Here's a subject that has never been properly addressed on this forum, but it's come up enough in conversation to rate an response.

Many actors have difficulty relaxing prior to getting their headshots. Some have asked me pointedly: "I'm really insecure and nervous in front of the still camera. Is it okay if I have a little drink before, just to "loosen me up"?" The answer is a qualfied, "NO." Not even "a little one." Same goes for drugs of any kind. Even imbibing the smallest amount of alcohol can have a profound effect on the eyes, the very thing you want to stay focused and razor-sharp. You can celebrate as much as you want AFTER your shoot, but refrain from even THINKING ABOUT IT before.

The photographer should also be the director of your shoot. If the actor in a play or film has anxiety or fears, it's up to the director to help them through these minor crises -- but resorting to chemical resources isn't the way to do it.

www.robertkim.com

Excellent topic, Robert. Thanks for bringing this up and sharing your wise insights and knowledge on this subject.

I couldn't agree with you more!

I find the best headshot come from the rapport established between photographer and actor. Most can operate the camera -- it's the people skills that make the difference. If alcohol or drugs are in the picture, the connection will be lost.

Allow me to present the other side.

A few basic truths: You're better off appearing a little nervous than a little drunk. Also, alcohol should never be used as an excuse for a photographer to not connect with a subject. People skills are first and foremost in the business.

However, though I realize many people will disagree with this, but many people benefit from a glass of white wine during a shoot. ONE glass, and only at the beginning of the shoot.

A slight relaxing of inhibition can really help, and can ease initial nervousness in front of the camera. When kept to a single glass, this generally doesn't cause the drowsiness associated with the effect on the eyes. Combined with familiar music and good conversation, wine can be a welcome part of comfortability. Though a headshot session is a business setting, it doesn't have to follow a boardroom sense of boundaries.

The effect of a single glass doesn't generally last the entire shoot, which is a good thing. By the end, most people feel uninhibited simply by virtue of comfort, photographer rapport, and adaptation to the situation, since the chemical effect has long since worn off.

For anyone choosing to imbibe before a shoot:

- Be of age, obviously.
- It's best to have your glass at the shoot, at the beginning when anxieties run highest. Check with photographer.
- White wine only, as red stains teeth. Carbonated drinks aren't a good idea. Harder drinks tend to have too much effect.
- Don't even think about using drugs. Way too much effect, and unprofessional.
- Be realistic as to your experiences with alcohol. If you haven't had positive experiences, or generally don't drink, this isn't a good idea.

Color me edgy, but clients should be able to be comfortable by a means of their own choosing, as long as that's within professional reason.

quote:

Originally posted by Cassidy DuHon :: Juice Imagery:
Color me edgy, but clients should be able to be comfortable by a means of their own choosing, as long as that's within professional reason.

Since when is relying on any chemical substance to enhance your performance considered the "professional" thing to do?

quote:

Originally posted by Cassidy DuHon :: Juice Imagery:
Allow me to present the other side.

For anyone choosing to imbibe before a shoot:

- Be of age, obviously.
- It's best to have your glass at the shoot, at the beginning when anxieties run highest. Check with photographer.
- White wine only, as red stains teeth. Carbonated drinks aren't a good idea. Harder drinks tend to have too much effect.
- Don't even think about using drugs. Way too much effect, and unprofessional.
- Be realistic as to your experiences with alcohol. If you haven't had positive experiences, or generally don't drink, this isn't a good idea.

After re-reading your post, I'm having an increasingly hard time (pardon the pun) swallowing your advice, Cassidy DuHon. Recommending booze to solve your headshot anxiety is about a safe as a short game of Russian Roulette. Whether it's wine, beer or hard liquor, it's the same, tired old song. Using your philosophy, here is an expanded version of your headshot advice...


