Selecting the right head shot for your website

My sister's name is Laurie, and she is an Assistant Casting Director for a casting agency in Lost Angeles.  The agency she works for casts actors in television commercials, amongst other things. She was visiting Seattle recently, and I showed her the head shots I had taken at Kevin Hogan and Larina Kase's "Image Weekend" in Philadelphia.  As part of her job, Laurie looks at literally hundreds of head shots every day, and I was curious which of my photos she thought would be best.

She immediately chose one where I was looking straight at the camera.  I don't remember exactly what she said, but it was something like this: "When a person looks straight ahead, they look more confident and assured.  I can't think of a case in business where that's not a good thing".

That convinced me, which is why my photo on this page is one where I'm looking straight ahead.  Your mileage may vary, but I thought I'd pass along what she said.

As I said, my sister is in the casting world, and perhaps different rules apply for other businesses?  If you've got any thoughts on this subject, I'd love to hear them!