Headshots headshots headshots!

You know how our pop up class posters usually have a headshot of the instructor at the top right? Sometime last year I shared a poster of a class I was teaching with a dancer friend, and one of their responses was ,"that's not you in the picture." Granted I no longer had colored hair and had clearly aged a bit more in person, but I thought that at the very least they could see a younger version of me, not a completely different person. Okay, I admit it was 6 years ago so their response was valid, but all this time I thought I was getting away with using the same headshots...clearly not. So after months on months of trying to find the perfect timing, I finally booked myself a headshot session a few days ago.

The last time I had headshots taken, I was prepared with my pinterest board filled with multiple ideas to play with. This time was a bit different. I knew we were not doing any movement shots and would take just a few full body pictures, so all I had to do was focus on smiling – something I did so effortlessly and beautifully all the time. It couldn't be too hard, right? Wrong! Dancer friends I blanked out 5 minutes into the shoot after giving all smiles, a couple of neutral poses, and an attempted smize. The director tried to help me channel my inner model in all these creative ways, but I kept drawing a blank. The internal pressure was being felt at a maximum, and each time I went to change outfits I tried to think of new poses I could do when I got back into the shot. Proud to report that I found myself going back to the never-disappointing good ol' smile each time! It was quite an intense, amusing, and rewarding experience altogether.

In as much as getting headshots done can be a nerve wracking experience, there is such value in having quality images of ourselves as dancers, artists, and creatives. They are a visual representation of ourselves that can be used to enhance our creative resumes, websites or portfolios, for audition purposes, and honestly for our personal galleries,too, because who doesn't want quality pictures of themselves? If you have been playing around with the idea of getting updated headshots, this is your sign to go ahead and do it! If it has never crossed your mind, this is your sign to start considering it. If it has crossed your mind, you have played around with the idea to the point of action and gotten yourself headshots, go you!!! Here's to honoring our artistry and creative selves by investing in our image.

ps: click here for a bonus BTS of the actual headshot experience with RafikiHub.

Keep creating & sharing!

~your dancer friend