking in a mirror and it's hard. And if you hate
yourself in the mirror?
14:13 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Most people do not like it. They do not like the experience, they
do not like looking at themselves. So it's just like listening to
yourself, right, annie? You have to do it a lot and get used to it
and know that that's kind of a necessary part of our industry. I
would say start out simple, like, just start out with doing a
headshot, having some great tops, layer it, bring in some jackets,
some sweaters, right? Nothing busy. Don't make sure you don't have
words, sequins, shiny things on your clothes. See what I'm wearing
today. It's awesome, but not great for a headshot, because it's too
busy looking, unless it's what we call a personality shot. Yes, so
a personality shot is not a standard headshot. It is
different.
14:54 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
That's what I'm going to talk about. I think the personality shot
almost always sometimes looks better.
14:59 - Intro (Announcement)
I mean there's a place for each right.
15:01 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Yeah, the personality shot is like what is it that makes you you?
What is it that makes you laugh? What is it that you're passionate
about? Like, do you have a hobby that you're passionate about? I
mean outside of voiceover. Right, for me it was, you know. I'm just
trying to think what I did. I mean because I loved. Well, I did the
whole family shot by the ocean, because we love the ocean. I loved
horses.
15:20
So you know what I mean. I have different aspects. I have my cowboy
boots. I always do a business shot.
15:26 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I always do a corporate shot right. There's a mom shot. There's
different roles you're thinking about, of what you give off, what
you play, whether you're an actor or you're not an actor, like
what's your perception of what you give off to the world, and you
want to match that for sure. So, starting with the headshot, I
think is great, annie, to just start sort of simply like that and
thinking about how do I wear my, how do I want to wear my hair? Do
I like it down? Do I?
15:49 - Intro (Announcement)
like it up.
15:50 - Lau Lapides (Host)
How do I like my makeup? You know, having that makeup artist in
hair is so important, because you translate so differently on
camera than you do in real life.
15:59 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Now, even for, let's say, guys who are not necessarily wearing
makeup, or is that something that they should consider when taking
headshots?
16:07 - Lau Lapides (Host)
No, honestly, I don't recommend men to have makeup. I just say
listen, have a good powder on hand, have some great
chapstick.
16:14 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Yeah, because you don't want the shine.
16:15 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Yeah, they can do it in.
16:16 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Photoshop. I will say something about glasses, because you have to
be careful about the angle. So, like right now, you can see as I
look up towards the light. You can see the reflection in my
glasses. Right, right. So the photographer needs to know the angle
right of the lighting that they have in there and that it's not
reflecting off the glasses. There are a lot of times you can get
frames without any lenses and sometimes this is the best solution
Actually the photographer Fig.
16:42 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Good, See, this is the difference, you guys Listen up, Between a
wedding photographer, a child photographer and an actor
photographer. One of my photographers was so pro, he gave me his
own glasses, his props, and he popped out the lenses and he said
here you go. And I said, really, you don't want the light. He's
like no, no, I don't want any reflection, I just need the rims,
Because they have to try to get rid of it in the end.
17:05 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
And for me, I need my glasses. I cannot literally read or see
without them, and so they are prescription and, the funny thing is,
Lau. If you look really closely, you're going to see one of my eyes
is bigger than the other, and that's because one of my eyes is much
worse than the other and my lens is thicker, so it's magnifying my
eye. Now for me.
17:24 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I thought you were going to say you have a fake glass eye and
you're going to plop it out For me. I was like, oh my God, I didn't
know that.
17:30 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
For me, I call my other eye the droopy eye because it looks like
it's drooping, like this one looks like it's drooping and now that
I've just pointed it out for everybody. But when I do my Teachable
Moments videos, I will have days when I'm tired right and my one
eye really droops more, and also the angle of the camera has a lot
to do with it. So if I'm looking like this, you're not going to
notice that this eye is bigger, but if I look this way, you're
going to notice this eye is much bigger than this eye. That's
fun.
