Richard "Guess how old I am" Yingling

21? 30? 18? 25? 40? If you guessed any of these, you would be wrong. Though his surname is Yingling and though he tells me he is related to the "Yuengling" lager that we all no from Pennslyvania, Richard is not old enough to drink. NO. In fact, Richard is not even old enough to drive. Yet he is old enough to graduate from high school on be on his way to Howard University to pursue acting...at the age of 15. Yes, 15 ladies and gentleman. Needless to say, I was stunned. In fact, Richard is the youngest of 3 and all of them graduated high school early and began their college career long before most even thought of going to college. How is this possible? What type of genes our his parents producing? What's their background? What kind of jobs do they have? Are his parents the best parents ever? Well, luckily for me Richard's Mom came along for the photo shoot. (After all, how was Richard going to get there? DRIVE? I don't think so.) And the answer? Home School. TADA!!! That's right, 3 kids, all home schooled, all graduating early, and all smart as a whip. Now you may say home schooled children lack the social skills necessary for everyday life...I disagree. If you were to ever meet Richard you'd agree. He's a smart, young, polite and articulate individual and with all the freedom that comes with being home schooled, Richard gets hones his "social skills" in the theatre acting with adults and other kids his own age. In fact, it was Lexi Haddad who recommended him to me--the girl who was 14 going on 30. These kids are amazing. What's not to like about being homeschooled? Best of luck to you Richard!

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Alexander the Content

My first reaction when Alex called was, "Your last name's Content? That's AWESOME!" Alex found me through his friend Praem who got his headshots a few months ago, and though Alex isn't an actor, he needed a headshot nonetheless. You see, Alex is singer. Not a singer that you'll see in a musical and certainly not the kind of singer you'd see in XMAS Carol (i.e. Me) - a real honest to God trained singer. Now for those of us, myself included, who don't know what that means, here's the skinny...he's good, apparently damn good. So why does he need a headshot then? Apparently, there's a competition coming up at the end of January in Annapolis and if he qualifies and passes the first couple of rounds, his chances of making the finals in NY greatly increases. So, he needs a headshot for the competition. Oh - I almost forgot, whoever makes it to NY, gets a week of personal voice coaching at the Metropolitan Opera...SWEET! Needless to say I wish him well. It was great being able to talk about music, relaxation techniques for both singers and actors and the overall world of being an artist. Best of Luck Alex!

The Traditional Look.

The Traditional Look with some Attitude.

A look that says I've done something mischievous?



Much different look with the hair down.


The sun finally went down so we could do a little outdoor work.


As Always, Clowns.

Robert "I Could Play Stanley...Tucci" Weinzimer

Robert got my number from Anna Hall who's a classmate of his at the Theatre Lab here in DC and he called me awhile back and said he needed headshots quick. "There's some audition next weekend and I need about 30." We got together ASAP and did what we could do. Robert's never had a headshot taken before so this was all very new to him - and since he works for the CDC by day and acts by night/weekend, I was concerned at how this was all going to turn out. Luckily, Robert was great! Open and charming, we had a great time getting to know each other. And, luckily, he didn't need them that fast. He's now well on his way to Theatre Lab stardom! Thanks again Robert.

STELLA!
I love that fact that Robert was open enough to even try this shot. (His idea too!)

As always, 3 clowns are better than 1.

Praem these turn out OK.

So what do you get when you cross an Indian with a Jersey girl? You get one hell of a smart kid, who went to John Hopkins and is now in the business...of being an actor. Don't ask me how, but Praem wants to shine on stage. Why not engineering? Why not chemistry? Because they don't give you that sense or thrill of the moment. (I can relate-I was gonna go to law school, but here I am--an actor and photographer.) Well, I have a feeling coming from an intelligent clan and living on the north end of Baltimore won't keep Praem down for long--look for Praem to come to a theatre near you very soon.

Charlie Mitchell's War...on NYC!

You lose your job when you don't get tenure, you make a move to New York, your wife supports the decision, you have a meeting with an agent the first week you get there, you get the agent, and now you need new headshots. Wait, I mean a headshot. When your headshot is circa 1980's, there's a problem, a problem that needs to be solved quick. After putting off getting desperately needed new headshots, Mr. Mitchell could no longer wait. So here we are deciding which ones the best. Help Charlie out and win a prize. (Not really, but you can still comment and say which one you think is the best).

Sloan dear, Hurry Along Now

"Til Burnett Woods Comes to Dunsinane"

Can You Hear Me Now?

You might remember Bill from the "Lads of the Lansburgh" Calendar back in 2006 looking all posed and refreshed with a martini in hand, but now he's back for a headshot. Working for a cell phone company might keep one busy, but it's that kind of busy that gives Bill the opportunity to speak in Las Vegas next week. Oops! Someone needs a headshot. With a last minute call, we scheduled Bill for a quick session and off he went. But not without having a little fun. Good luck out there Bill! (I still think he should have gone with this first shot.)

Clowning Around

Three Bills A Laughing

OK, I guess this looks professional too.

"What did you do Ray?"

In a long line of headshot sessions that have been geared to raise money for Team Xtreme4, none have included a Dad bringing his two little girls along for the ride. Well, today that streak ended. Normally, you would think the extra distraction would cause a problem, but it never did due to my cleverly, never seen before tactics of occupying children......I put on a movie for them. And can you believe they've never seen GHOSTBUSTERS before. How is that possible? It's brilliant. So needless to say, the shoot went smashing with a little help from Bill Murray making Gary laugh the whole time. KEY TO A GOOD SHOOT: Just put on a great well known comedy in the other room and wait for the punch line. I think Gary may have had too much fun. And here's a tidbit, Gary's a Jeopardy Champion! Crazy! I love meeting new people.

Alex, What is my new headshot?

Are these girls cute or what?

Cats and Dogs living together, mass hysteria!