I need a head shot – not a mug shot

I need a head shot.

That’s right … you heard me.

A head shot … you know, a picture of my face … although, if it’s a picture of my face, why don’t they call it a face shot?

(thinking … thinking … thinking)

Ooohhhhhhhh – ugh. Yeah, that’s a bad name for it, might confuse some people into taking the wrong sort of action. But why, you ask, do I need a picture of my face? Because of this:

This is a screen capture from Interiors UK – a Furniture, Lifestyle & Design website and just look at my mug shot up above. Despite the fact that it looks like it came from a police report, it didn’t. This is a picture that I took of myself while running back and forth between the camera and a blank wall in my house. Bad lighting (although that shadow hides my fat neck pretty well), bad composition … bad everything. Did you read what it said at the top? “Interiors UK has put together an expert panel….”

Oh no … “expert”?

Based on that photo you might conclude I am an expert at criminal activity like “Breaking + Entering” or “Grand Theft Auto” (minus the obligatory neck tattoos). The truth is that I am incapable of taking a good photo of myself which is why I use a cartoon for my avatar.

What I can’t understand is why didn’t they use the photo I sent them? (not that it was much better). I suppose I should be happy that they went searching through my website because the photo they selected came from a post I wrote when I found out I was selected to participate in the Reign in Spain event last December. They asked for a head shot (which I didn’t have) so I had to make one … and it sucked. The post is here but for those who don’t want to click-through, here is the photo from that post:

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Even then I knew that this picture was bad and so me being me, I played it up because I am not particularly vain. Unfortunately for my wife, I don’t spend much time on my appearance other than making sure I don’t have any noticeable stains on my clothing and I don’t smell bad. So I went ahead and sent the sucky head shot picture off and thought “no big deal, it’s just my face“. The photo that I did send them was taken at the same time as the one above but instead of my typical smirk (I am Norwegian after all and as a general rule, we don’t smile very often) I was actually smiling enough to see some teeth (but just the top row of teeth, I’m not going crazy). This was the picture I sent in:

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Uggh – but better than the police line up photo. Because I am pretty sure that my hair is clear just like a polar bear, I think I should stand in front of a dark background so that the top of my head doesn’t merge into oblivion. Getting a professional picture made needs to become a priority because in the last year, these stupid pictures that I took in my Den are showing up in some notable places (beyond websites and wanted signs). Most recently it was in the magazine ‘Texas Architect’ when I was listed as a contributing author (look on page 14-15) … this was the Design Awards issue and was distributed for FREE at the Texas Society of Architects Convention – so lots of people got to see my homemade head shot photo. (sighing) Great.

Look, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem not looking all super-modely in my photos, in fact – I sort of embrace that fact and frequently put silly pictures of myself out there (like this)

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That is a part of my personality but it has its place. There are times when it would be a good thing to look a bit more professional because despite trying to enjoy my time on this planet, I take what I do seriously and it would be nice to have a picture that looked like I put as much time and consideration into my headshot as I do my work.

That’s all I’m saying.

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