17:53
So it is a thing, and it's only because the lens is thicker, the
magnification is thicker, and you know your angles too.
17:59
That's how much I've been on camera and you know you are very aware
and that's something you can communicate to your photographer. But
even If they're good, they're going to make you look good. They
know the angle, they know where to come, they know where to place
you within the light. They're going to make you feel good about
yourself. So, if you can find Now, I have been all different
weights, I've felt all different ways about myself and I've needed
headshots, and so she has gone through my lifetime with me. I feel
the last 10 years she's been with me through heavier times, thinner
times, and always that affects how I feel about myself and how I
feel about myself in front of the camera, and she has always. I've
trusted her with my life because she's always been able to make me
look good or feel good about myself. That, to me, is priceless
right, that she is worth every penny because she knows me and she
knows how to take a good picture of me.
18:50 - Lau Lapides (Host)
So you know, Annie, what you're saying, I think, is so treasurable,
because and you may only meet this person once and not see them
again or not see them for a long time but how that photography team
makes you feel about yourself is so important. You don't want them
to be overly critical, you don't want them to be rushing, rushing,
rushing, rushing. You don't want that factory approach, you want a
personalized approach. So I would say listen, talk to them first.
Get a quick Zoom meet, get a quick in-person meet, if you
can.
19:20 - Intro (Announcement)
Sure, absolutely To get engaged.
19:22 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Do they want to spend a little time with you? Are they going to
rush you in and out of the door and not care which? A lot of
photographers like that too. Right, Annie, you've met them here's
the thing right.
19:31 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
I think there's a special skill in smiling right, in smiling for a
camera, right, my husband for the life of him. Like every time I
tell him to smile, he's like and it's like, really fake. Yeah, it's
really fake. Like so many people don't understand how to smile for
the camera. Now, it is not a natural thing. I think most people
just feel like they have to put on this particular look.
19:51
Now a good photographer and or their assistants are going to be
able to make you smile, a natural smile, Because sometimes they'll
just say, okay, smile, and you'll be like you know, and that you're
not going to like any of your photos because it's not real, so
maybe they can tell you a joke and then take multiple pictures
while you're laughing Right, and that's usually the good, almost
candid shots that I think are always like the award-winning
headshots, when you're just like you're like right in the middle of
a natural emotion.
20:19 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Great minds think alike. That conversation, you know this is so
funny. There's so much bridge into what we do as voiceover talent.
It's like are you authentically real, Are? You talking to the
photographer as a person. Are you having conversations, are
you?
20:34 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
talking about life. Can I just say this? This is absolutely
parallel to when we tell people to smile when they're reading copy.
Right, there's a difference between smiling like hi, I'm Ann and
I'm going to read this copy with this fake smile Notice how I have
a fake smile and it's a fake smile and it doesn't sound good
because my mouth is like in a position that is not making me
sound.
20:53 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I can see it in your eyes too, your eyes.
20:55 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Exactly For me. I'm happy and bubbly anyway, so I can just think a
smile. I don't always have to form my mouth in a smile, but if I
tell some people to smile, it'll make them sound a little less
serious. So notice how, if I'm just like oh my God, like Lau, you
just made me laugh, right, that's such a better smile. So what we
try to tell you in voiceover when we're saying I want you to smile,
I want to hear that smile in the copy. I don't want to hear a fake
smile, just as in photography. We don't want to see a fake smile.
We want to see a real smile. We want to see real emotion. We want
your personality, your heart to be shown and your happiness and
your joy.
21:29 - Lau Lapides (Host)
And I would use hacks like bring in a prop or have like I have my
coffee in my hand right now, because my coffee is kind of like
connected to me by the hip you know, I always have a water or a
coffee in my hand.
21:40
It just makes me feel like a person. It makes me feel like I'm
living life. It's just me, right? But what makes you feel that way?
