Audrey

[kalgra]

So this is my very first serious endeavor in doing professional head-shots. A friend of mines wife is competing in a pageant and needed someone to do the photographs and he asked me if I would do them.

I was very honored and a little scared of the challenge as well, but I am pretty happy with the shots I got. Some are just the generic shots needed for the entry, but others are for some sort of add which are allowed to be more creative.

I still have several to process but these are a handful I have worked on so far.
Constructive criticism is very welcome.

1.
Audrey00px by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

2.
Audrey by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

3.
Audrey by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

4.
Audrey by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

 

[Granddad]

There are no doubt issues that others will address.
You are right to be happy with these. I'd be happy with them, too.
Good shooting Sir!

 

[kalgra]

There are no doubt issues that others will address.
You are right to be happy with these. I'd be happy with them, too.
Good shooting Sir!

Thanks!
Yep no doubt they are not perfect nor will they fit everyone’s tastes. That’s ok, looking at this after having some time away from the computer I realize there are a few hot spots I may try to address particularly in 4 on the left cheek bone.

I’m not sure about anyone else but it seems the more time I spend in front of the computer in a single sitting the fewer things I seem to pick up on. I’m also curious how most pros judge exposure for headshots and portraits like these? I notice that what my camera captures seems to be about 1/3 or 2/3rd stops over exposed compared to what my handheld meter is reading. The histogram always looks good but I’m starting to think maybe I need to be exposing slightly to the left and just gently bump the shadows in post if needed.

I also know hot spots are related to the distance of the light from the subject so maybe that was my problem here. I think my issue on some of these was the fact that I was using two hugely disproportionate sized soft boxes and trying to get fairly even elimination out of both of them. You can see that in the catchlights on the last one.

Thoughts?

 

[Donde]

Princess Audry. I like the first where the lighting and the rest seem more natural.

 

[kalgra]

Here are a few more for CC Please.

5.
Audrey by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

6.
Audrey by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

7.
Audrey by Kristian Algra, on Flickr

 

[Designer]

Some reason you're chopping off the top of her hair?

 

[kalgra]

Some reason you're chopping off the top of her hair?

Mostly just a personal preference.

As I understand it this is very common for tight crops on the face, while I am not a professional you will find many if not most professionals do this at least some of the time. That said I am also providing her with un-cropped versions if she wishes to do her own crop or non at all.

Here is a reference to the style she requested.
Headshots: Leading Ladies | Peter Hurley Photography

 

[Derrel]

You've got some nice images here. Subject/frame accord in 2 and 7 seems unnatural to me, but then my sensibilities are classical,not modern. In some the skin texture might be a bit more-revealing than I prefer, but overall, these are lovely pictures of a very pretty woman. I'm not enthused to see a lot of skin texture down to the pore level, as seen in #3, where the shadowy lighting creates a lot of texture revealing; shots 5 and 7 on the other hand are just gorgeous in the way the skin is rendered! For a close-up, #5 has just dynamite rendering of her features and skin and makeup! I like the theatrical nature of #1 too, and that's a logical and nice horizontal frame. I have the feeling that, based on what I see in these, that you're pretty capable behind the lens, and I think you're your own best judge of what you want to do and how well you've succeeded in realizing your goals on every setup you shoot. Thanks for posting these!

 

[ac12]

My only comment is #4, the green ear rings.
To me, the green ear rings distracts my eyes from her face.

I'm old fashioned, and don't care for the all even lighting. I like to see some shadows for more facial definition.
I like #1 and 3 with shadows vs #2 without shadows.

Having said that, you did MUCH better than I could.
I'm still in posing/portrait 1st grade. Maybe even lower, in kindergarten.

 

[kalgra]

Thanks @Derrel

I really appreciate your feedback. I am literally developing a post workflow as I go through these. 5 and 7 were the last two that I completed so perhaps the subtle changes in the process I’m using are for the better.

I have to admit I am struggling with the crop more than anything else with these, which seems a little weird to me but I guess it is something that will also improve with practice. I’m sure a day will come when I’ll say to myself “Derrel and Designer were right what was I think!”

 

[Derrel]

Thanks @Derrel

I really appreciate your feedback. I am literally developing a post workflow as I go through these. 5 and 7 were the last two that I completed so perhaps the subtle changes in the process I’m using are for the better.

I have to admit I am struggling with the crop more than anything else with these, which seems a little weird to me but I guess it is something that will also improve with practice. I’m sure a day will come when I’ll say to myself “Derrel and Designer were right what was I think!”

Cropping into the head can be tricky; where to crop down to? Where does that position the eyes, and the chin, within the total frame space? If the eyes ride too low in the frame, it looks odd sometimes. If there's no top of the head, it obscures the hair and hairstyle. A headshot for an actress is somewhat different I think than beauty photos, or shots for beauty contests. Vertical or horizontal framing and subject posing is one of my pet peeves; in the first batch, with the arms outstretched in the leather jacket, that's a natural horizontal pose and body positioning, so the horizontal frame is in agreement with the subject; Peter Hurley deliberately breaks the traditional mold of all-verticals for headshots, and that's been his claim to fame, but I reallllly think Hurley's claim to actual effectiveness is the way he uses continuous lighting, and LOTS of catchlights, ones that ring the eyeballs with multiple catchlights. he also has some amazing posing and expression techniques! his book,and his talk about it, and his other YouTube videos are really worth watching.

Yeah...I had no idea that frames 5 and 7 were processed last, and were similarly handled, but I knew that i LIKED the skin rendering in those the most of all the shots. I think you're doing some pretty nice headshots here. She looks very attractive in these, and they feel "real", and not overly "airbrushy". I think it's important not to make a person look too synthetic.

 

[chuasam]

She’s not actually smiling. Her eyes look like she’s not smiling. Work with getting genuine expressions. The skin texture looks over processed and smoothened.