Head Shots questions and advice needed

picturegirl

Hello! It's been a while since I have posted here so I am looking forward to some feedback and advice on this shot. I think it turned out pretty good however there are a couple things bothering me that I would like to fix. Any suggestions as to how I could fix these issues? My 1st thought is to bring the lights up above him and possibly use a lower powered light???<br>
1st-I really don't like the catchlights, they are too big and in the wrong place.<br>
2nd-I don't like how bright the sides of his head are, I am using an Alien Bee 800 on the pictures left, his right, with a large Octobox. On the pictures right, his left I am using an Alien Bee 400 with a silver lined umbrella being bounced back on him. I did have the Alien Bee 800 turned all the way down.<br>
3rd-I feel like the middle of his face is too dark, how can I fill this in without creating obnoxious catch lights, I tried a silver reflector and a white foam board for fill, I believe this shot was using the white foam board.
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1-This shot has a small amount of white balance adjusted and a light vignette added

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Here are a few more from the session:
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2-This shot has a bit of white balance adjusted, a small amount of fill light and a light vignette added

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3-SOOC

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4-SOOC

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5-SOOC

kevingeary

I think they're great. What program do you use to edit? I don't think they're too bright. If you're using lightroom, hit "j" to turn on the highlight clipping warning. If his face isn't clipping, it's not too bright. I see detail in his face, so I think you're perfectly fine.

You're correct about the catchlights. The easiest way to get the catchlight in the right spot is to bring the key more toward the front and make sure it's high. If you still want to light from the sides like you're doing, use a front fill light. It'll still make a nice catchlight and it will even out the shadow you don't like in the middle of his face.

picturegirl

I'm using LR3. Thank you for that feedback, that shortcut is helpful, I've never used it before!

briandelion

Very nice! I think you hit the mark on #'s 2 &4. Very relaxed and natural. These two also have the best skin tones. The others are a bit pink on my monitor.