So, you finally took the plunge, and you got those digital actor head shots. Good for you!

But, what do you do with them, now?

In this post, I want to share with you 2 tips I think will be valuable when it comes to what to do with your digital images. Some of this you may already know. In those situations, I suggest you skim through the text; because you never know if there is something that could be of use to you.

So, without further ado, let's get started.

Storing and protection

Problem- headshot photographer sends client to a gallery where they can look at the images, and then download the ones they like. But more often than not, folks tend to just leave those files, or, the folder itself on that one location that it was downloaded to. If something happens to that location, such as virus attack, theft, or just plain carelessness, client is screwed.

Solution- instead of just downloading it and saving it to one location, save it to multiple locations; external drives, or filesharing services such as dropbox, are ideal solutions for this. So instead of having the image files just on computer, or laptop, or on even a smart phone, the image files/ folder can exist in the cloud, as well as a physical medium that is not physically connected to your computer or smart phone or laptop. Now, if some major event occurs, you still will be able have access to those files/ folder when you need them.

Additional tip: always scan any files or folders that you download to your computer, phone, tablet, etc. Event though your photographer may be a good person, they may have been hacked themselves and not even know it.

Printing 

Problem- Folks come in the studio, get their headshots, wait for the digital files to arrive, and then once the files or folder arrives, rush to the nearest office supply or even pharmacy type stores get the images printed on copy paper.

Trust me when I say, no one, and I mean no one, wants to get a print of your actor headshot on shit copy paper.

Solution- If you're going to print out your images, invest in professional print stock. 

Having seen for myself how quickly these things can deteriorate just because a client doesn't know any better, I personally invested in a professional printer. That way, whenever a session is done, and the client has selected the actor headshots that they want, they can (at their discretion), get physical prints on photo stock that they can now use to submit to casting, or, maybe hang up on their wall, give it to their mom, etc...

A quick little breakdown on the recommended format for the prints. If you're getting the images printed yourself, I suggest going with a matte, luster or semigloss print paper. If you're not sure which one to go with, be sure to get a sample from either the photographer that's going to do your prints, or the company that's going to do prints for you. That way you get an idea of what your prints are going to look like. 

Okay, so this was a really quick little thing that I want to share with you guys. Obviously there's a lot more that I can add to this two granular lies this subject. But I figured I'd keep it simple this time.