Photo Tips & Guidelines

Agents and casting directors do not want to see children, “over-posed”. Take a look at these top tips. Try to stand near a plain wall or background too.

1. No hats - No headwear, hats or hairbands. “We get lots of babies submitted with huge headbands over the heads and this completely takes the focus away from a tiny baby. We don’t need anything like this in the shot. For older children, if the child has a hat on we can’t see the hair, and again, this is really important to the whole look.”

2. Sunglasses are a no-no - No sunglasses. “This is so common, but how can we see the colour of a child’s eyes by sunglasses taking over the shot? They may look cool, but from an agent’s point of view, we cant see what we need to see.”

3. Head up, shoulders straight - Head and shoulder shots are what we are looking for. “Photos taken in simple attire is always best with no make up or jewellery visible.”

4. Wear hair down - Hair down and as natural as possible – this means without product, too. Again, no make up or jewellery either.
 

5. No dress-up - Natural every day shots
 

6. Smiling and neutral expressions - Ensure some variation of images. “Images should be ideally one taken smiling and one taken neutral, as a person’s face shape changes dramatically when they are smiling.”

 

7. No face paint - No face paint or fancy dress costumes are necessary at all. “As an agent we can’t judge a child from such a picture, as we can’t see their face.”

8. The natural look is best - There is no need for make up “This makes them look too old.