Fresh Headshots

[DGMPhotography]

n/a

 

[ronlane]

Was the spill from the hairlight camera right intentional? Not a fan of the specular highlights that it is putting on the face. Of the three, I like them in reverse order.

 

[Soocom1]

No 3.

has the right attitude and lighting is nice.

 

[Derrel]

I really like the lighting on the face in number three.

 

[Jeff1547 47]

Good shooting.......

 

[tirediron]

Overall, I'd say you've done a pretty good job, especially with dark skin against a dark background, but as Ron notes, some of the specular highlights seem a bit uncontrolled. Were you using a grid or recessed modifier on the hairlight? A couple of thoughts for consideration: In #1, I would really like to see his chin further down. In #3, I'm NOT a fan of the partially cropped arms. All arms, or no arms, fine. Partial arms? Not fine.

 

[DGMPhotography]

Was the spill from the hairlight camera right intentional? Not a fan of the specular highlights that it is putting on the face. Of the three, I like them in reverse order.

The light spill was indeed intentional. Thank you all for your thoughts!

 

[Derrel]

Once again I'll be the first to say it: why horizontal "the man is taller than he is wide and therefore the subject and the framing should be in agreement", A good case in point would be in the third photo with the cropped off arm parts... had the camera been oriented vertically you would have been able to include much more arm and he would have a much stronger picture to show as an actor.

I can already hear the rationalizations and excuses for shooting horizontally… No you're not that famous guy from Hollywood who is one of 1000. Headshot is supposed to be a vertical. These are not landscapes, and the horizontal framing does the subject very little good

 

[Braineack]

#3 with a little less clarity/structure. and agree on the landscape vs portrait orientation

 

[DGMPhotography]

n/a

 

[Derrel]

I think that all of these both horizontal and vertical have the top of his head far too close to the top edge of the frame. This causes unwanted visual tension. He is really crowding the very top of the frame.

I think that instead of cropping a horizontal photo to make a vertical picture, you should instead start with a proper vertical composition and shoot a vertical picture. Or, failing that, shoot much looser, with a lot more space above the head and include much more of the chest and upper arms and make a good-looking horizontal and a good-looking vertical. We are now in an era of ample megapixel count, and it is very possible to heavily crop.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Or frame differently, adjust as needed before taking the picture. Or don't necessarily provide a horizontal and vertical version of every photo. You brought out and captured good expressions. I don't think the extra sharpening was necessary.

 

[tirediron]

If for no other reason, shoot portrait because it's virtually impossible to turn landscapes into a comp card!