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Natural Light Headshots


joel_moser

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My opinion is that currently your work lacks

creative vision...I say this because although the

girl is very attractive, and easy to photograph,

the pictures lack intensity....when we say headshot,

I think one has to avoid a sort of passport pic

effect, so

that`s where lighting technique comes in.

You can get away with so much

when you are photographing a beautiful girl,

I can`t help thinking she

could look more interesting,

but perhaps an actor`s headshot doesn`t require more

interpretation ?

This shot will get her work as a Mom, a 25-30 something

business woman etc... in the advertising market.

The problem here is will you improve your photography shooting this way ?

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Leanne, you're right, the one Jim linked is from me.

 

I think you're probably right if you think the image is boring, and I can't argue with that. However, and of course there's no way you could know, we did shoot many more lively pictures for her commerical headshots. I guess I posted this one, because it's the most normal :)

 

What I'm doing with my headshot practice shots is I'm trying to tackle the problems one at a time. First I was having trouble getting the light under control. I think I've gained lots more control over that one thing, and of course I'm trying to work on the others, like working well with a model. Up until now, and including this series, my main concerns have been technical, so I've not been able to direct the way I'd like. Hopefully next time I'll get a little further. Thanks for the feedback :)

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<i>strongest points of this forum has been the use of examples rather than just yakking, pre-dating its incorporation into photo.net</i><p> Absolutely.<p>The garage shot is nice, but try it with the primary light source to one side, rather than right behind you... t<div>006EyG-14875184.jpg.906d17ab6ead024c996b05685989bdc1.jpg</div>
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Looking at the shot in the garage again, I think that the lighting is fine... Tom's suggestions are good too....but I wonder about the framing. Why not a vertical crop ? Her position is awkward - the hands and arms and elbows look defensive more than anything else. As you say I am sure you have others from this shoot, but I am commenting on this shot.

Look at what she is wearing, her body language, the general composition. (Apart from aesthetics, vertical format is generally more useful to any agency, I think.)

 

My suggestion is this...once you've set your lighting give your full attention to your subject.

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Window light on right, mother holding white tee-shirt on left for fill-- just inches out of frame. Medium grey background. Cheap, used, auto everything Olympus dig-cam. The boy�s parents got a call from a casting director of �Power Rangers� a week later; his first show biz job. So much for headshots.<div>006Fnt-14896884.jpg.8650c27d4cc354aef1f152cae68544ce.jpg</div>
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OK, I understand now.

 

I can probably find my wife's Olympus Stylus and take a whack at it. But that's a fair

chunk of work - I'd need to get something in exchange. My truck needs Simonizing -

short of that, how about a couple of CDs - maybe Blue Cheer's first album and the

long version of Bluebird - I seemed to have lost them...

www.citysnaps.net
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  • 2 weeks later...
Zooms are great in fast and fluid sitations like journalism and sports, and the photos are seldom reproduced very large. Otherwise figure out what you need for head shots, probably 85mm to 105mm on 35mm film, and buy yourself a high qualty single focal length lens. You'll get more sharpness, contrast, and better tonal rendition than most, if not all, zooms. This will hold true in the shadows, mid tones and hi-lites both in B&W and in color.
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