C&C on head-shot

Teal

Hey guys! I would like some C&C on this head shot I took yesterday. I've mostly worked with children, but have been asked to do some head shots. Wanted to make sure they looked OK to the expert eye. There were lots more, but this is the one her & her mom picked .

WingsOfLovePhoto

I really hate saying negative things about pictures but..... I don't like it....sorry...... photographically it is ok but there is something about the models expression that bothers me. She really isn't conveying anything to me. She isn't looking happy, sultry, attitude. She almost looks blank? I dunno... And I am not quite liking her head tilt either? Having had a daughter who did the whole modeling route, I just don't think it is going to grab the agents. Again sorry.....but this is only one opinion.... I hope others respond.

divamum

Is this for modelling or acting work? You may want slightly different emphases depending on which (more about "look" for modelling and "personality" for acting).

If you can't reshoot, I think I would play around with tilting this to get a better composition, and crop out some of the background - particularly in black and white I find it a bit distracting as it's high contrast. I'd probably crop out quite a lot above and to the left of her (to her hair in both cases, maybe even more than that on the left) to get more focus on *her*.

I agree with WoL about the expression, but if that's what they wanted and that's what you've got in the can, then you can't change that. For me, however, this is a young girl trying to do "sultry" and that's a conflict that just doesn't work for me. I'd rather see any perceived "sexy" come out of her being young and pretty rather than trying to project come-hither eyes. A litttl more smile - and perhaps a slightly stronger coloured lipgloss (not lipstick - too old and formal for her in those clothes, but some pretty pink gloss)

Please take with LARGE grain of salt - I'm new at this portrait thing myself, and make no claims for expertise - if anything helps, great, but please don't consider this authoritative!

lisap

I agree that perhaps a different crop would change the feel of this shot, except for me it was also the bottom part that I'd crop out. There's something about her right shoulder area that looks a bit 'off' to me. It might be just the angle of the pose. When I put my hand over it and the focus was more just on her face I thought it didn't think it looked that bad actually.

-- Lisa P.