Hi guys! First I want to thank you for sending me emails with questions and emails letting you know that my tips are helpful to you. That is all that I want to do all I want to do is help you out get started acting today and help point you to the right direction when you outgrow my videos and my resources when you're ready for the next level.

I believe that if we help each other we spread good karma. So thank you for following my blogs and watching my videos and thank you for your feedback.

So today I wanted to answer two questions that I have received; these are relating it to headshots.

Question #1 "when do I need a new head shot"?

Whenever your style changes is when you should go get a new headshot or at least every three to five years.

If your head shot is of you with longer hair and you cut it then you should go out there and get a new headshot.

If you're a man and you grow your beard often, I don't think that you need to change your headshot as often as women even if you toggle back and forth with your beard. I would however, recommend that you keep a headshot of you with your facial hair and one without. Also, if you do something very dramatic like completely shave off everything, your hair your facial hair then that's when I would get a new headshot.

Ladies if you change your hair color as you're doing different hair colors take a head shot even if you keep the same hair length at least this way you can have a catalog of what you look like with red hair, dark hair, blonde hair, rainbow colored hair and everything in between.

You should consider taking a new headshot if you lose or gain more than 10 pounds-if it's noticeable. The point of the headshot is to show the casting directors what you look like.

You want to match the hair style, the makeup, and the wardrobe that you're wearing on your headshot when you go to the audition. So if you submit a headshot and you show up and you're 10 years older or 20 pounds lighter then that's not exactly what you showed them on the head shot.

If your headshot is not accurate that leaves a bad taste with the casting director.

If there's a drastic change go ahead and get a headshot that's when you'll know.

Child Actors

Children change so much, they're constantly changing so I would do a new headshot each year around their birthdays so that it is easier to remember.

Question #2 How much should I retouch the headshot?

This person was asked to retouch their head shot and they wanted to know what is allowed and how much of it should be retouched and whether this was going to change the way they look.

Again, you want to look like the person in the headshot so don't go crazy and have somebody retouch it to the point where you don't look like yourself anymore.

By retouching they mean to just airbrush away minor imperfection. For example, if you have a zit, If you have flyaway hairs, if there's a discoloration of your teeth etc.  (Just make sure to follow up and whiten your teeth so that you match your headshot.)  

When they say retouch or when a photographer says "I will retouch this for you", that's really what they mean. They don't mean that they will make your nose look slimmer or make your face look a certain way or anything like that.  

Headshot photographers will not retouch your photo to the point that it becomes very different from the person that you actually are, this is what you see on magazines, runway type of thing so don't worry about your headshot.

It's OK to just use a lighter retouched version of the head shot. Again, retouching is only for the stuff that isn't normally there, so if you have freckles on your face don't erase those, that's part of you.

The point is to go into that audition looking just like the person in the headshot.

Thank you for reading and if you have any other questions go ahead and send them to me by email contact@nancyvaldez.net and look for other resources and for my upcoming e-book and for other videos and audio. These resources can help you get started acting today.

If you send me a question and I don't know the answer I will go out there and look for it for both of us so keep the questions coming.

I hope you have a good day!!!