headshots/portrait CC please

[Designer]

They are for a hair salon. When I showed them the options they liked 1, and 3 better then 2, even though in my eyes, #2 was what I thought they would like. I will do my research on portrait orientation. Thank you for the helpful tips and honesty.

There is no accounting for taste, nor business sense either apparently.

In #s 1 & 3 the hair doesn't even show, let alone SHOWCASE.

The term "creative" to your boss apparently means something besides what other hair salons are doing.

Word!

I am probably the furthest from knowing anything about hairstyles and hair photography on this forum, but even I would know enough to showcase the work.

(walking away, shaking head in disbelief)

 

[mitchota]

I noticed in your original post you said that you didn't have money to spend on software for editing. There have been good suggestions for using Gimp, and that's become my software of choice for Photoshop-type editing. In terms of raw processing, you have a couple of choices, but it depends on the operating system you're running. Rawtherapee is available for Windows and Mac. Darktable is available for Mac. If you run Linux, then either of them is worth a try. I've used both, and I've gotten more familiar with Darktable since it seems to behave a little more like Lightroom, which is what I was using when I ran Windows most of the time.

In terms of the photos, I agree that the negative space is in the "wrong" place from a composition standpoint so it makes them look a bit awkward, but if it's for some kind of advertising, I could picture words or something going in that "dead" space. Be careful not to lose your subject into the darkness -- if these pictures are for a hair salon, you have to make sure that the hair is really well highlighted and defined. A separation light would definitely help.

Of course, if the salon person who asked you to take these pictures found them usable and good, then I'd just consider it a fortunate win, take notes for next time, and keep practicing. You can only get better with practice.

 

[Mcarlson]

Well im am learing something. I did take shots of everyone in portrait mode, like photo 2 but when i showed them they all like the shots like 1 and 3, everyone thought they looked better, and those were the only 2 girls i had look away from the camera, funny because those were my favorite but it seems in the photography world that is not correct. If someone could crop them how they believe is better that would be great. Also I completely agree on the dark haired girls the black backdrop washed all their hair out,where on all my blondes it looked great. i was very nervous to use a white back drop. I dont mind direct CC's at all the only reason i was able to take these is by reading this forum. thank you

 

[Designer]

and those were the only 2 girls i had look away from the camera, funny because those were my favorite but it seems in the photography world that is not correct.

Don't automatically assume that every photograph has to follow certain "rules". If you are doing a portrait, then eye contact is important. If you are doing a hair shot, eye contact is far less important, and maybe even not desired.

Gosh, I dunno, have you or your boss ever picked up a hair styling magazine? Ever looked at the pictures? Ever wonder why they show mostly hair and not so much face? Does the boss wish to build the business or just occupy space?

I guess as long as the boss likes it then continue on, but IMO you should be doing hair shots. I'm just weird that way.

 

[Granddad]

Well im am learing something. I did take shots of everyone in portrait mode, like photo 2 but when i showed them they all like the shots like 1 and 3, everyone thought they looked better, and those were the only 2 girls i had look away from the camera, funny because those were my favorite but it seems in the photography world that is not correct.

LOL! As my grandma used to say "There's nothing so queer as folk!" It would be interesting to try and figure out why they/you thought that. Could it be that 1 & 3 put more emphasis on the hair, even though they're too dark to do it justice, and the eye contact in 2 takes away from that?

If someone could crop them how they believe is better that would be great. Also I completely agree on the dark haired girls the black backdrop washed all their hair out,where on all my blondes it looked great. i was very nervous to use a white back drop. I dont mind direct CC's at all the only reason i was able to take these is by reading this forum. thank you

If you'd like some sample crops your best bet is to post a few of the images straight out of camera (sooc) , ie uncropped and unworked on. You'll need to convert to Jpeg but keep them as large as you can upload.

 

[sashbar]

As a relative beginner myself I like the creative edge here even though it is not always working. I think it is quite good for someone with just 2 months experience and it definitely hints at some potential.


I like the No 1. Yes it breaks the rules, but breaking the rules of composition creates dynamic tension that may work very well if you know what you are doing - or if you are good enough to understand it intuitively.. These rules are not a dogma, photos would look boring dull ( like .. eemm.. hair salon photos p.e.) if we all strictly followed the rules of composition. I would go as far as to say that great photography is not about following the rules, it is about understanding how and why rules are working and knowing how to break them to achieve your creative aim. One has to understand though that principles of contrast, balance and composition exist regardless of our taste and personal preferences, and there is a huge difference between ignoring it and purposly bending it. The latter process essentialy is an art of photography.

