Taking new digitals, or polaroids is an essential chore in the modeling and acting worlds.

In the acting space they’re called headshots. But regardless of what you call them, you need them. And you kind of need to update them regularly.

Digitals are unedited, makeup-free photos of what you look like naturally.

In the summer, my hair gets lighter with the sun. And in the winter I usually dye my hair back to its original dark color. Hence needing to take new headshots regularly. Anytime anything changes about your face, what clients are booking for jobs, you need to make sure they are getting an updated photo of you before they book you. In the summer I get tan and my freckles come out in full force. Sometimes I want to cut bangs, other times my hair grows out. You get it. Keep them updated. And simple!

The nice thing about digitals, especially since you need to keep them updated, is that they are as low maintenance of a photoshoot as possible. All you need nowadays is an iPhone, a “photographer” (a friend or a tripod will do, self-timer is great), and a simple background. I usually wear jeans and a black tanktop and I put on a tiny splash of makeup; super sheer foundation and mascara. Then snap away.

You usually want to get one straight on headshot, a 3/4 headshot, and a side-profile headshot. And the same angles of full body shots, plus maybe a back shot where you are facing away from the camera.

Here are some of my recent digitals for reference.