Cole is pursuing his musical theater degree and let me tell you, this guy is going to get so much work. His charisma and energy is just palpable. He was instantly at ease in front of the camera and had me laughing just as much as I had him!
Cole gave me something from the get go I usually have to earn from my clients about 20 minutes into the shoot. Trust. I felt this overwhelming sense of trust from him and it allowed him to really get out of his own way and let me coach and direct him to get all of these great shots. I think that trust that he was able to give me came from a combination of preparation, knowledge, and from a sense of play.
He was prepared in the sense that he understood what his brand was all about. He knew his type and how he wanted to market himself. That left the guesswork out of his side of things, and gave me a strong foundation to build upon on my side. He was knowledgable in that he knew himself. That is so important for both you and I during a shoot. If you know you need to be laughing in order to get a great smiling shot, then let yourself be free enough to do that. If you know that blue is a banging color on you, then tell me that you’re feeling yourself in that awesome blue button down shirt you brought. And his sense of play allowed for him to trust in his prep, trust in his self awareness and knowledge, and just have a good time in front of the camera. I tell all my clients that “today, you get to act. You get to do the thing you love.” A great headshot is an exercise in subtext which arguably is at the core of any performance. Cole loved his acting job that day, and the results show it.
