Reproducing Your Headshots

After you've selected the ideal shot from your proof sheets, your photographer will provide you with a print that's at least 8"x10". You can then take that print to a service that specializes in reproducing photographs. If you live in New York or Los Angeles, these services should not be hard to find. If you live elsewhere, you might have to look a little harder.

What differentiates these services from other photography reproduction services?

• First, these services work from a copy negative. In other words, instead of taking the original film (usually 35mm) into the darkroom and making multiple prints from it, these services create a negative from the 8"x10" print that your photographer provided.
  
  

• Second, some of these services will provide retouching services.  So if you have a perfect expression but you have a few flyaway hairs or a wrinkle or two that you'd like to eliminate, these services may be able to fix the original print prior to making the copy negative.
  
  

• Third, services that specialize in reproducing performing arts headshots generally have a drastically lower cost per print than photo services that work from an original negative. True, there's almost always a charge for creating an 8"x10" copy negative.  But once that's done, your cost per print is usually less than a $1 per print (as opposed to anywhere from $8-$15 if you take your original negative to a regular photo service).

Here's some more good news: If you live somewhere other than New York or Los Angeles, and you're unable to locate one of these services in your area, you can check out the trade papers to work with one of the N.Y.- or L.A.-based services by mail and phone. The established services will be able to provide this long-distance service for you.  (One such service is Modernage in New York City. They've been around for decades, and they can handle just about anything you can throw their way, photographically speaking. There are lots of others, too, so check around.)

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Headshots online?

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