Headshots: teasers from today (c&c)

divamum

C&C always welcomed! :nod

Had loads of fun today - have way too many shots to go through, but here are a few that jumped out at me on the first pass through them. They've been run through LR but that's it :thumb

I will say that the replacement copy of the 24-70L absolutely delivered - a couple of mm from maximum/minimum FL and it's as sharp as the 135L at 2.8 and 3.2 (yes, THAT sharp!!), with similar "pixie dust" bokeh. Absolutely thrilled with it.

These were shot with a mix of the 50mm/24-70L/135L on the 7d and a combo of nat light, reflector, flash+umbrella (outside) and flash+Photek (inside). Number 4 is nat light on her face, and a gelled bare flash behind for the rim light (inspired by the style of Kristin Hoebermann)

I'm very glad we got such a variety of looks, although she has one of those faces that looks entirely different depending on angle and how her hair falls; I'll be interested to see which of the various series' she likes once I've got a proofset put together for her.

1


2


3


4

David_S85

1 & 5. Fantastic shots and comps.
2 & 3 look like she's about to ask a question.
4 has the best smile, but there's something about the comp and mix of rear hair lighting and front lighting that doesn't seem right - maybe its too even F&R.

Icebear

I think #s 2 & 4 are the best "headshots." #3 seems a tad "overlit" to me. You can prolly fix it if you agree.

divamum

Thanks boys!

I should've said that she didn't want only "typical opera singer headshots" - she's moving sideways into some cabaret and music theatre work and also wanted some things for her website, so there are a lot of different looks there!

I can't decide on #4 - I wish I could figure out what Hoebermann (linked in first post) is using for that golden backlight that's become her trademark. Video light, maybe? (anybody?)

I will say it was FANTASTIC having a MUA - it will save me a ton of work in post (hence why I can share these even before I've done the "deep editing"). It does, however, slow things down quite a bit - whereas a client's own "touchup" is maybe 5 minutes, with a MUA each look was a good 15 minutes or more to change things up. Worth it, though, and this gal is the most awesome quiet energy to have around - I loved working with her in a recent show (which is how I met her), and even though she's new to photographic work, she has a tremendous eye for faces. I look forward to doing more with her.

John, that outdoor series was.... interesting. We were running horrendously late by then - client had arrived very late and then with hair/mu it was nearly high noon by the time we got outside, and the sun had already moved around. We jammed her into the little patch of shade that was left and the MUA held up my big shoothru umbrella (thank you Miss HeatherFeater!) or the diffuser from the 5-1 reflector to block the harsh light coming through, and then I added to her face either with reflector or fill flash (and booo on Canon for not letting me use HSS off-camera with the STE2 - a real omission. I'm not the first to mention this... ). Some of them worked better than others......

Ok, working through the set today so may have more later - watch this space!

Icebear

divamum wrote: »

or the diffuser from the 5-1 reflector to block the harsh light coming through, and then I added to her face either with reflector or fill flash

It looks to me like you used one of the metallic reflectors. While it made a nice catchlight, I seldom find the light from them very nice. I prefer using another white diffuser panel as a reflector. It's softer.

divamum

Actually, it was the white side - it was just very, very bright out! I tried to feather it, but because our patch of shade was so small, it was challenging to get her far enough away from the wall behind her so DOF would crush the BG and still have enough space to shoot. An hour earlier - the way I'd planned it - and we would have had about an extra 6ft of working space.

One thing I will say was kind of neat was that - possibly for the first time EVER - I felt like I knew enough and had enough experience/skillset to *know what to do* when each challenge across the shoot came up. Doesn't mean I always achieved it successfully, but at least the actual knowledge has finally filtered through into the pea brain...

briandelion

#'s 1 and 4 are my favorites. I know this is extreme but I think cropping out the fence would make a great improvemnet to #1 if you can still work with the resolution for print purposes. Something about the fence blur is distracting the way it suddenly comes into focus right next to her face. A longer angle on the fence might have made for a smoother transition. #4 is very warm, friendly and engaging. #3 is my favorite technically and the attitude of the head is perfect but she has one of those in-between not quite settled in the pose expressions. I agree with previous posts about #3. Will look out for more!

heatherfeather

These are lovely! I just think you are getting so good at these... Opera might have to become your fallback! haha!

