Headshots, Take 1
Had a young man in my neighborhood approach me about taking some headshots, and had a go of it for the first time last weekend. We're planning to have a second shoot, so any feedback from this set will be well and truly used for the next take.
1.
2. This one looks too bright now; I'll go back to tweak if it's worth saving.
3. I realize this is too far away to do any good, but I hated it cropped and something about it keeps drawing me in. Nice portrait, but not for headshots is my thinking.
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5. I love what my wood floors do for his eyes. I'll be using them again, for sure!
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7. We started on some character shots, but he wasn't quite getting into it, so we plan to do those more in the next round.
As many portraits as I have under my belt, this one trumps them for being the most difficult. I'm so used to doing over-the-top character stuff that trying to capture the essence of the actual person is stumping me. Always room to grow!
Thanks for stopping by! :thumb
1.
2. This one looks too bright now; I'll go back to tweak if it's worth saving.
3. I realize this is too far away to do any good, but I hated it cropped and something about it keeps drawing me in. Nice portrait, but not for headshots is my thinking.
4.
5. I love what my wood floors do for his eyes. I'll be using them again, for sure!
6.
7. We started on some character shots, but he wasn't quite getting into it, so we plan to do those more in the next round.
As many portraits as I have under my belt, this one trumps them for being the most difficult. I'm so used to doing over-the-top character stuff that trying to capture the essence of the actual person is stumping me. Always room to grow!
Thanks for stopping by! :thumb
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Comments
It is about how that thing looks photographed." Garry Winogrand
Avatar credit: photograph by Duane Michals- picture of me, 'Smash Palace' album
One and seven are my picks!
Great job!
www.cameraone.biz
If I have one word for you it would be.... CROP!!! Then crop some more!!!
With the exception of #3 (I agree with you that one works as a 3/4, although I'd probably lose some of the headroom) - they're way too wide for typical headshots. I don't think you've taken them to 8x10 yet, either (they'll need to be 8x10 so that's some croppage right there), but you can come in waaayyyy tighter for this style - they all have too much airspace for me, so even though he's a great-looking guy and the shots have magical lighting and are technically super, they read to me as "portrait" instead of "headshot". Cropping will take them from "great picture" to "AWESOME HEADSHOTS!!!!!".
1 Gorgeous technically and really flatters - his expression isn't bad at all and his looks carry a lot for him even when he isn't necessarily "on" - it really works (as does your gorgeous wall
2. Is nice, but I'm not getting much personality from him - nice shot, but not sure it's his best choice to sell himself.
3. I like this one a lot. Lose the headroom and bring it down to 8x10, but the wider look works for me very well. Would be a great additional shot to go with a tighter one.
4. gorgeous eyes, but too "mugshot" for me with him straight on to camera - I greatly prefer the ones with more interesting body angles. This straight up shot can work well when the subject is leaning into the camera with camera more from above.
5. This one is almost too tight vertically, although it needs to be brought in horizontally - I do like that shirt and wooden floors combo (love me some wooden floors!)
6. this is the one that gives me the most dyanamism from him - partly because it's a smile, but he just seems more engaged. However (you know what I'm gonna say!)... crop! Don't worry about losing some of the top of his head if necessary (although this one would also look good cropped to portrait orientation). What happens with this one if you crop it to portrait and then do some tilting? Something about tilted diagonals can often bring headshots to life, IMO (yes, it's possible to go too far, but play with it and see what you think - it can do a lot sometimes, even in a shot that was good to begin with).
7. This is a hard look to pull off IMO - what character look is he going for specifically? Does he have a "type" that he submits for? The glasses are very "now" and cool, but I'd love to see some kind of implied movement here, as well as more facial involvement - he seems very still. Again, what happens if you take some off the top and just bring everything in tighter to his eyes? (Maybe tilting a bit CW?)
Kerry, you are such an awesome shooter - I wish I had 1/100th your eye and gift for seeing light! You have some incredible material here to work with, now it's just a case of manipulating these shots a little more so they can do the job he'll need them to do. Remember, too, that if he uses casting websites he will need to have a thumbnail image (which IMO is one of the reasons these tight crops have become so popular in the last few years).
I hope Mitchell chimes in on this too - he's really got headshot style down IMO, so I'll be very interested to hear what he has to say.