Headshots: Carl (C&C welcome)

divamum

C&C always welcome

Busy few days!

Carl is an absolute natural in front of the camera - super-photogenic, and projects great energy so even though it was about 10 million degrees out (it was HOT!!!) we had a great time.

He got caught in bad traffic and was late - a problem for a morning shoot in midsummer bright sun! Fortunately, our location had tons of open shade even after 9am and it was really fun to play around with the light with lots of SPACE for a change! I'm beginning to love location shooting most of all, I think; I do like the familiarity and predictability of working my "studio" (aka "living room"), but it sure feels good to be able to step back.

AND to be able to use the 135L. :lust

Love how it annihilates backgrounds!!! (reflector + nat light)



The 85 1.8 was a champ for this shoot, too: (580ex/30" SB + nat light)

2


3. He's one of these people with a hugely infectious laugh and smile - so glad I managed to catch one of them! (small SB to camera right to light his face, mixed with the really funky ambient)



4. But he can also do the smouldering thing (ditto above)



5. He's a pianist as well as singer and once we went inside asked if we could do some with the concert grand. Yes, of course, but WOWZERS piano shots are tricky - I know a good one when I see one, but haven't shot any before and they sure are hard to compose (especially when you don't have a neutral background, there's nowhere to put lightstands because of stairs, and there's lots of stained glass with coloured reflections...!)

The specular highlights on this were actuall blue, but I desaturated them down a bit to minimize the eerie weirdness... (SB)



6. I couldn't resist this geometric location with railing and siding (it's even cooler in situ, as it's EVERYWEHRE, and the stairs actually change direction a few time to offer even more shapes) - this one's hardly a headshot and couldn't be used for submission, but I had fun processing it - intentionally a bit funky (SB)

Quincy T

You really got some great expressions from your subject, which is something to expect from someone who has been on the other side of the camera as well.

wave01

really nice and i like the way you have posed the subject. 6 is the only one i am not sure about, for me its not standout like the others

Gary752

Quincy T wrote: »

You really got some great expressions from your subject, which is something to expect from someone who has been on the other side of the camera as well.

I think they are all nice, but if I had to pick only one, I'd have to pick #5.

GaryB

divamum

Thanks, both!!

Very nice to know that you like #5 - I thought the piano shots were the weakest of the shoot! He can't use those for everything, of course; playing is his sideline, so more typical headshots/promo pictures for opera and music theatre were the main focus of the session.

ETA: The last one was just me playing around for kind of a more urban, slightly grungy look. That one certainly isn't a straight-up headshot, and could only really be used on a website or something like that. But I had fun processing it!

VayCayMom

oh lala.... you did him justice, great job. I like them all but 3 stands out for me because of the lighting and how his face kinda jumps off the page and says surprise!

Bryce Wilson

I really like three, four and five. There is a richness and intimacy to those three that is absent from one and two in my eye.

Something else that bothers me about one and two. I know it's a style of shooting, and must be popular as I see it quite a bit, but to me and my way of thinking, if it's a head shot and ears are a part of the head, shouldn't they too be in focus? Not meant as a nit or a pick, but more as a question.

divamum

Thanks Bryce! Interestingly, you like the three which were indoors and lit by me rather than the sun

I know it's a style of shooting, and must be popular as I see it quite a bit, but to me and my way of thinking, if it's a head shot and ears are a part of the head, shouldn't they too be in focus? Not meant as a nit or a pick, but more as a question.

That's a good question, Bryce!! I do think it's a style, as you say. I can only speak for myself but I will say that the first time I saw one of those "meltaway" headshots, *I* melted - absolutely fell in love with the look and when I started shooting seriously, was determined to learn how to do that. I just like the effect very shallow depth of field gives this kind of portrait.

But your question is a good one, and made me stop and think about what it is about that look that I like. I think, on reflection, it's because I want *expression*. Ears and hair aren't expressive as such, so as long as eyes and mouth are "saying" something in the image (along with other body language in wider shots, I suppose), I don't care if the ears are blurred out. Also, I think minimizing their clarity makes them recede in importance in the same way a neutral, blurred out background is just that - a background - and doesn't compete for my attention. YMMV, of course!

As an aside, guys with short hair make ears a big problem, IMO - I'm alwas trying to figure out how to position them and light them so the ears aren't over-prominent!

Mitchell

#1 is superb!! Love it.

I also like the piano shot. I've always struggled with how to incorporate that instrument into portraiture.

divamum

Thanks Mitchell! I love the light in those, and we got a bunch of really good expressions/poses from him in that same setup. The light was just magical - it's a nearby college (not the same one where I teach), and I think it's heading near the top of my "favorite locations" list. Of course, there are no students in session right now, so it was empty - might not be so easy during term time...

On another note: since nobody has mentioned it, does that mean my collar cloning is unobtrustive in 3 & 4?

Here's one of those shots SOOC before I worked on it. I'm still :bash that I missed that. The whole series are really nice, but ALL of them have that %YP!&#^!@*&! collar hanging out which means ridiculous amounts of work to fix it....

Would welcome feedback on it. I've been copy/pasting a section from lower down the shirt, moving it up, masking/blending, lather-rinse-repeat/ I'm then intentionally plugging up the blacks with either a vignette or a bit of burning in those areas to minimize the work even more. Does this work ok? If I hadn't drawn your attention to it, would you have noticed it when looking closely? All feedback welcomed. Thanks!

PS Yes, the poor quality is attachment compression etc. Original (as you can see above) is as sharp as can be.

troopers

Love the series, and esp the pics wide open.

Hackbone

Loved what you've done with 3-4 & 5. Great shots.

divamum

Thanks Hack and Troopers

Any further comments on my collar cloning? I just want to know if it's showing up as klutzy on other monitors, or if I've missed some artefacting etc etc. Trying to get this set of proofs off the hard drive and uploaded for the client - there were SO many good expressions from him (I tell you, he's a natural!) that it's taken a while to whittle this one down to a manageable set!!

Elaine

Diva, I love these! My faves are 3 and 5, followed closely by 1 and 2. Love the colors, clarity and variety of expression. Terrific work!

divamum

Thanks, Elaine! (Good to see you posting again too )

Gary752

divamum wrote: »

Thanks Hack and Troopers

Any further comments on my collar cloning? I just want to know if it's showing up as klutzy on other monitors, or if I've missed some artefacting etc etc. Trying to get this set of proofs off the hard drive and uploaded for the client - there were SO many good expressions from him (I tell you, he's a natural!) that it's taken a while to whittle this one down to a manageable set!!

Diva...I thought you did a great job on the cloning, considering the amount you had to deal with. The only thing that I could see was a spot near the very end of the collar that appears to be a tad bright on the collar of the jacket. A little dodging would take care of that.

GaryB

divamum

Thanks Bro! I'll have a look at that. I didn't have a way of flagging the SB to camera right so it only fell on his face, and had to crop out some of his shoulder to get rid of the overlit bit (the chapel pews and other architectural pillars etc made positioning the lights where I wanted them very awkward). Thank you for the feedback - very helpful!