Perfection is not always perfect.
Anyone with sufficient photography and Photoshop skills can take a 'beauty' headshot. They can light you well, they can touch up every wrinkle and expression line, and in the process they can take the you out of your photo.
Having worked behind the camera as a producer and a director, I've looked through literally thousands of headshots and worked with some of the best casting directors around.
The bottom line is this: When someone comes in the room who looks nothing like their headshot, it is an immediate turn-off. No one wants to feel duped. They want the human being that comes in for an audition to look like the person whose photo they saw a few days prior. And many times people are virtually unrecognizable in person compared to the headshot that was submitted.
As such, the headshots that are truly effective are the ones that capture the essence of a person; The ones that give a director, producer, or casting director an idea of what the person really looks like and who the person can be. I'm not saying the photo should not be beautiful -- it should be. But it should still be you.