Maybe you'll have a little teddy bear in your hand, or you have a
little stress squeezer. We're not going to see it on camera, yeah,
just like we don't see it in your voiceover, but maybe I need that
so that I can make myself laugh or talk to the photographer about
you know, I'm kind of nervous, I'm kind of stressed.
22:03 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
A lot of people are, and a good photographer will be able to like
either make you laugh or get you to be more natural or more relaxed
and comfortable. I can't how many times did we go for those school
photos?
22:16 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Oh God, I was thinking about school photos. I can't believe you
said that, annie. Do you remember the days where we had the little
clip-on animals for our collars.
22:24 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
They were a thing.
22:25 - Lau Lapides (Host)
So, like my fourth grade shot, I have a clip-on raccoon. It was
like yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, we're still kind of doing that when we
get in front of a camera. We're still kind of like deer in the
headlights. You have to be careful about that.
22:40 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
I would say even warm up, like my husband, who has the best smile
ever when he gets in front of the camera. And, by the way, I will
tell you my husband, I got him. He's now hired to work alongside me
with one of my brands as an influencer. He's hysterical, he's
really great on camera. But whenever I say when he wants to pose to
do photos, right, I mean they're like okay, now smile and he'll go
and it'll be like the most stiff. I'm like no.
23:02 - Intro (Announcement)
Jerry, just like say something.
23:04 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Let me just tell you a joke, Jerry oh my God. Remember the other
day when we did this, and then I'll get him in the middle of a
smile and it completely changes the photo. Yeah, so it's something
that how many times can we do a selfie? Right, we can take selfies,
we can practice. You can see what you look like when you fake
smile. So really, just practice as well, and it's not a bad idea to
get yourself a tripod and a remote control little.
23:30
Blippi, that works via Bluetooth with your iPhone or Android so
that you can click a picture when you're standing there right and
do a pose and then just do multiple pictures and figure out. Oh
okay, I like myself when I'm angled like this or when I smile, I
can't lift my head up too high, or if I put my chin down just a
little bit, right, you can really learn what works for you and I
think there's some valuable information in spending 20 bucks and
getting that tripod and getting that little clicker, which I think
costs $20, if not less, and connecting up via Bluetooth with your
phone and, boom, taking the picture, taking multiple pictures and
getting lighting, by the way, which won't cost you more than I'm
going to say. The lighting that I have won't cost you more than a
hundred bucks.
24:12 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Put those on tripods, you could even get just a ring
light.
24:15 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Just get a ring light right, I don't love ring lights because I
have glasses and I think the ring lights show like they're very
obvious. So I have lighting, like I have in my studio, which are
like kind of the soft pillowy LED lights that have the big what do
they call those? The big puffy like white coverings over
them.
24:33 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Yeah, they're like a soft box kind of lighting. Yeah, that's
it.
24:37 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
I have a soft box, I have two soft box and I make sure that I'm
standing in front of a window, because then you have the three
areas of light which and I make sure that I'm standing in front of
a window because then you have the three areas of light, which is
critical for good lighting.
24:46 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Now I get your secret, Annie. Now I know why you look like you're
18. That's your secret. It's good lighting. Why does she look like
she's 18?
24:52 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
What is going on with her lighting? Yeah, Awesome. By the way,
links. I'll link that in the show notes.
24:57 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Love it Eyelines. That's something that know about on-camera
actors. Vo talent don't know about that. It's important for you for
when you do your photo shoot and that means where my eyes are
focused. So in a headshot shoot, they are focused directly at the
camera. But the caveat is especially for VO talent, who you're
showcasing your business as well. I would suggest you bring to the
studio your microphone, your headphones, because they're easy to
throw in a bag, you don't have to worry about it and take some of
those shots.
25:30 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Take a cable too. Don't forget the cable, because if you take a
photo without the microphone, with a cable, it's very obvious to
all of us.
