Yes, I'm familiar with Peter Hurley's work. I'm just not a fan of the lighting approach in shot #1...the result is rather muddy-looking, and the low mainlight placement on #3...ehhh...that doesn't work well with his expression or face. Here's another guy, a well-respected LA headshot specialist, who has a nice style.
KENNETH DOLIN PHOTOGRAPHY : LOS ANGELES, CA
If you want to cut the top of the head off, a horizontal usually means that there will be a goodly amount of empty, dead, uninteresting space. The horizontal framing in #1 and #3 is an issue, and a LOT of the issue relates to the way we look at a face in relation to the BODY that is is placed on top of...and I mean that literally, and figuratively. A horizontal lopping-off of a person, especially a man, at the neck does not show what kind of physique or build he has. Same with a woman similarly amputated right below the chin. The angle of the head is also CRITICAL...the man in shot #1 looks gay, because his pose is borndering on a feminine head tilt, AND he has no shoulders... Will these people get work when casting directors and talent people can not SEE WHAT they actually "look like", as a person, or as a "body"??? I doubt they would even get placed into the "possibles" file without at least SOME clue as to their body type.
The guy in #3...good face... BUT for some weird reason, you have his shoulders turned so one faces the camera, and we cannot see if he has broad shoulders, or anything...we can only see a floating head. If he has a killer physique, it doesn't matter, because the photo makes it look like he's a woman you are trying to slim down. If you want to be able to portray individual people, and make them look good, you need to truly understand HOW TO POSE people, and how to FRAME them. Some guidance from well-established professionals is what you need. Almost every time I bring this kind of stuff up here on TPF,somebody pipes up to whine about my comments on people pictures, with comments about how horizontals are okay: and they ARE perfectly okay when done with a full understanding of HOW to do them to LEVERAGE the person's appearance. There is an entire visual language, and a number of basics to showing off a person; one of the KEYS is to have some kind of a BASE to a shot of a person...not an amputated head, shown with no body and no shoulders, and no bust...that is the problem with shots #1 and #3.
We recently had a big brouhaha over "horizontal portraits". THe thing is, the newbies who whined about my comments seem to fail to understand the most-basic fundamental of a headshot: to make the person look GOOD. To LEVERAGE their strengths... The guy in #1 looks feminine and spindly...the guy in #3 looks slightly sinister, and we cannot tell much about his physique or body type...all we can see is one shoulder pointing right at the camera, and a MASSIVE shirt collar...his head just floats there. You need a course in posing basics, with the "secret" fundamentals taught to you.
Here is an ultra-quickie examination of a few really basic,basic things that EVERY "trained" professional shooter knows. And which most self-taught shooters have no idea about.
10. The Rules Of Good Portraiture
