Corporate Headshots (for linkedin)

[JayG1372]

These are two headshots I did for a fellow MBA student. He wanted them cropped for use on LinkedIn. Any constructive criticism is always welcome.

 

[tirediron]

I think they could both use a little work. In the 'brick wall' shot, the focus appears to be on his ears; his eyes are soft. As well, fill light was needed camera left as his skin tone runs from a bright, ruddy red to almost alabaster white far camera right. Both have, IMO, unnecessarily distracting backgrounds that don't really coordinate with a 'suit & tie' look. As well, don't forget the small details: Dandruff on his lapels, skin blemishes, etc. No doubt that these are better than 90% of the work used for social media, but with just a little more effort, they could be a LOT better.

 

[JayG1372]

Thank you for the input. He asked me to take pictures with those backgrounds as I suggested many others but he wasn't into it. I just let him choose so he felt comfortable with the end result. But I agree, I have not purchased a flash for my D3 yet so I will definitely be doing that to help the photos.

 

[chuasam]

his poses are just too stiff

 

[Braineack]

his poses are just too stiff

agreed. after posing, id ask him to move head forward towards the lens to give him a more flattering chin-line.

 

[chuasam]

Smile is a bit gummy. Too much gum on the upper teeth and his lower lip is even covering some of the bottom of his teeth. Cheek muscles too tense.
I do lots of headshots. It's primarily what I do.
Spend the first 25% of the shoot just chilling out and getting to know the subject before the camera even comes out.

 

[ronlane]

I think they could both use a little work. In the 'brick wall' shot, the focus appears to be on his ears; his eyes are soft. As well, fill light was needed camera left as his skin tone runs from a bright, ruddy red to almost alabaster white far camera right. Both have, IMO, unnecessarily distracting backgrounds that don't really coordinate with a 'suit & tie' look. As well, don't forget the small details: Dandruff on his lapels, skin blemishes, etc. No doubt that these are better than 90% of the work used for social media, but with just a little more effort, they could be a LOT better.

Agreed. I think both could be helped by moving the subject away from the background where you get it out of focus or by using a smaller f/stop. Just a few more feet forward on the tree background would have helped it out.

 

[JayG1372]

I agree as well. I attempted to use Zeltman's approach when I was posing him and he kept saying he was uncomfortable. His claim was that's not how he was trained to stand in the military and he wanted to present himself as he wished. So I took the photos for him, and left.

 

[JayG1372]

Thank you all for the input.

 

[Christie Photo]

His claim was that's not how he was trained to stand in the military...

Have him sit. This will help too with the camera angel. I don't wanna see the bottom of his nose.

And... use a longer focal length. I think you'll like the results.

-Pete

 

[PhotoPro1]

I addition to everything said. You are cropping him too tight. He has no shoulders for being such a large guy or any size for that matter. The crop needs to be a little broader. The comment about his grin is spot on, but the main reason for that is your focal length. Shoot at his face level or higher to de-emphasize his head shape. Get the longest lens you can, find a better background, use the lowest aperture value possible and take your time with the subject to get them used to the camera. Good luck and lets us see your next shoot.