First try at Head Shots

RacinRandy

C&C is appreciated as this is my first attempt at headshots.

well here we go!

1)


2)


3)

slpollett

What's the purpose of these headshots? Actor? Model? Singer? I don't know what your market requires of headshots in your area, but these wouldn't fly in Texas for any of these uses. The cluttered background plus the tank top are no-no's for a headshot. The first two poses are fine, but the third one should be pitched--the angle is not flattering, plus the cleavage shot is generally inappropriate for a headshot. Our Agency would probably accept either of the first two shot IF the background were less cluttered and the blouse were different.

Just my $.02.

Sherry

divamum

fjcvisual

I agree with all of the comments above.

having said that, you achieved a catch light in her eyes which is nice. This appears to be a single light setup based on the harsh shadows on the right side of her face. I would suggest three. The key light seems appropriately set, but also you should have a lower power light to camera right to soften the shadows. With the contrast in her hair, you might also want to put a hair light behind and above the model camera right. How much power would be based on the color of the background, which, if it were me, would be a solid color.

I like the first pose the most. In shots one and two, the angle of her head is nice, but I would probably only slightly square her shoulders. Truth be told, I am not a fan of the backwards tilt as in #2. I would prefer a slight tilt to the models right shoulder. For #3, I would suggest you shoot her focused on her nose at f1.4 if you have one and ask her to square her shoulders. She looks hunched. Unless you want to see the cleavage I would cover it up and get as much Bokeh as possible.

Lastly, did you diffuse the light? the shadow's really looks harsh.

0scar99

hairbrush?

RacinRandy

Thanks for your Replies everyone!!
First off thank you all for your critiques!

The Base Purpose of these was she wants to enter a contest of some sort and needs headshots for it.
The secondary Purpose was for me to try to gain some experience(good or bad, I know you all will help me correct bad) in this area of shooting.

The lighting started out as Ambient Natural through a window with a reflector. Didn't work out so well.
I then opted to set up two AB800's,One with a beauty dish and grid and one with a shoot through umbrella. BD bee as a key models left, Shoot thru behind and right as Hair and a reflector to the talents right.

Now The key was set to 1/2 power as was the Hair light, Not sure what happened with the reflector other than I misplaced it and it was ineffective. (First try with that)

We were scheduled to start at 1pm today and she was over an hour late, without makeup and dressed to go to her night job as a bartender. She had two tank tops on and a white shirt with a ton of cuts(Stylish??) across the front and back. I opted to go with the tank you see as the hotpink one was really ugly. I wanted her to pull the shoulder loops off her shoulders, when she did her bra straps left deep red lines where they had been(UGH!!!) At this point i should have went back to bed lol. Also I'm Not very fond of the headband thingy and she has beautiful hair and insists on those dang bands.... She did take it out but the damage had already been done and her Hair stayed as if the band was still there.

She then informed me we had to hurry as she had another appointment to be to which left us just under 30 minutes of total time for her "shoot". Looking back I think I should have just told her to reschedule at that point but i am always so leary of doing that. Would you have asked to reschedule at that point?

Thanks again!

divamum

No time to go through point by point, but -

- different background. If you don't have something behind to use effectively as part of the shot or a neutral background, open up your lens and shoot from as close as you can without distortion.

- judging by the catchlight in her eye, either the umbrella was tiny, or you had the light source too far away from her. Get those suckers in CLOSE, ideally only just off the edge of the frame. That will kill some of the harsh facial shadows right there.

- Note where the catchlights are - pretty much near the center of her iris. Get the light higher and fill the downward shadows that casts with a reflector as-needed.

- Definitely make suggestions regarding clothing, hair etc. You can do this tactfully by playing the "let's just experiment" card. "You know, I would JUST love to do some of these with your hair down - can we try? If we hate the , we can just hit 'delete', but I'd love to play around with it as a look." You can also invoke the "help me out" approcha, ie "It'll totally help me out to practice that - can you indulge me?".

The tank isn't ideal, but given that's what she was wearing I probably would have tried to make it work as a kind of "workout outfit" look - the hair would sell that too. If she's got a good body, show it off more for a sort of "fitness instructor" look. If that wouldn't work, then I probably would have gone with pulling the straps down, as you suggested, and then just cloning out the bra lines in post...

If she asked YOU to do these and then was in too much of a hurry to do it properly, I'd have rescheduled. That said, if you have everything set up ahead of time, you can do quite a lot in 30 minutes, although probably only one or two lighting states rather than lots of 'em.

I have to say, when I'm rushed, stressed, or otherwise feeling like I need to do what I know works, I always go back to one light with the largest appropriate modifier for the subject/space (usually my Photek) at approximately 45* to the subject, and a big reflector to fill on the other side. It may not be the most creative or complicated lighting, but it's reliable and always looks good

novicesnapper

I think at that point I would have put the camera down and said lets try again soon. You might mask her and put her onto a different background, if you thought it was worth it. Little tip I was told, let the girls know that several hours beforehand, depending on what type of shoot, to remove or lower their bra straps. This allows the red marks to be less. If doing a nude shoot, same with panties. Less PP work on you.

zoomer

The first two look pretty good, 1 is better than 2.
Light looks good, she looks natural and pretty.
3 is not a flattering shot for her.
.....next time find a non distracting background and move her away from it a bit, and as mentioned wardrobe could be better.

A solid first effort.

RacinRandy

How does this one fare?
I went back through these shots and did a little searching using what you have all said.

I'll do more photoshoping later, these have only been run through LR.

Here's a different crop of one, crop or shop out the shoulderstrap?

4)