I did a fun (or is it funny) thing this week. I had new head shots taken. Yes, the new book needs a new head shot. Plus, I’m sporting a new haircut these days so I need to look a bit more like my present day self. Though I did, of course, keep my signature denim jacket….
It could have been worse. I could have been smiling for the camera of a complete stranger. But my good friend’s good son was on the Island, and since he’s an extraordinarily talented professional artist (everything from photography to painting to graphic design to video installations for rock bands), I asked him to shepherd me through this particular ordeal. (By the way, he’s based in New York City, and if anyone out there needs some work done by a visual artist, you couldn’t go wrong with him – Sam Muglia. Contact me for details).
We stood in the back garden in the late afternoon and he snapped away. I tried every look I could think of – serious, studious, feisty, angry, reprimanding, frivolous, sweet, fun, intense, distant. He took over 150 photos and we narrowed it down to three. Here they are:
A (left) B (top right) C (bottom right)
Okay. Now here’s where you can help. Which do you think is best? Which one do you think should be on my book cover, on my facebook page and website, in (we hope) magazine articles and interviews? I think I’d like to use one for everything — mainly so I don’t have to think about it each time. Sam the photographer has a definite opinion, as does his mom. What about you?
Thanks for your kind attention.
Embarrassingly yours,
Your Humble Servant.
Sue
I like A best. B is a bit ‘scary schoolmistress’ and in C, the background gets too much of the action. I don’t know what your hair looked like before, but that cut suits you.
C – i like the slight smile 🙂
lx
They’re all lovely. My favourite of all is the third one – the one where you are more in the background. I like this because it has the biggest smile. BUT I suspect it won’t be ideal for things like book jackets, because there is too much surrounding and not enough Sue. You will look very small in some contexts. Although maybe you could zoom in on the head and lose some of the background?
My second favourite is the second one – the one on the right hand side of the screen. This is because you are looking at the camera kind of knowingly, and you look very wise but also very kind and also humorous. Like you are saying, “Isn’t this fun, and also a little silly? Now let’s have a cup of tea and set the world to rights”… or something.
NB: Could you number or label them somehow, so it’s easier to refer to them without having to describe them every time?
Beleaguerd: Thanks so much. It’s really interesting to see the different interpretations that can be made for each. And blogger got me all messed up with the labelling. I couldn’t get the spacing right, which is why I did the A,B, C thing underneath, except it obviously isn’t clear enough. Sorry!
My favourite is C. It has a bit of mystery but also shows the Sue I know and respect. I think it is also functional for all the various avenues you want to use it for.
Coco
I’m going to go with A. I think you look friendly and approachable; the frame is good and it would work well in all media!
Great photos, Sue!
I vote c. I like the composition and the expression 🙂
Queenie: Thanks. My fb photo has my previous longer (and I must admit) somewhat darker hair.
Liz, Cally and Reizin: So far the C’s have it – but there is the background issue. Must admit, this is kind of fun!
Talli: Thanks. I think of myself as A, I guess. But I have a feeling my publisher will say B….we’ll see.
Sue – the photographer could always crop out some of the background in c, as Beleaguered Squirrel suggests.
I am drawn to A , personally – thats the person I’d like to have lunch with!!
– but as the book is serious, maybe ‘B’ is best because the expression is intriguing, intelligent and a bit challenging??!
C is a lovely picture – more informal. I guess it all depends what image you want to project, as well as being comfortable with it.
me the publisher says B
me the friend says A
I like B as it looks very natural to me. You’ll kill me for this but I think my favourite is actually your old photo! It’s just nice the way you’re relaxed and it’s a full body shot. You don’t look like your photos, you know. You look much more attractive face-to-face. I’ll put you off all your photos by saying that, and I have the same problem myself as I’m sure I’m much slimmer than the photos. Ahem!! And yes, Mike Fortune Wood can take part of a photo and do various things with it (all a mystery to me – or most of it anyway).
Maybe it’s the dark hair I remember that makes you look so different. I met you with dark hair and must keep remembering you that way.
A looks more like an author picture at present, but I love your slightly more relaxed expression in C and think it would be ideal if cropped. x
Vanessa: Isn’t it funny how different parts of you come out in different photos. To be honest, none of them feel particularly like me – but maybe I still think of myself as the person in my college photo with long hair and bell bottoms!
Cally and Cathy: Yes, the cropping idea may be the way to go. hadn’t thought of that!
Adele: Oh No!!! 🙂 I’m afraid I might agree with you, but I wonder if that’s just because I’m used to it….maybe using them all for different reasons is the way to go.
I love C – because you seem most playful and interesting in that, and also because you are not centre in the pic, you are to the right with some nice looking foliage, and I like this non-standard-type headshot.
C (bottom right) defo, for a publicity photo, I think. Sorry to be tacky but you look the most glamorous in that, and that’s what marketing needs, after all, whether we like it or not. Also you look the most lively/alive in that one. And there’s no prob with the background because it can be cropped, simps.
I’ve replied before I see which others people choose.
I say B.
Tania and Elizabeth: cropped C seems to be the majority vote (tho to be honest, my mother doesn’t like any of them!)
Glyn: B is the one the photographer likes and thinks is most appropriate for the book jacket. I’m now more confused than ever though….Thanks!
Oh how weird, I’m now seeing “A”, “B”, “C” etc, whereas when I first looked at it there was no such labelling and they were kind of jumbled rather than all in a row. Given that you had already labelled them, my comment must have seemed a little mystifying!
Bottom right, but crop it closer to your face. The smile is lovely.
I like A and C. My favourite is actually C because I can see in the photo the warmth that you have in person.
C x
Problem with B is that it’s just not such a well-composed photo: your head is very near the top of the frame, and the fact that your collar is up but there’s no body in the photo gives a wrong impression of your potentially having a short neck.
The photos can be cropped in various ways so you can get a head shot out of full body ones. I don’t think it has to be a head shot either. I think you come across really well in the previous photos you’ve had which show you relaxing and you may well have some of those in the 150 you’ve had taken. I also think you’re previous photos work fine. They all look like you.
I vote C 🙂