Head shots for a client?

[Kerbouchard]

For what it's worth, you can do both black and white backgrounds outdoors without a backdrop. White is done everyday(mostly by mistake) by allowing your background to be lit by full sun while your subject is in the shade. Black is a bit more difficult, but not that much. Just shoot in the evening with a background that doesn't have any lights in it, shoot at flash sync speed and a smallish aperture with your subject lit by flash.

Here is a shot I did of my wife at the local park... http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...49679-havent-posted-images-here-while-so.html

If you plan out your shots a bit and the time of day for the shoot, you can stay in your comfort zone and not have to duct tape sheets to a wall...not a great idea.

I mean, honestly, it doesn't sound like you are ready for this shoot, but if you are charging $20 bucks, the client should have a good idea of what to expect...

 

[MissCream]

For what it's worth, you can do both black and white backgrounds outdoors without a backdrop. White is done everyday(mostly by mistake) by allowing your background to be lit by full sun while your subject is in the shade. Black is a bit more difficult, but not that much. Just shoot in the evening with a background that doesn't have any lights in it, shoot at flash sync speed and a smallish aperture with your subject lit by flash.

Here is a shot I did of my wife at the local park... http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...49679-havent-posted-images-here-while-so.html

If you plan out your shots a bit and the time of day for the shoot, you can stay in your comfort zone and not have to duct tape sheets to a wall...not a great idea.

I mean, honestly, it doesn't sound like you are ready for this shoot, but if you are charging $20 bucks, the client should have a good idea of what to expect...

I don't think that an on camera flash would be good for the black background outside thing, I think it would be a bit too harsh.

 

[kundalini]

Don't charge. Do the shoot to the best of your abilities, but don't charge, not yet. Have her buy you lunch or something similar and any printing costs.

 

[TiaS]

Don't charge. Do the shoot to the best of your abilities, but don't charge, not yet. Have her buy you lunch or something similar and any printing costs.

I like this idea. Thanks for the helpful comments everyone.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

The best tip I can offer is: If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it!

Although it is hard to disagree with that, it is also not very realistic. One has to do to learn.

The problem thus is how one goes about learning. And learning while getting paid is not the way. I have taken jobs over the years I didn't know how to do then I scrambled to figure them out and to practice before the day of the shoot. There was no internet then and I relied on friends for the advice needed. Thank god for that because I knew I could trust those people while, on the web, there is more bad advice than good.

Which brings me back to "headshots." In all the headshot threads I have seen on TPF I don't remember coming across one member who actually seemed to know what a headshot is. To be fair, doing a "headshot" search on Google (or other) brings out the same general lack of knowledge except for one guy on MM who had a very good write-up. This is gone for some reason. And I got tired of repeating the same thing over and over...

But a search of the subject on the forum should bring a good definition although it would be a fairly old thread by now. It would also give all the technical bits.

 

[ghache]

 

[tirediron]

The best tip I can offer is: If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it!

Although it is hard to disagree with that, it is also not very realistic. One has to do to learn.
The problem thus is how one goes about learning. And learning while getting paid is not the way.

You're absolutely right; my intent with that statement was more, "Don't represent yourself as a professional able to fulfill the role of a professional if you don't have the requisite skill or knowlege". The advice to say to the client, "I'm new at this, but I'll give it a try and if it works, buy me lunch", (or words to that effect) was, IMO, excellent.

 

[gsgary]

You don't have the equipment to fulfill your commitments, shooting with a white backdrop and only 1 flash you will end up with a grey background, shooting on a black backdrop you will get no seperation from the background and if she has dark hair it will blend into the background