Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Casson.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I have been working as a photographer for 15 years, starting out as a Family and Children’s portrait photographer focusing on Natural Light Photography, originally in Los Angeles, and then moving to San Diego. Over the years, my business expanded to include professional business headshots, lifestyle and print photography, as well as headshots for aspiring actors.
The past four years kept bringing me back to the Los Angeles Area as a parent of child actors. On one of these trips, while waiting for my daughter at an audition, I met my current teammate, assistant, and friend, Mara Culley. Mara encouraged me to expand my business back to LA where, as industry moms, we could work together and create a relaxed and seamless headshot experience that included some really essential elements we felt were oftentimes stressful or overlooked in the Headshot process.
We wanted to create something that was more than just a photo session. So we put our heads together, as well as our experience as Hollywood parents, to come up with what we felt was the best possible “headshot experience” available. And we are incredibly passionate about it! We work really hard to create “working” headshots for actors of all types and ages. And our results have been fantastic and exciting, and our clients are busy and working! And we are very grateful for that!
Has it been a smooth road?
Overall, it has been a smooth road and a fast road! We’ve grown steadily and more quickly than expected, as we work almost 100% off of referrals. And our clients are fantastic!
We love them and get so excited for their successes and take joy in being even a tiny part of their journey. That being said, our referrals have been greater than we could have hoped for and are the reason Amy Casson Photography has grown so quickly.
I wouldn’t say we’ve had any major bumps in the road, but we are always evaluating what we do and ways to make it better and more effective. And we have so much fun! We spend most of our headshot days laughing with our clients which makes any journey smoother.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Simply put… we shoot Natural Light Headshots for actors of all ages. But our Specialty… our headshot sessions are more of a photography “experience.”
We work as a team, to get to know our client, see their personality, find out their essence. Then we put that information with our knowledge of what is working and casting in the industry. This allows us to style, as well as guide our clients through a photo session to capture the looks, and emotions that will give them the best advantage to get in front of casting directors for the roles they were born to play.
I think what really sets us apart is the extra TLC we give to each client. And how efficient and stress-free our sessions are for our clients. Each client gets the full attention of two people during their session, to style them, which is included in our session prices, as well as hair changes and makeup touchups. Our goal was to create a full headshot service without charging for a bunch of add-ons. And we’ve stayed true to that.
As moms of actors, we understand the struggles and expenses of this industry, and we want to give our clients our best at a fair price. We also switched things up by scheduling hour sessions rather than charging by looks. We think it’s only fair for clients to get their full time and not have it dictated by putting on or taking off a jacket.
And when we stopped counting looks and just focused on getting what the actor needs to be successful, we found that we consistently get four-six looks in an hour. We are really proud of putting the actor first. With their time, with their style, their essence, and their budgets. But we are most proud of our feedback from our clients. We are doing what we set out to do.
And our clients are booking, working and getting feedback that they “look just like their headshots.” They are excited to be going in for roles where they never saw themselves as playing that “type.” We love our clients and love hearing all of their success stories. And there have been SO, SO, SO many! And that is what we are proud of most of all!
Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years? Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
Things are changing so quickly all the time I can’t imagine where the industry will be in 5-10 years. But we work really hard to stay ahead of the curve. This year we saw “slate shots” become an important tool for actors. So… we offer digital slate shots to all of our clients while they are “headshot ready” in each wardrobe change.
We also do our homework… we watch a LOT of TV and film (tough job right? 😉 to stay up on current casting trends and apply it to the looks we create for our clients. Just like an actor should be familiar with the show they are auditioning for, photographers should be familiar with the looks and styles of the characters that are trending on screen. And that is a factor that is always changing.
But the one thing that will NEVER change is the need to have a GREAT headshot that looks like YOU!
Pricing:
- 1-hour session: $300 (guaranteed min. 3 looks)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amycassonphotography.com, https://www.amycassonphotography.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/amycassonphotography
- Facebook: facebook.com/amycassonphotography
Image Credit:
Amy Casson Photography
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