Should I Wear Glasses in an Actors Headshot?

I was with my wife the other day at the optician where she was choosing some new glasses.

She was interested in my opinion of how she looked in her new glasses and whether or not they made her look intelligent or geeky?

It struck me that the shape, style and colour of a person’s glasses can have a dramatic effect, on how others see them.

I see my wife as beautiful all of the time, so her style of glasses is irrelevant to me.

But, the style of glasses is all part of the message a person projects about their personality. If you apply this to your headshot you can see some glasses make an obvious impression.

But Should I Wear My Glasses in an Actors Headshot?

It’s interesting as only last week, I took the headshot of an actress wearing dramatic glasses. They had a great shape but were bright aqua blue and dominated her face. Coupled with her lovely red hair, pale skin and a white sweater, they dominated the photo.

I mentioned this to her during the shoot and I also suggested I change the colour of the glasses later in Photoshop – a simple fix.

It worked well as I darkened the frames of the glasses to a dark blue that matched the denim dungarees she was wearing. It changed the feel of her headshot immediately and allowed her to go back to being the main point of focus.

I’ve talked about distractions many times before they range from distracting backgrounds, busy clothes, and bold and bright jewellery. There are lots of things that can draw the eye of the viewer away from the actor’s face.

Back to the original question. Should you wear glasses in an actor’s headshot?

Why not, they are part of your personality. Showing your personality as an actor is crucial in standing out from the crowd.