Head shot portrait C&C Welcome

Postman158 · Aug 2, 2012

Hey guys,

I recently decided to start using flash and umbrellas outdoors to see how I can improve my photography. Here's a shot I did yesterday for my friend who is publishing his third book. Its going to be the small sort of "Meet the Author" picture on the back of the book. I used one flash (Yongnuo Speedlite YN560) shot through an umbrella camera right at about the traditional 45 degree mark.

What bugs you, and what do you like? What could I have done differently? These aren't final, I told him he's my test dummy for my first time using an off camera flash outdoors. Yes, he wanted his necklace on, which I think may have helped if it were removed, but its his shot so I let it be.

This was the main head shot portrait:
What I like: The color of his eyes, the sharpness and clarity of the image, the composition.
What I think I might want to change: I feel like the shadow on his right side of his face might be too strong? What do you think?
1/100th, ISO 100, f4, Canon 24-70 f2.8L

Here are a couple extras I did for practice. Again he is my good friend, so it wasn't like "this is professional time for my book, no messing around".
What I was attempting: I wanted to try and take a shot in the shade while flashing, without blowing out the sky. I'm not sure how I did.. what can I do different?
1/160th, ISO 100, f5.6, Canon 24-70 f2.8L

And last, another test shot against a field and sky. Again, we were standing in the shade with the flash camera left at 45 degrees. The only difference is the crop which I did in camera, not in PP.
1/160th, ISO 100, f5.6, Canon 24-70 f2.8L

Feel free to edit too.

Thanks!

Designer · Aug 2, 2012

I like #1 the best, and for that shot, please crop out the white design on his tee shirt.

Postman158 · Aug 2, 2012

Thanks for the input Designer!

Anyone else?

ababysean · Aug 2, 2012

In every photo he is straight forward to the camera. Did he not want to shave/trim before his headshot? He is also very shiny. I like the first one because the background is solid, the other two the horizon is cutting his head totally in half. However, if you do this again pull him out a bit from the tree, so it is not so bam I'm standing in front of a tree.

Postman158 · Aug 4, 2012

ababysean said:
In every photo he is straight forward to the camera. Did he not want to shave/trim before his headshot? He is also very shiny. I like the first one because the background is solid, the other two the horizon is cutting his head totally in half. However, if you do this again pull him out a bit from the tree, so it is not so bam I'm standing in front of a tree.

Yeah thats just the way he is, wanted to keep all his facial stuff haha. And I'll try that next time, pulling the subject away from the tree.

BUMP

What else!

rokvi · Aug 4, 2012

lighting is pretty good, shadows aren't too strong IMO. A solid coloured shirt without distracting logos or designs on it would be preferable. As said before with the horizon is another thing to look out for. Might be an idea to look at doing something indoors against a plain wall.

Postman158 · Aug 4, 2012

rokvi said:
lighting is pretty good, shadows aren't too strong IMO. A solid coloured shirt without distracting logos or designs on it would be preferable. As said before with the horizon is another thing to look out for. Might be an idea to look at doing something indoors against a plain wall.

Glad to hear the shadows weren't too strong. Thanks! And I'll keep that in mind next shoot. I think I might even try a different colored shirt besides black, so I don't lose detail if I bump the contrast. And yes, the horizon thing I'll watch out for. I mainly wanted to test out using artificial light against a naturally lit background.

Thanks again!

Granddad · Aug 5, 2012

I like #1 best. If lighting comments are what you are after I'd say the lighting worked. I agree with the comments about moving out from the tree and losing the T shirt logo. Don't forget to show us the final image!

The_Traveler · Aug 5, 2012

I think his mouth is pursed in the first picture and not the other two - slight lemon-in-my-mouth look.

'Lips together, teeth apart' is a decent mantra

Jaemie · Aug 5, 2012

MaaaanTEEca! (Do they still run those Manteca RV ads? I used to live in Modesto)

I like #3 the best. The expression is intriguing and I like that slight angle of his head to the camera. Criticism: the flash is too harsh - reflection on his shiny forehead; horizon cuts through his head; the cross pendant and t-shirt design are distracting; blown sky (but I can live with it as a plain background).

Your subject is sending interesting mixed messages. The look on his face with the stubble and black t-shirt are telling me he's a bad-ass man of action, like Jason Statham or Vin Diesel, but the cross pendant contradicts that with a religious, man-of-peace, message. It may not have been his intention, and I think the apparent contradiction adds a nice mysterious element to the image.

Postman158 · Aug 5, 2012

Jaemie said:
MaaaanTEEca! (Do they still run those Manteca RV ads? I used to live in Modesto)

I like #3 the best. The expression is intriguing and I like that slight angle of his head to the camera. Criticism: the flash is too harsh - reflection on his shiny forehead; horizon cuts through his head; the cross pendant and t-shirt design are distracting; blown sky (but I can live with it as a plain background).

Your subject is sending interesting mixed messages. The look on his face with the stubble and black t-shirt are telling me he's a bad-ass man of action, like Jason Statham or Vin Diesel, but the cross pendant contradicts that with a religious, man-of-peace, message. It may not have been his intention, and I think the apparent contradiction adds a nice mysterious element to the image.

Thanks again everyone!

Jaemie, I actually just saw that commercial the other day! Then there was an updated version for that RV company haha. Also, thanks for the input! I'm taking all of that into account!