Horizontal portrait composition creates opportunities for some context or "story telling" and it does work with No 1 (unlike No 3 which is slightly over the edge in more than one sense) because the composition here underlines the uncertainty projected by the girl. This composition usually associates with "reflections", "doubts", "avoiding", "sorrow", "regret" etc. So from that respect it is good. And lower positioning would emphasize the feeling even more.

The problem here is - this draws our attention to her character, rather than her hair.. which means it is not a hair salon photo. I guess with that sort of session you have to curb your creative side a bit and concentrate on the subject which is apparently hair. Then you would realise that shooting a brunette on a black background might not be the best option. And probably cutting half of a head is not what a hair salon wants either.

On the other hand your clients preferred No 1,3 to the more traditional No 2, so who am I to argue with that. I guess they want to be a bit edgy as well.. So I think "hair first, creative composition second" would probably work best here.. Also, creative portraits with risky composition may work well in isolation, but on a web page with dozens of small size photos they may look out of place.

BTW I think it is a mistake to think that hair salon shots are portraits. It is not portraits - it is shots that aim to show how good a person looks with this or that haircut or simply to show a haircut. Portrait to me is something else. So from that point of view No 1 is a portrait. No 2 is an attempt of a hair salon shot. No 3 is a fragment of some photograph that we will never see..

 

[Designer]

BTW: Miss Carlson; I just spent about 10 seconds thinking about how I would do this and "be creative".

If I can do it, then you can do it.

Keep trying.

 

[Mcarlson]

Thank you so much for this great feed back. Of all the photos i took, I am really like 1. the reason it works for this particular girl is because she is our skin and makeup artist, and really shows her beauty/skills at makeup. I actually wont be using 1 or 3 on the website, i will be using the ones where they looked at me, and I should have clarified that as i posted. I knew from the beginning that black with dark hair would not work but being so new i figured i could fade out the sheet more, and i had NEVER touched an editing tool until this week let alone shoot indoors on other then my child and dog. I am getting alot of CC on that it is not focused on the hair, but i will say it does focus on beauty. Out of about 60-70 girls there are only 4 with dark hair. And i did not want inconsistant back drop...(as blonde and light backdrop would not have worked either. .but it is something i will def think more about next time.



so here is a better representation of the how most/all of them are, sorry about size i am trying to get this all figured, would you say this is better and the second cropping may work better? I think it does.

As a relative beginner myself I like the creative edge here even though it is not always working. I think it is quite good for someone with just 2 months experience and it definitely hints at some potential.


I like the No 1. Yes it breaks the rules, but breaking the rules of composition creates dynamic tension that may work very well if you know what you are doing - or if you are good enough to understand it intuitively.. These rules are not a dogma, photos would look boring dull ( like .. eemm.. hair salon photos p.e.) if we all strictly followed the rules of composition. I would go as far as to say that great photography is not about following the rules, it is about understanding how and why rules are working and knowing how to break them to achieve your creative aim. One has to understand though that principles of contrast, balance and composition exist regardless of our taste and personal preferences, and there is a huge difference between ignoring it and purposly bending it. The latter process essentialy is an art of photography.

Horizontal portrait composition creates opportunities for some context or "story telling" and it does work with No 1 (unlike No 3 which is slightly over the edge in more than one sense) because the composition here underlines the uncertainty projected by the girl. This composition usually associates with "reflections", "doubts", "avoiding", "sorrow", "regret" etc. So from that respect it is good. And lower positioning would emphasize the feeling even more.

The problem here is - this draws our attention to her character, rather than her hair.. which means it is not a hair salon photo. I guess with that sort of session you have to curb your creative side a bit and concentrate on the subject which is apparently hair. Then you would realise that shooting a brunette on a black background might not be the best option. And probably cutting half of a head is not what a hair salon wants either.

On the other hand your clients preferred No 1,3 to the more traditional No 2, so who am I to argue with that. I guess they want to be a bit edgy as well.. So I think "hair first, creative composition second" would probably work best here.. Also, creative portraits with risky composition may work well in isolation, but on a web page with dozens of small size photos they may look out of place.

BTW I think it is a mistake to think that hair salon shots are portraits. It is not portraits - it is shots that aim to show how good a person looks with this or that haircut or simply to show a haircut. Portrait to me is something else. So from that point of view No 1 is a portrait. No 2 is an attempt of a hair salon shot. No 3 is a fragment of some photograph that we will never see..

 

[Designer]

O.K., on the backdrop; if you have more than one light, and a gray backdrop, you can make that backdrop practically any color that you want.

No light = black, lots of light = white. medium light = gray, and a colored gel in front of the background light = whatever color the gel is.

 

[Granddad]

This last photo is sharp, she's pretty and you caught a great expression on her face - you have an eye for a good photo. All the rest of the stuff can be learned. You also have an advantage over most of us, you can be your own hair and make-up artist!