Prior to becoming a headshot and PR session specialist in Los Angeles, I’d already had two careers in photography.
The first was as a photojournalist, shooting assignments for magazines, design firms, corporations and the entertainment industry, with several years as the photographer for Jane Fonda’s exercise video covers and publicity sessions.
Notable People I’ve Photographed as a Photojournalist
During this time I photographed many people, among them…
- Kim Alexis
- Steve Allen
- Gloria Allred
- Maria Conchita Alonso
- Julie Andrews
- Anne Archer
- Sir Richard Attenborough
- Lynda Barry
- Ed Begley, Jr.
- Karen Black
- Steven Bochco
- Sonny Bono
- Powers Boothe
- Beau Bridges
- Jeff Bridges
- Eli Broad
- James Brolin
- Jim Brown
- William S. Burroughs
- James Cameron
- Kirk Cameron
- Roger Corman
- Ted Danson
- Richard Diebenkorn
- Bruce Dern
- Michael Douglas
- Anthony Edwards
- Linda Evans
- Sally Field
- Carrie Fisher
- Rep. Tom Foley
- Jane Fonda
- Harrison Ford
- Michael J. Fox
- Larry Gelbart
- Frank Gehry
- Laura Dern
- Jeff Goldblum
- Merv Griffin
- Matt Groening
- Darryl Hannah
- Tess Harper
- Phil Hartman
- Lili Haydn
- Tobe Hooper
- Sir Anthony Hopkins
- John Hughes
- The Hughes Brothers
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Philip Johnson
- Bruce Jenner
- Diane Ladd
- David Lander
- Linda Lavin
- Norman Lear
- Jack Lemmon
- Tea Leoni
- Patti LuPone
- Shirley MacLaine
- Taj Mahal
- The Manhattan Transfer
- Penny Marshall
- Jayne Meadows
- Alyssa Milano
- Henry Miller
- Joe Montana
- Ed Moses
- Ornella Muti
- Louise Nevelson
- Laraine Newman
- Nick Nolte
- Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
- Ryan O’Neal
- Dolly Parton
- Edi Patterson
- Cassandra Peterson
- Jeremy Piven
- Stefanie Powers
- Gilda Radner
- Lynn Redgrave
- Molly Ringwald
- Julia Roberts
- Kenny Rogers
- Norton Simon
- Steven Spielberg
- Mindy Sterling
- James Stewart
- Julia Sweeney
- Cheryl Tiegs
- Grant Tinker
- Liv Ullman
- Billy Vera
- Ben Vereen
- Irving Wallace
- Lew Wasserman
- John Wayne
- Forest Whitaker
- Cindy Williams
- John Williams
- Carl Wilson
- Jane Withers
- Beatrice Wood
- Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager
From Photojournalism to Stock Photography
My second photographic career was as a producer of commercial stock photography, supplying New York-based photo agencies with images for licensing worldwide. Stock images are category-driven for the marketplace — ad agencies, corporations, publishers and others – to be used to promote or illustrate whatever’s being sold. I chose lifestyle (people) as my category. I hired models and actors to portray couples, families, businesspeople, exercisers, doctors and patients, teachers and kids in classrooms, and so on.
At that time I had a 4400 square foot studio in Hollywood and a team of experienced freelance assistants, wardrobe stylists and makeup artists. For stock production we built a succession of large three-walled sets, designed to be self-lighting. Strobe heads were attached to set’s outer walls, aimed away from the set, towards the white walls of the studio’s cyclorama. When the strobes fired, light bounced from the cyc walls through the set’s windows, creating the illusion of soft, diffuse daylight across the entire area. We never had to add light — only reflectors for balance, sometimes, as we changed setups. Beautiful daylight 24 hours a day!
We also shot on location – homes, offices, hotel suites, parks and wilderness areas. At one point I rented the Warner Brothers Ranch for a two-day shoot, with 20 models and a six-person crew.
Over fifteen years I produced 600 shoots, using 1500 of the best actors and models. I could find – talented people who brought realism to the scenarios we shot.
Assignment work had given me years of experience and the chance to interact with people from all walks of life – actors, architects, artists, athletes, authors, composers, directors, musicians, politicians, producers. I learned that being assigned to photograph prominent people for publication didn’t necessarily tell me what to expect from the encounters.
Most subjects were relaxed; others weren’t. Most were personable and even joyful to be around. But some were ill at ease. Often this had to do with discomfort at being photographed, or having been photographed too often, or issues in their own lives at the present moment.
Such encounters could be challenging, but my job was to produce pictures with impact, no matter the situation. I had to learn how to navigate these waters, and for the most part, I did.
The assignment years were the bedrock for my stock production phase, but still there was more to learn. As a stock shooter, my tool kit expanded.
How My Experience Shapes My Headshot Photography
The kind of assignment shooting I’d done most often is called environmental portraiture – people photographed at home or at work, or in other settings. As a stock photographer, I needed to create environments. I’d built sets before, but now set design was up to me.
Also, I needed to learn to be a more pro-active director, as stock shooting involved photographing models interacting in generic roles: couples, families, businesspeople in office settings, doctors and patients, teachers and kids, and so forth. I had to tell these people what to do and how to relate to one another — silently! (People shouldn’t be photographed talking; it doesn’t work.)
How do my two prior photographic careers inform my activity as a headshot and PR session shooter? Good question. (I’m glad I asked it.)
Here’s the answer: everything I’ve learned about picture-taking along the way — frame by frame — is in play during each and every headshot and publicity session. And I’m still learning.
