Nick Gregan Headshot Photographer

Name: Nick Gregan Headshot Photographer
Address: Studio/Kennington. Office/Wimbledon. London, London, SE114DS, GB
Telephone: +442085333003

Home
United Kingdom
London
Nick Gregan Headshot Photographer

https://www.nickgregan.com
Specialist Headshot & Portrait Photographer in London.20,000+ clients, 30+ years in business.

Author of ‘The Headshot Bible’
Speaker & Photographer’s Coach
Always happy to share my knowledge Nick Gregan is one of London's top headshot photographers and has been shooting actors headshots for more than 20 years. Author of THE HEADSHOT BIBLE - 50 Tips Foe A Perfect Headshot

Creator of HEADSHOTS 101 an online course teaching actors 'How To Get More Auditions and Catch The EYE of THe Casting Directors'

28/07/2026

Post Text

23/07/2026

Same model. Same room. Same afternoon.

Look at these three shots though - completely different photographs.

One's bold and editorial - white power suit, hard studio light.
One's raw and honest - jeans, bare feet, mid-conversation, natural light against a plain wall.
One's classic - black wrap dress on grey seamless, shot in colour and then reworked in mono.

None of that happened by accident. And none of it happened because of the camera.

It happened because of what you do before you press the shutter - the direction, the posing, getting someone comfortable enough to stop performing.

That's the bit most photographers spend the least time learning. It's also the bit that actually changes the photograph.

What do you reckon makes the bigger difference on a shoot like this - the lighting, the posing, or the wardrobe? Genuinely curious where you'd put the weight.

Follow along for more of what actually goes on behind the finished shot.

20/07/2026

This is a tenner's worth of venetian blind and a hard light...
..and it's basically the entire secret behind every film noir portrait you've ever seen.

Just wrapped a shoot with a proper L.A. Private Eye brief - fedora, braces, typewriter, the works.

The blind hangs a few feet in front of the backdrop, angled between light and wall. Light rakes through it low and hard. Instant venetian blind shadow - the single most recognisable noir cue there is.

Then you dress the practical light - a warm little lamp glow by the typewriter, so it reads like the desk lamp is doing the work even though it isn't.

Everything else is direction. Hat tilted down. Gun raised, not aimed. A bit of haze in the air for the light to catch.

Convert to black and white last, once the contrast's already doing the heavy lifting in colour, and the whole thing snaps into place.

Cost of the gobo: whatever you paid for the blind. Cost of the look: thirty years of stealing tricks from old movies.

What lighting setup should I break down next - drop it below.

19/07/2026

Here's a question for this group.

Why can you take fifty selfies on your phone without a second thought - but the idea of one professional headshot session makes your stomach drop?

I'll tell you why. Control.

With a selfie, you choose the angle. You choose the light. You press the button. You delete the ones nobody ever sees.

In a session, someone else is holding the camera. Someone else is watching. Someone else catches the moments you can't see yourself making.

Handing that over is uncomfortable. For almost everyone.

I've had thirty years of actors walk into my studio and say "I'm fine" while their shoulders say something completely different. Shallow breathing. No eye contact. The smile vanishing the second I lift the camera.

Completely normal. Every time.

What I've learned is that reassurance doesn't come from telling someone "don't worry, it'll be easy." It comes from telling them why they feel the way they do - and then giving them a few minutes to stop fighting it.

Because once actors stop performing "confident" and just get on with being themselves, that's always when we get the shot that gets you in the room.

So - be honest. What's the thing that gets you before a headshot session? The wardrobe, the small talk, the "is my smile weird" spiral, or something else entirely? Tell me below.

18/07/2026

See how this portrait works?

Half the face is in shadow. And it's the shadow doing the talking.

Most people think a headshot is about the light. It isn't - it's about where the light stops. That's the difference between a photo of your face and a photograph of YOU.

That's the kind of thing 30 years and 20,000+ sessions teaches you. Not from a manual - from standing behind the camera, day after day, working out what makes one face come alive and another go flat.

Lighting is craft. Directing is craft. Knowing which split second to press the shutter? That's the bit you can't fake.

If your current headshot is a photo of your face rather than a photograph of you - you know where I am.

Book your session: nickgregan.com

16/07/2026

A hard truth about headshots...

Most actors book the session before they've done the thinking.
New headshots feel like progress. Fresh photos, fresh start, fresh hope.

But here's the thing - a headshot is a marketing tool. And you can't market a product you haven't defined.

What do you actually read as on camera?
The best friend or the detective?
The reassuring doctor or the one hiding something?

If you don't know, your photographer is guessing. And you're paying for the guess.

The actors who get the most from a session walk in with clarity - they know their castability, they know the roles they're genuinely in the running for, and the shoot becomes about capturing that.

Not fishing for it.

Clarity first. Camera second.

So, honest question - before your last headshots, had you worked out what the casting director actually sees when they look at you? Or were you hoping the photos would answer that for you?

P.S. If the answer is "still working it out", that's exactly what CastReady is for - £7 at https://castready.net

13/07/2026

Something a bit different for me...

3 looks - 3 different styles of headshot.

A lovely beauty style shot with soft warm lighting creating incredible depth ans warmth.

A more conceptual, almost nymph like feel with a over exposed style.

Finally something more classic.

Fabulous hair and make up by
and our model is

24/05/2026

Does Your Headshot Look Like This?

Image 1 - Are your eyes staring and blank, devoid of connection and emotion?

Image 2 - Are your eyes looking away and there are lots of distractions and too much skin?

Image 3 - Are your eyes like bottomless dark holes where no one, especially a casting director can see them?

Your eyes are the most important part of your headshot.

As humans we can’t help but be drawn to the eyes - it’s how we initially communicate. It’s EVOLUTIONARY we can’t avoid it!

And if your headshot looks like this… no wonder you’re not getting any auditions - it’s because nobody who can help your career can connect with you - so they scroll right past you!

I use the headshot conversation as a way of ensuring every headshot I shoot has connection, emotion and personality in an actor’s eyes.

Let me know your thoughts.

27/04/2026

I’ve got a question for actors…

What do you think the job of your headshot actually is?

Not what it looks like.
Not whether you like it.
But what it’s there to do.

If you had to choose, which of these feels closest?

A) To make you look as good as possible
B) To show casting what you could play
C) To get you into the audition room

There isn’t necessarily a “right” answer here - but your answer says a lot about how you approach headshots.

In my experience, many actors lean towards A…
But the industry tends to respond more to B and C.

The interesting part is how those overlap.

Curious to hear your thoughts - 👉 Which one would you choose, and why?

12/04/2026

Something I've been thinking about lately.

If a casting director saw your headshot for two seconds - just two seconds - and had to decide where to place you, what would they conclude?

Not what you'd like them to think. What they'd actually most likely assume, based on what's in front of them right now.

Most actors I work with find that question surprisingly difficult to answer. Not because they lack talent, but because they've never really looked at themselves the way casting looks at them.

I've put together a short free exercise that helps with exactly this. Eight questions, about two minutes, and at the end you get a specific result based on your answers - not a generic score, but a pattern that actually means something.

Link in first comment

Address

Studio/Kennington. Office/Wimbledon. London
London
SE114DS

Telephone

+442085333003

Website

https://www.nickgregan.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Nick Gregan Headshot Photographer posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Nick Gregan Headshot Photographer:

Name:

Email:

Message:

Want your business to be the top-listed Photography Service in London?