Daily Inspiration: Meet William from Olite Photography

William Olite Photography

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

Thank you for reading my story! How much time do you have? I’ll answer your questions focusing on my photography journey, so we don’t stay here for hours. Hello, I’m William, and I love people. When I was studying for my M.F.A. in Acting at Regent University, a classmate asked the guest speaker, “What’s the best job for an actor?” The guest speaker answered in one word: “photography.” And that was it, that was the push I needed to jump into the world of photography.

Instead of going out for weddings or commercial stuff, which is highly honorable and very difficult to master, I decided to focus on actor headshots.

 I’ve always had this thing for pictures of people. Even as a kid, I’d spend long periods of time staring at photos in magazines, on billboards, and in newspapers. People’s faces fascinated me. To this day, I still love gazing at photos of people, wondering about their lives, their stories, their insecurities, and their victories. Now, as a photographer, I don’t have to wonder anymore, I get to connect with that person right in front of my lens. And hey, since I’m an actor myself, diving into actor headshots was an easy step for me to take, I totally get the actor vibe; it’s like second nature to understand what actors need because, well, I’m an actor!

When I showed my first batch of photos to my pastor, he said, “You’ve got a good eye, William.” But what got me most excited about being a photographer is that I could take my own actor headshots without having to trade a kidney for a top-notch professional headshot, nor would my future actor clients have to do so. The people closest to me also benefit in getting quality photos.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

I’ve faced a few challenges on my photography journey, but not as many as I expected. In the beginning of my path, I was blessed to have two best friends, Bek and Addison Sauvan, a beautiful married couple who also just happened to be incredibly talented photographers. I reached out to them for guidance, and Addison recommended a fantastic camera and offered valuable advice on lenses. With their assistance, I invested in top-notch equipment.

After a brief learning curve, I posted to my theater department page: “Free actor headshots, hit me up!” Surprisingly, only one person responded, and they happened to be a friend of mine, which made me wonder if he was just being nice. This humbled me, I wondered why no one else wanted headshots; they were free! But it pushed me to up my game. I began investing in training and deepening my knowledge of both my camera and the actor headshots category. Soon, more people started showing interest in my work, and I began charging $50 for a one-hour session. I gained quite a few clients in Virginia, but when I moved to Los Angeles, I found myself starting from scratch again. I vividly remember standing on Ventura Blvd, camera in hand, approaching passersby with the question, “Hi, can I take your headshots for free?” People’s responses were not as pleasant as you would think. My main challenge was not the photography itself but rather attracting actor clients.

Mark Paladini, a member of the Casting Society of America and a wonderful Acting Instructor, advised all actors to have natural-looking headshots. He’s also a casting director from one of my favorite movies, “The Mask” among many other projects. He emphasized the importance for actors to have headshots that are taken in real locations as their backgrounds and not overly produced or over-edited photos so they wouldn’t look forced. He advises the actors that their headshots should look like a real person, on a good day, in a real place. His words have been echoing through my work, and since then, I’ve been honing my skills to capture natural, pure, and effortless headshots. All my sessions are done outside to harness natural light. Being outside helps the actor to ground themselves so their true comfortable persona can be captured in photos. I try to create a relaxed atmosphere and have fun during our shoots. Plus, I always take hundreds of shots so my clients can have a variety to pick from. I’d like to show you some testimonials from actors for whom I’ve taken headshots, it will help you understand a bit more about what I do:

“My sessions with William were fantastic. They were relaxed and totally professional. He has a real talent for finding just the right shot that perfectly captures both your look and personality. He’s my go-to headshot photographer.” John Forkner

“It was a pure joy to work with William from Olite Photography! He has a keen eye for color and an ability to make actors feel completely at home and relaxed. My agents responded: ‘These are amazing.’ ‘These are gorgeous!’ ‘He (the photographer) is fabulous!’ Catherine Gaffney

“I have had two headshot sessions with William and am very happy with the results! Olite Photography has my highest recommendation for anyone looking at getting new headshots!” Luis Vazquez

“The Casting Directors booked me straight from my headshots! William is incredibly talented. He’s fun and easy to work with. If you want incredible headshots that really reflect the best of who you are, look no further than Olite Photography. Thanks Will!” Jhanelle Neita

“I really enjoyed working with William. I appreciated the fact that he took my opinion into consideration during the editing process, and I was pleased with the end product.” Bernadette Sayre

Who else deserves credit in your story?

I want to also give a shoutout to my parents for their love and encouragement through it all. Also, a few close friends, they know who they are, who valued my work and encouraged me in my photography journey. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here without God’s mercy and grace in my life. Thank you VoyageLA for this interview!