Cosmopolitan style head shot???

[sarahgolding@photographer]

Hey ive got a client who wants a head shot photo but not just a standard smiling photo. She wants to be looking away, laughing and in black and white. She's seen head shots in cosmpolitan mag and wants it like that! Its only going on her business website so only going to be small.

Any ideas what to do?

Im thinking getting a cable for my flash then putting it 1 side to an angle. But ive got a mental block on what to do!!!

Thanks
Sarah

 

[Village Idiot]

Also look at a stand and umbrella/adapter. It'll make your light nice and soft so you don't have all the hard shadows.

 

[tsaraleksi]

Yeah, you're going to have to get the flash off of your camera if you want to do a shot like that-- you'll want to light her face from the side so that it is properly illuminated, rather than lighting up just the side of her face/neck if you keep it on camera. However, you might be better served with a reflector (or a piece of white foamcore board) and natural light.

 

[sarahgolding@photographer]

See it's only going to be 5 mins to shoot this as i've actually been hired to photograph a conference but the boss wants to use me as an opportunity to get a better pic of her for the website. So didn't want loads of equipment and she's gonna be a hassle to take her photograph anyway and think my reflectors will get her more paranoid and the location doesn't have many windows.

 

[Village Idiot]

See it's only going to be 5 mins to shoot this as i've actually been hired to photograph a conference but the boss wants to use me as an opportunity to get a better pic of her for the website. So didn't want loads of equipment and she's gonna be a hassle to take her photograph anyway and think my reflectors will get her more paranoid and the location doesn't have many windows.

If your subject isn't willing to work with you, then it's going to be hard to get the results you want.

 

[JerryPH]

See it's only going to be 5 mins to shoot this as i've actually been hired to photograph a conference but the boss wants to use me as an opportunity to get a better pic of her for the website. So didn't want loads of equipment and she's gonna be a hassle to take her photograph anyway and think my reflectors will get her more paranoid and the location doesn't have many windows.

Truth to be told, that is likely the same story all photographers will get in the same situation 90% of the time. Most business people do not have "time" for photographers, that's why you need to learn to be fast AND good.

The trick is... take 15-30 min to setup and test... and 3 min to take 20+ shots. Just make sure where you setup and test is not in the same room as the client is waiting.

Of course, you could practice at home, get to know your setup PERFECTLY and setup and take the pictures in 10 min tops... but you are lacking the equipment (off camera setup, lightstand, umbrella, etc...), and practice/experience.

Good news... practice and experience are easy to come by for this scenario and take only a little commitment. Customer service skills... that's a lot harder to learn. A good photographer will know how to make just the right conversation during those 3 minutes so that it seems like seconds for the client. Think dynamic, fun, fast, witty and if you do not know what to say to THIS client to make them laugh... find out BEFORE you arrive for the shoot.

I'm at the stage where my comfort level is high with this kind of scenario. I could walk into an office, scope it out, setup 2 areas with different lighting within 20 min and when the client walks in, I would have the setup ready for 2 completely different lighting scenarios... at that point they walk in, stand in one area as we small talk, snap-snap-snap... nice, lets go to station #2... snap-snap-snap... "thank-you ms client, that was amazing. I'll get back to you within 48 hours with the results." Then just leave.

Whatever you do... do NOT talk technical during the time you are shooting the client and DO NOT show them the results then and there. Leave that for later once you have chosen the best results and done all the right post processing needed to achieve the effect needed.

Good luck!