Headshot photography has been making big headlines lately. A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal interviewed the headshot expert Peter Hurley on the importance of a professional shot in a rapidly changing business landscape (The perfect professional head shot is worth $1,000, and maybe even a job).
His print interview was quickly followed by a segment on Good Morning America, where he once again discussed the importance and value of a quality headshot. In the midst of this press whirlwind, Hurley graciously sat down with me for a few minutes to discuss his career and the professional headshot phenomenon.
The biggest growing genre in portrait photography
Over the past few years, headshot photography, as well as the demand for skilled headshot photographers, has grown exponentially. Hurley credits much of this to our post-pandemic world, where many industries are still largely online, and our respective digital characters have taken on importance far beyond what has been assumed. most people can imagine a few years ago. On business in 2022, he said, “You’re looking at your phone all day, you’re on Zoom if you’re in a meeting and they’re seeing you, so it’s important that you can get out there visually, in this digital realm.” Indeed, studies have shown that LinkedIn profiles with photos receive 21 times more than those without photos and transcripts. Hurley himself believes that is a conservative estimate.
Hurley knew in advance how quickly the headshot photography genre had expanded, because of his organization, Headshot Crew, boasts more than 20,000 photographers, with members around the globe. (Full disclosure, I’m an employee on the Headshot team and I’m witnessing this headshot phenomenon firsthand). As demand for high-quality headshots grows and more people have chosen or been forced to find a new career path due to the pandemic, Hurley believes now is a great time for photographers. head to grow their business.
$1,000 headshot phenomenon
“I don’t make $1,000 headshots, but people are following a formula that currently works.” When Hurley discusses his “recipe,” he consults not only the lighting and coaching, but also the sales strategy developed by the Scottsdale photographer. Tony Taaf. Dubbed the “TNT Method,” Hurley believes this approach is a key ingredient in helping headshot photographers in various markets achieve $1,000 or more in headshot sales. .
According to Taafe, the TNT method is a customer-centric approach where sales are a natural byproduct of a great experience. It encourages photographers to not only focus on experience but also to charge enough to grow a sustainable and profitable business. Taafe credits this method, as well as the training he received from Hurley, for his success as one of the busiest early photography photographers in the world, with studios in both Scottsdale and Los Angeles.
Photographers David Roth, in Miami, has also seen a boom in the headshot business he started during the pandemic that came after much of his other photography work dried up. “People quickly realize that a professional headshot is valuable to their career,” says Roth. “If you can get someone to stop scrolling, you have a much better chance of getting them to interact with you, notice you… to give you a chance.” Roth soon realized that finding a niche in head shots would be most important to the future of his family and business.
According to Hurley, the other ingredient in the $1,000 headshot formula is the quality of the final product, which he calls “representation coupled with really clear lighting and a simple background.” This is not only the formula he uses but also the one he teaches to his students, as he considers it not only the best formula for early photographers to use, but also timeless and marketable to a wide audience.
It’s a formula that works globally and doesn’t age. I’ve been shooting the classic white background look since I started in 2002.
I welcome those who copy me
Hurley’s belief in his formula for headshot photography is also fundamental to his teaching method, and unlike some photographers, he is an open book when it comes to every aspect of his profession. his. He doesn’t believe there should be a “secret sauce” and encourages others to imitate his style, especially those of his network.
I am probably one of the only photographers in the world who welcomes my copyists. I want people to copy me because I’m the one who gets the job done through Headshot Crew and I’m building a network of 20,000 photographers on the site at this point.
Hurley believes photographers of all kinds will benefit their businesses by adding headshots to their products.
If you are a portrait photographer, why not add a mixed input shot? The photographers in Headshot Crew who did just that decided that the most lucrative part of their business became headshots. It’s a lot easier than weddings or babies.
He added that many of the photographers he coaches are doing six characters, even some in the same city. “There is no shortage of people who need this,” he says, and he strongly feels that we have reached a critical point for close-up photographers everywhere. “We have been doing this for a long time and now we have national attention. There’s basically enough to go around. “
Reviews and Top Snaps $49.99
Hurley is not shy about discussing “farm-giving” photographers as well as his critics. He believes that “it’s the headshot photographers who do the $49.99 weekend specials who get annoyed by competition who really hurt. market”.
Hurley says that instead of charging very little and offering a shoddy product, photographers should be “confident in themselves and their technique,” saying he “would rather let them raise the price than make the photos.” affects the entire industry.” It should be noted, he adds, that the level of their work and service must meet exceptionally high standards as a precondition for premiums to be charged.
He doesn’t accept the idea that other photographers are his competition, instead he focuses on his own growth as a photographer and an entrepreneur. He said, “I compete with myself. Kevin Hart says it best, “I just have to beat me,” and lives by saying, “Amateur competes, expert creates.”
I am an open book and I have no secret sauce that I will not inject into the veins of my students.
He realizes that there will always be people who will criticize you when you achieve success and recognition in your field, which he considers par for the course.
Hungry as ever
With her recent exposure to the media for headshots, Hurley feels energized and excited. He believes the attention he can bring to headshot photography through the WSJ article and the GMA segment can serve as inspiration for headshot photographers and that “the rising tide will lift all the ships”. As the public becomes more aware of the value and need for world-class hand-made photographs, he tells me he is “more hungry than ever” as a photographer and an educator.
As our conversation ended, Hurley enthusiastically summed up his passion for headshot photography.
Pointing a camera at a human and getting paid for it is just the coolest thing you can imagine. I just love it. 22 years later I still love it.