She has an interesting face.. reminds me of Jamie Lee Curtis in some of the expressions, and then someone completely different in others.

I love #1 the best... and then 2 & 3 next. 4, isn't a win for me because of the hairlight.... but I love her expression anyhow.

5, is just cute.

Mitchell

#1 is the winner here. It seems her most relaxed and natural look of the bunch. I also like the way you used the wall to lead us right into her face. Well done.

Now quit teasing us and show us the rest of the photos!

FlyNavy

I like #1 the best. #3 is not as good as the rest.

Yaflyyadie

I'll go all the way for # 1.
Very well thought.
One small detail are the reddish blemishes at the nose root between the eyebrows.
SAID THAT, # 1 IS MY PREFERRED.

Hackbone

Divamum, really neat ideas!! On two and three the catch lights are too low in the eye meaning your reflector is low. I was always told to treat your reflector as a light and get it up off the ground. When you work by yourself I kow it is hard.

divamum

Thanks for the guys! The feedback is sooo appreciated. I've got a lot of shots to sort and cull before passing them on to her for selections, so it's all very valuable input.

Interestingly, I'd say that #1 is the shot that looks least like her - it'll be fine for (eg website) promo amid a set of others but, although I'm really happy with how it came out, for that reason alone I wouldn't encourage her to use it as a headshot for submissions. The ones that look most like her are IMO 4+5.

Charles, I'm interested in what you say about putting the reflector higher - how does that work when you need to bounce the light upwards from directly overhead, as here using the sun? This was at about waist height, FWIW (I use my music stand as a very handy, lightweight, easily adjusted reflector holder outdoors - works a treat!). One thing I should start doing in situations like this is putting a white sheet or piece of plastic down on the ground to act as additional, larger reflection; I may try that next time.

Here's another one from the same set as 3, with a better expression. I decided to blow out the background entirely for this one; I may lighten her face just a tad more, too. According to the exif this one had some fill flash as well as reflector:



Brian, I too would have preferred the DOF to blur right up to her face, but those slats are obviously in the same focal plane as her eyes - to get eyes sharp, I wound up with some of the fence sharp too. I tried to recreate what I did in my test shots with MiniD where I could crop the front and only show the blurred out line behind - but I think because she's just a different height/shape/different hair etc, it just wouldn't quite line up. In that one she's all the way to camera right so cropping not really possible, but I do have a few others with cropping options (and those will of course go into her proofset for consideration):

Original uncropped (I actually kind of like it like this, although the bright patch is a bit distracting)


Landscape 8x10 (tilted- I think I like this one best of this shot, although I might tilt it even a little further so the slats provide stronger leading lines)



Portrait

angevin1

divamum wrote: »

Thanks boys!

I can't decide on #4 - I wish I could figure out what Hoebermann (linked in first post) is using for that golden backlight that's become her trademark. Video light, maybe? (anybody?)

Hi DM, Late to the Game , and catching up. Lovely series reflecting fun.

On the back-light thing, Looking over Ms. Hoebermans shots, I see mixed WB, which looks to me she is using simple tungsten light to light the back. I've never thought about using mixed lighting, but will have time to play with that soon, so I'll see if that proves out for me.

Hackbone

Checking out Hoebermans site that could be a yellow wall with a yellow gel on the bkg lt. I've done that with red, works really neat.

briandelion

Hope you dont' mind. This was slightly straightened using the vertical line of the fence for reference and cropping to 8x10 aspect to eliminate the bright patch. This is a killer shot and I love the way her hair trails off.

zoomer

That second shot of the second group is the best of the bunch...to my eye. There are some sharpness issues on some of them and the light from below only works if it is fill, the examples posted here are way to strong, shadows need to go down not up.
Her cheek photo right seems unnaturally bright for some reason, to me that is her most flattering photo of all the ones posted.
She looks like she has lots of personality...bet this was a fun shoot.

rwells

As to the reflector; IMHO, make sure that your only using the "softer" edge of the reflected light, just like you would feather any other light source. Image #3 is an example of what you get when the bulk of the reflected light is blown directly onto your subject.

