Your headshot is the first thing a casting director sees, usually as a small thumbnail next to a hundred others. A good one looks like you on your best ordinary day and tells them, in a second, what kind of roles you play. Headshot List is a free directory of photographers who shoot actor headshots, so you can compare their work side by side and book the one whose photos look like the actors you want to be cast next to.
Prices vary a lot by city and by what is included. As a rough guide, a short session with one or two looks often runs in the low hundreds of dollars, and a full session with several looks, hair and makeup, and retouching commonly costs several hundred dollars or more, with Los Angeles and New York at the top of the range. Compare what each price includes: the number of looks, how many retouched images you get, whether hair and makeup is in the price, and whether you keep the full-resolution files.
Wear solid colors that suit your skin tone and clothes that fit well at the neckline and shoulders, since that is most of what the frame shows. Avoid logos, busy patterns, shiny fabric and anything that dates the photo. Bring two or three options for each look, keep makeup natural and close to how you show up to an audition, and do not change your hair right before the shoot. You should look like the person who walks into the room.
A theatrical headshot is for film, TV and stage. It is usually more neutral and serious, with focus on the eyes and the kind of character you play. A commercial headshot is for ads and is brighter and warmer, often with a real smile. Many actors shoot both in one session as separate looks. Ask your agent or manager which they need before you book.
The traditional printed headshot is 8 by 10 inches, with your resume attached to the back, and you still need prints for in-person auditions and theater calls. Most casting now happens online, so you will also upload digital files to casting sites and your actor website. Ask your photographer for high-resolution files you are allowed to use anywhere, and follow each casting site's own upload rules.
Look for a portfolio full of actor headshots, not weddings or corporate portraits, and check that the actors in it look natural and different from one another. Read what is included, ask how the session runs, and look at their lighting: some shoot in a studio and some outdoors in natural light. Then pick the photographer whose work looks like the roles you want.
Start with a city: headshot photographers in Los Angeles, headshot photographers in New York, headshot photographers in Atlanta, headshot photographers in Chicago, headshot photographers in New Orleans, headshot photographers in Miami, headshot photographers in Las Vegas, or browse every photographer. Want ideas first? See actor headshot examples.