Some additional tips “For anyone choosing to imbibe before a shoot”:

- Be old enough to eat solid food.
- It’s best to get sloshed at the beginning of the shoot, when anxieties run highest. If the photographer objects, either offer him a glass or tell him to f**k off.
- ONE glass of white wine is good. THREE are better.
- Who cares if red wine stains your teeth, you’re drunk!
- Carbonated drinks aren't a good idea. They have bubbles, and bubbles make you laugh. Stay away.
- Jack Daniels tends to have too much effect, that’s why a Cosmopolitan is much more effective.
- Don’t even think about shooting heroin before your shoot, but what harm can a little hit on the pipe do?
- Be realistic as to your experiences with alcohol. Drinking until you’ve got a good buzz going is perfectly acceptable, but hurling into your photographer’s shoes isn't a good idea.


These are identical to the sentiments that you'd hear at any AA or NA meeting. And no rationale in the world can ever excuse them.


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I can see we disagree on this one... But I am glad that you have a sense of humor about the topic. Well, some of it.

Btw... would love to see other people weigh in on this one. Anyone had a good/bad experience relating to the topic, or strong feeling on the principle?

quote:

Originally posted by Cassidy DuHon :: Juice Imagery

Though a headshot session is a business setting, it doesn't have to follow a boardroom sense of boundaries.

Color me edgy, but clients should be able to be comfortable by a means of their own choosing, as long as that's within professional reason.

Cassidy DuHon:

Apparently I'm the only one debating you on my original topic, but after photographing dozens of people over the years who arrived at their headshot sessions in various degrees of inebriation, I think I'm pretty familiar with the subject.

Without having "boundaries" as to what the photographer will and won't allow in his studio, you'll have a studio out of control. As much as I enjoy providing a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere, a studio isn't a disco. I like having fun as much as anyone, but getting your buzz on during your photo session isn't the time or place to do it. That's not being "professional" -- you're here to work.

I've had clients high on Ecstacy, weed, and every type of alcohol under the sun. NONE of them handled it well... the Ecstacy girl kept dancing around in circles, the pot smoker's eyes were totally buggin,' and one woman was so drunk that she passed out in the studio bathroom, having polished off nearly a full bottle of Russian vodka before she was even out of makeup. You could say that my experience with customers on mind-altering substances has not been a positive one. As much as you warn actors, "Only ONE glass of white wine during the shoot," I'm having trouble equating your advice with creating great headshots. Isn't being “a little drunk” like being “a little pregnant"? Your arguments just don't hold water.

Perhaps a grown adult would have enough common sense not to agree with your advice about controlled drinking during a photo shoot, but there are young people reading this who may not have the maturity to realize that you’re out of your mind. By suggesting reliance on external substances to obtain the best possible performance, you're not only defending potential alcohol abuse, you're promoting it. That doesn't just make you ill-informed, that makes you dangerous.

Incidentally, is that why you named your studio, “JUICE Imagery”??

If true, I find what Robert Kim Photography says about the eyes changing interesting.

Having never drank before a photo session myself, I cannot speak from example, though I have before an audition on a few occasions, and it's known to do wonders... but that's a totally different situation.

quote:

Originally posted by Iceman:
Having never drank before a photo session myself, I cannot speak from example, though I have before an audition on a few occasions, and it's known to do wonders... but that's a totally different situation.

What's the difference between having a drink before an professional acting audition or before a professional photo session? It's the same situation, different day. You're still relying on a chemical substance to get you through and "make you perform better." This is the philosophy of alcoholics everywhere: "What could just ONE little drink hurt?" Using booze as a crutch is a deadend street, brother. Get off it.

This is an interesting topic, and I would love to see examples of people in "one glass of wine" vs "no wine" headshots to see whether one can detect any change. I think it's also relevant to point out that a 35 year old without a drinking problem having a half glass of wine while her hair gets done and she grooves into the whole "I'm getting my shots done" mode -- could have drastically different results than a bottle of vodka for a nervous wreck or a 21 year old non drinker. Cassidy DuHon is clearly talking about the first example, which seems reasonable. Except that who knows who has a problem with drinking and how much is enough or too much for any individual?! Factor the question marks in and it seems better to keep alcohol out of it.

I have a vague memory of being offered wine at an old headshot session, and suppose I never really thought about it one way or another since wine is offered at various events where one person is a "client." For example, when I go to get my haircut...!? (although based on my last cut and the quality of the wine, I should have said no!)