25:37 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Unless you're a podcaster and you're sitting down, so that's up to
you. But yes, take a cable and be in action, and you may not be
looking at the camera. You may be looking at your script, you may
be in an action shot, which is really great, but your eyeline is
going to give away. Are you directly involved in what you're doing
or are you not involved with what you're doing? A headshot for an
actor should be direct address to the camera, but for a voiceover
talent, you'll have that, but then you'll have. You know, maybe I'm
talking, maybe I'm doing this, maybe I'm doing that, and that's
kind of cool for people to see you in action you know, Good
photographer will be able to tell you where to look.
26:13 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
And what's interesting is, remember we talked about my droopy eye.
Okay, so because of my droopy eye, which became so much more
noticeable as I needed a thicker lens, my photographer, she's like
okay, normally you are looking right in the camera, but I think I
need you to look above the camera slightly because you've got that
eye and I'm like yeah, so you'll notice. Right now I'm looking at
the camera, laura, right?
26:35 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I never knew this. This is news to me.
26:36 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Watch me, now I'm looking at the camera Now I'm going to look
slightly above the camera, and it makes a difference, right? Oh my
God, that's crazy. Right, it makes a big difference See.
26:45 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I have known you for how long? A couple years.
26:47 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
And I never knew that. See, now everybody's going to be looking at
my eye. They're going to say, oh, droopy eye, no no, it's because
it's a choice.
27:04 - Lau Lapides (Host)
It's all your choice. Oh, I love it. Talk about strategy.
27:08 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
And guys, I mean here's the deal. Like I so much put myself in
front of the camera every day when I was young and I had a very
severe case of lazy eye where I was almost blind, so my eye was in
the corner, this bad eye, the one eye that looks bigger, it was
very much in the corner, and when I get tired, right still, my good
eye does all the work, even with glasses. Oh, how interesting,
because it's been trained since the year three yeah, the year three
of my life, since I've worn glasses since I was three and so even
with glasses, my good eye does all the work.
27:36
So when I get tired this eye, it will tend to kind of go a little
bit in the corner, and I notice it all the time. A little bit in
the corner and I notice it all the time. I mean, I used to get made
fun of it and so you may think I'm completely confident in front of
the camera. But I know, like I know okay, my eye will tend to drift
if I'm tired or I might have to like really like pay attention to
look a little brighter. That's right, but it's good to know
yourself.
27:57
It's good to photograph yourself sake of vanity, but for the sake
of knowing you and feeling good about yourself in front of the
camera. That, I think, has done wonders for me over the years,
because before I did a bunch of on camera teachable moments and
those sorts of things, stuff that I put out in social media I
wasn't on camera a lot and it was something that I had to practice,
that to get much better at. And talking to the camera is something
that is important for your headshots. Addressing the camera and
it's kind of like really thinking about hi guys, you know I'm
looking at the camera and like you're really speaking to somebody,
just like we do behind the mic. Right, we think about speaking to
someone as we're behind the mic. So think about speaking to someone
behind the camera and that will engage your face, it will engage
your personality, it will engage your heart and it will help you
take a better photo. I am convinced of that.
28:48 - Lau Lapides (Host)
God, what a great convo this is. I wish I had this convo for myself
30 years ago. One more thing I want to make mention. This is great
how you figured out how to like cheat all the insecurities and all
that stuff.
29:02
But I do want to say, I do want to say to all the folks that are
like, yeah, I don't know how to do that, or I don't know if I'd get
over it, or I have this or I have that, we love imperfection. Yeah,
we love it. In fact, we look for it, we hire it and we work it. So
if you have anything that you consider to be outside of a norm or
outside of a convention, whether whatever it's a lazy eye or
whether it's this or that, don't feel the need to hide it, don't
feel the need to put it aside, shout it from the
rooftops.
29:32
Now we're actually looking for people I have droopy eye who have
all these so-called imperfections right which are real person
stuff.
