head shot style

DramaDork626 · Feb 24, 2006

olympus digital, indoor, no flash, desk lamp

Ok, I know the face is mildly washed out, but seriously, if you look up professional headshots these days, that is what they look like. And thats what I was going for.
So with that considered, does it work?

midnitejam · Feb 24, 2006

According to my monitor....
There's a blow-out on the tip of the nose.
There is lost detail in the under-exposed portion of her hair.
There is a perspective distortion on her knee.
The lense focal length has distorted the knee's size relationship to the remainder of the image.
I would like the image more if the offending knee were cropped out.

Do you have a color version?

'Daniel' · Feb 24, 2006

Does it work as what?

I can tell you what I think is wrong with it. The light given by the lamp is quite harsh and seems straight on and so alot of detail in the face is lost.

I'd disagree that headshots are washed out in general. I think side lighting would detracted from this

The hair covers too much of the face for me. I would also not have positioned the model as you did. it looks slightly like they are in a cramped cupboard. I think that the pose is too far from the natural position of the head in relation to the body and orientation of the shoulders. I looks slgihtly uncomfortable.

You might want to try a pose where you are higher than the model, this causes them to look up, elongating the face and neck which can look more attractive. You might also want to changwe the expression. it does not have to be a smile but the model looks quite depressed.

Maybe also try a closer crop (get closer to the model). I also feel that in a good headshot you need to be able to see the eyes. They are the focal point of the face and to obscure them is not good.

DramaDork626 · Feb 24, 2006

if you look up pro headshots on the internet, or even look in a theatre program, you will notice the faces ARE very white. I don't like it very much but it seems to be the way it is. I even saw one with a nose that practically wasn't there. It's insane.