I wonder if the same holds true for caffeine. Does it get you "edgier?" Do you have a harder time relaxing?

quote:

Originally posted by Jackie:
I have a vague memory of being offered wine at an old headshot session, and suppose I never really thought about it one way or another since wine is offered at various events where one person is a "client." For example, when I go to get my haircut...!? (although based on my last cut and the quality of the wine, I should have said no!)

I wonder if the same holds true for caffeine. Does it get you "edgier?" Do you have a harder time relaxing?

There's a huge difference between having a glass of wine during a haircut or at some other social function. The most obvious difference being -- YOU'RE NOT BEING PHOTOGRAPHED!!!

Alcohol is a depressant. Caffeine is a stimulant. I offer coffee and snacks at every session. Why? Because I want my customers to be awake and alert, ready to be "in the moment," NOT numbed to it.

There was a highly-televised program sponsored by MADD and the California Highway Patrol that demonstrated how even one glass of wine affected drivers in ways they could have not even imagined (that's where I got my information on how alcohol, even minute amounts of it, have a profound effect on the eyes). The drivers were actual Highway Patrol officers, and in controlled tests they fared no better than anyone else. Alcohol, no matter the amount, effects everyone equally.

One more thought, then I think I've made my point... IT IS SOLELY THE JOB OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER TO MAKE YOU FEEL RELAXED AND COMFORTABLE DURING YOUR ENTIRE HEADSHOT SESSION. That point is so vitally important that I think it bears repeating... IT IS SOLELY THE JOB OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER TO MAKE YOU FEEL RELAXED AND COMFORTABLE DURING YOUR ENTIRE HEADSHOT SESSION. He is your director, your acting coach, your Director of Photography, the grip, the gaffer, the stylist. Without his expertise, no amount of liquor, drug or any external substance will make much of a difference in the final outcome of your headshot. If your photographer doesn't have the experience and "people skills" required to bring out the very best you have to offer -- both physically and emotionally -- you made the wrong choice in photographers. If having a drink before your session made for better photographs, I'd have turned my studio into a bar, long ago. But it can't, and it won't.

www.robertkim.com

I hope I in no way sounded like I was encouraging people to drink or get drunk before a headshot session! Of course not!
I'm just musing about the wine vs. coffee offerings and the results-physical and mental-of a glass of wine for a legal adult at work and social functions... yes, even ones in which you are photographed.

I wish a photographer could hold all the responsibility for relaxing his or her client at a shoot, but a lot of that effort has to come from within. Hopefully, most actors know how to overcome stage fright without mind-altering substances!

In other words, Robert, I agree with you. Alcohol should not be used as a crutch. It's scary to suggest otherwise. I don't however think that DuHon is "out of his mind" to suggest the issue is more than black and white.

My argument is presented above, so I won't bother to restate it to rebut, though I do think all the counter examples mentioned seem a bit more extreme than the discussion at hand.

Here's the thing: I have no problem with any photographer discouraging the use of alcohol, when asked by clients. A photographer should always give his truthful professional opinion when asked directly. (Though obviously, I disagree with Robert Kim on this one.)

However, after giving that opinion, clients should be allowed some personal leeway. Though I'm fully capable of helping people relax and feel comfortable on set, it's not the photographer's job to dictate exactly how and actor should or should not relax and feel comfortable.

Actors are in difficult on-set situations all of the time, and their ability to feel comfortable is crucial to their job performance. Because of that, most decent actors have already established ways to relax.

Anyone who's worked with actors before knows, some of these requests are a little weird. I've had clients who've wanted to put their significant other on speaker phone during the shoot, scream off the roof before the shoot, or run around the block once. And yes, a not uncommon request is to have ONE drink before the shoot.

I absolutely refuse the unreasonable ones, and have done so many times. This includes any client attempt to get even remotely smashed.

But my point is, actors are in the business of relaxing in front of a camera. It would be arrogant of me to completely dictate their means of doing so, or assume that my preferences toward on-camera relaxation are ALWAYS better than theirs. Actors are pros too, and part of the headshot business is trusting them to act the part.