first head shot shoot - need feedback for another session this weekend!

[lisa_13]

This is from the first head shot session I have ever done. I think they came out pretty good considering one of my lights broke the morning (the bulb separated itself from the base somehow, and I didn't have a replacement) so I had to substitute with my sb-600 + beauty dish. This is the shot she chose to get printed.

What do people think? I'm doing another head shot session this weekend and I'd like some feedback.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

What do you mean by headshot? The type of photos used by actors or something else?

 

[Derrel]

I think most people do head shots for actors with the camera oriented in the vertical direction. This horizontal composition shows us a big,black space to the left of the woman's head. I think a vertical composition would make a lot more sense, on several levels.

It would look better if the top of her head were in the photo,and not cropped off. And it would look better if her body formed a base for her head and neck.
Your lighting is very bright and rather flat on her face, but her dark hair disappears into the background; a slight bit of light on the backdrop would have helped separate her from the background.

 

[kundalini]

Her eyes are looking too far to her left.

Some sort of kicker light to add separation from the background would help. She melts into the background.

The lighting is a bit flat. Looks straight on from the camera.

This would have been better in portrait orientation IMO.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Well, we still don't know what you mean by headshot so here's Model Mayhem's take on the subject. As close to perfect as I've seen on the web.

ModelMayhem.com - All about Headshots

Hope it helps.

 

[kundalini]

Good link with an explanation and examples cloudwalker.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Thanks kundalini. It is not perfect but it is pretty good.

Every time I see a question on headshots it seems very few people have any idea what the heck it really is so I finally bookmarked this page but I often wonder if the OP is really talking about headshots........

 

[lisa_13]

yes, she is an actress

i had started out with vertical orientation but she asked me to do horizontal as that is what she liked...this was one of the few where she was turned a lot to her right, and for some reason this is the one she liked best. i do agree that her right side melts into the background.

 

[Big Mike]

i had started out with vertical orientation but she asked me to do horizontal as that is what she liked

It's all well and good to give the client what she wants...but she needs to realize (and you should help her) that different isn't always better when it comes to something like this.
Imagine a casting director sitting at a desk, going though a stack of resumes & head shots. Most of them will conform to the accepted standard of what a 'head shot' is...and if her's doesn't, it's likely to get passed over very quickly.

 

[SrBiscuit]

agreed.
a good headshot follows a specific formula.

i've found pretty good info just googling 'headshot', but cloudwalker's link is a good place to read. :thumbup:

 

[bigtwinky]

I'm active in our local theatre world and a few of my actor buds have commented that the new "in" way to do headshots is in a landscape orientation.

I agree though that if you are a casting director and start to have to flip orientations to see a picture, might not be the best thing to go against the grain.

 

[Derrel]

headshots, acting headshots, headshot photographer, los angeles, hollywood

Not a single horizontal photo in sight. But then, he works in Los Angeles. And he's only been doing it for a decade or so. So maybe he's not aware of what the hot new trend is,and prefers to go with the old-style proven formula.

 

[skieur]

I remember one portrait photographer colleague describing this type of shot as one in which "her brains are cropped out of the photo".

skieur

 

[lisa_13]

haha yes she showed me a friend's headshot (horizontal) & said that that was the new "thing." i wanted to please her but i shot about half in portrait orientation as well. i'm more looking for critiques on the lighting, her pose etc. i obviously need more light on the right side

 

[Big Mike]

I'd personally like to see more of a ratio on her face. The lighting looks a little too even.

I don't like the big catchlight in her left eye, it's not in a good spot which makes it distracting.

And yes, I'd like to see some separation light so that her hair isn't all blending into the background.