To Beard or Not To Beard? That Is The Question For This Actor

 A neighbor recently asked me about doing her son's acting head shots. She told me he had just been in a play and he has a big bushy beard. She wanted to know if there was anyway I could do both beard shots and then shot without the beard. She was curious of how one would go about that.
Well she asked the right person. I love to have fun, so I suggested we make a whole photo essay of it.   I said we could document the whole process, if her son was up for it.  She asked him, and to my surprise, he said sure!

My plan was to first go to a wooded area near our house to get the outdoor woodsy guy look. I must say, I really liked the beard. Mom was not such a fan of it. The light and the background were great. We quickly took a few shots before we had to vacate the area because the mosquitoes started feeding on us.

Next stop was the train station where it was less buggy and there was some good light with interesting backgrounds. Drew was really chill and easy to photograph. He was not nervous at all and we were having a great time.

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Then  it was time to  change the look. Off to his house we went. I couldn't believe he was letting me do this. These kind of crazy shoots are right up my alley, you know "crazy!"

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First, Drew used the trimmers to get rid of some bulk.

What a good sport.

Next step, shaving cream.

Now a closer shave with a razor.

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Ta dah, a clean  shaven Drew!
Now we are off to Patriot's Place where I saw a wall the other day that I thought would be a good backdrop, not before I scape the side of my car on their stonewall backing out of the driveway. Oh I can just "Photoshop" that out, no wait, this is real life.

When we get there, I couldn't quite remember where the wall was. We traipse along looking for it. Again, Drew is so easy going about it, or he's a really good faker. When we finally locate it, I took a few shots.  I really didn't like it. He looks good, but I don't like it as a background, it's not the right colors for him.

Here are a few of the ones we got.

This is the shot I took right before Drew looked away......

because a man was driving right toward us in a security cart. The man questioned me as to what I was photographing. I thought it was kinda obvious, so I not so nicely said, "Ah, him!" pointing at Drew. 
He then asked, "What else?"
I assured him  I was only photographing Drew. He then told me he saw me taking pictures of doors and that was not allowed for security reasons. He said that I could go take pictures in the parking lot if I wanted to take pictures.

Well, I thought  we gotten enough anyway. It was time to quit. I should have taken pictures of the man, but I used my better judgement. That probably would not have went well. Don't think it didn't occur to me. Oh well, it just makes for a better story.

​I would like to close with my favorite shot. This will get him all kind of comedic roles.

Seriously, good Luck Drew, I know you're going places! Thanks for letting me be part of your journey.