Feather the light...give it a try!


If your interested to see examples of what I mean, here is an older shoot that I did only using one reflector. (BTW, these shots were with a silver reflector)
(Exception: there are three studio headshots in there, and 1 full-body shot with reflector on bg, small softbox on subject)



If the reflected light is feathered and metered correctly, you can see that soft light can be obtainable with reflected sunlight.

When "only" lighting with a reflector, I take a meter reading of the reflected light with a hand-held meter. It's faster for me to do it this way, than to fire off several shots chimping and adjusting till you get the exposure right. That would break the timing with your model/subject.


Hope that helps...

divamum

Thanks for all the feedback, guys -really appreciate it

Zoomer, which ones aren't sharp? They all seemed fine at my end, but the posted copies are somewhat lowrez (proof resolution) - is that the problem or are they actually soft? Number 1 might need a bit more contrast in the processinI think the bright cheek might be fill flash (have to check the exif) - I was switch hitting between all natural and some fill. Like I say, it was high noon (and a bright day), so I was using everything I know to ensure we got something one way or another

Tom & Charles: This (Dana Beth Miller, Mezzo Soprano) was one of the first Hoebermann shots I ever saw, and it's clearly visible in this one that the backlighting is the makeup light strip behind the subject. I don't think that's the light in all of them, though, since sometimes it seems to be coming up from below etc. I think that lighting works best when there are clear architectural and background depth visible behind the subject, which is one (!) of the things I think is lacking in my own attempt.

Brian, no problem at all - glad you like the shot! I've started shooting with multiple crops in mind; definitely makes my life easier when it comes time to edit.

Randy, I tried to feather that darned reflector, but I think with the sun high in the sky and our tiny patch of open shade I just didn't have enough leeway of positioning to nail it. Something I need to work on for sure. No problem achieving a look I like when I can reflect from the side, but when the light's actually overhead (eg the sun!) and I'm trying for a kind of outdoor clamshell, not so good.

Here's one more I played with tonight (some retouching - looking at it here, I may actually dial it back a touch if she chooses this one) - I just like the energy in the expression:



Now to finish her proofset - for those who may be interested I'll post a link to her album here once I've got it uploaded. Still culling; when I'm shooting shallow DOF I always feel like I have to cover my behind by overshooting in case of missed focus - it's sometimes verrry useful to have those CYA shots, but does make for a LOT of trawling and deleting to get the set prepped for the client to view!

BradfordBenn

Nice compositions as usual Divamum. Some of the skin tones look a little light and to some degree blown out. I do like them over all.

I am always over shooting as a CYA.

divamum

BB - tx! I think I'm having monitor issues. Last night, these all looked dark. This morning, I can see I've overbrightened them and reduced contrast until they're really wimpy (and on that last one getting some artefacting in the blk background). I'm Huey-calibrated, so not sure what's going on with that (other than that I really need a new computer to edit on - this one spent more time crashing yesterday than letting me edit :bash) I'll check them all on multiple monitors when final edits are done to ensure they're print-ready.

BradfordBenn

You may want to check to see if Huey is changing the brightness to compensate for ambient light levels. Also you might want to check where the sensor is placed it it is checking for ambient light changes.

divamum

Thanks BB. Yeah, it's set to adjust for room light and has typically been pretty reliable. I think this computer is just not coping at all with the volume of large files I'm throwing at it just now and Huey is always one of the things that freaks it out for some reason, and if it crashes, the Huey profile corrupts and does all sorts of weird things. Sadly, I can't afford a new laptop right now (sob), but I did just order some new RAM which will double what I have - I'm hoping that will at least help with the creakingly slow speeds when I'm editing. It's driving me mad!