29:40 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Yeah, that can be a really great thing it is and hopefully that's
relatable to some. I mean, maybe not everybody has droopy eye, but
there's so many people are like you're always so
together.
29:52 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I'm like, really I got a droopy eye.
29:53 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
You know I try to be but I got a droopy eye, but that's okay. Yeah,
but they don't care, they don't care, they're attached to it.
Here's my imperfections, guys. I mean I don't want to. I don't want
to be a picture of something that I can't ever achieve. That kind
of thing you don't want. A goal that you can't ever
achieve.
30:09
That's a good way of putting it Like let that photograph, let that
headshot bring out the best in you, showcase the best in you,
because every one of us has a beautiful, beautiful quality, every
one of us is beautiful. And have that confidence, like remember you
were talking about that?
30:23
Hollywood had a term for it Ugly beautiful people, the beautiful
ugly and I don't even think I think everybody's beautiful, I don't
even like the word ugly. I think everybody's beautiful. They all
have a beautiful quality, everybody has a gorgeous voice. They have
a unique quality that connects us together as human beings and
connects our hearts together. And so, guys, you are beautiful and
you are absolutely a face for photography and a face for a headshot
and a face for VO, absolutely.
30:49 - Lau Lapides (Host)
And there's many companies out there that really exploit that. They
really celebrate that. I can think of an amazing agency in New York
Funny Face Talent, real person talent. There's probably a bunch of
them out there that they want you to think, oh, I have a weird face
or I'm not beautiful looking. Oh well, we're going to get you a lot
of work because a lot of people relate to you. Right, there was an
actor, annie, who was this actor. He was very big In the early
2000s, he was a heavyset guy and he had this eye condition where
his eyes fluttered up and down.
31:25 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Oh, I'm not sure.
31:26 - Intro (Announcement)
And you saw him in a lot.
31:27 - Lau Lapides (Host)
He was a regular on X-Files, huh, and he was a fantastic actor and
his eyes fluttered up and down. It was amazing to watch him work in
different roles and how he utilized that condition to go right into
his roles and to sort of infuse the energy in his role. Some of his
roles were scary. Some of his roles were demonous. Some of his
roles were good. Some of his roles were like fatherly, but he
always used it in his favor. He never tried to hide it.
31:57 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
And I thought that was it. I mean, that was cool. Be out there and
be confident, guys.
32:02 - Lau Lapides (Host)
Just technically. One more thing I want to throw in, and that is
when someone shoots you, a professional headshot photographer
should be giving you everything they shoot. They'll go ahead and
get rid of all the shots that are like the in-between shots, the
blurry shots, the shots that really like you're not in position but
they really like Annie was saying she's kept 500 shots, maybe they
did 1,000 shots.
32:23 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
I keep them.
32:30 - Lau Lapides (Host)
I can do a little cropping myself. Yeah, one of the mistakes,
annie, I see people make is they'll show me what their shoot looks
like and I'll see watermark on everything. And I say be careful of
that, because when they shoot you now it's changed they used to own
those, they no longer own those. So when they shoot you and you get
200, 300 of your best shots, those are yours, those should be
yours. Now, if they're going to edit you and you're going to pay to
have them edit which a lot of people do then they're going to
charge money for that, as they should at their time. But otherwise,
those are your shots and you should be able to keep those shots
Absolutely.
33:00 - Anne Ganguzza (Host)
Your property and they should be up in color. You don't do black
and white anymore. Guys. Make sure you get all the shots if you
want them, and they are yours. All right, excellent conversation,
La. I loved it. Guys, I'm going to give a great big shout out to
IPDTL. You too, can connect and share like bosses, and find out
more at IPDTLcom. Have an amazing week, bosses, and go get your
headshots, and we'll see you next week. Bye.
33:28 - Intro (Announcement)
Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host,
Anne Ganguzza, and take your business to the next level. Sign up
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your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to
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