I'll Be Back Before Midnight

[DGMPhotography]

Hey guys!

So I recently landed a contract with a local theatre to do photos for their entire next season.

First promos were done this past week!

View attachment 127354

 

[Braineack]

Lighting is great.

Things I note right away:

1. The headshots are shot WAYYYY too wide and thus closeup. Completely unflattering. Are you shooting at 50mm?
2. Portraits should be shot in PORTRAIT orientation.
3. DOF on these portraits is much better than the Robert Michael set. It's still narrow, but the entirety of the face is razor sharp.
4. The group shots are entirely too tightly cropped.

 

[pixmedic]

 

[DGMPhotography]

Lighting is great.

Things I note right away:

1. The headshots are shot WAYYYY too wide and thus closeup. Completely unflattering. Are you shooting at 50mm?
2. Portraits should be shot in PORTRAIT orientation.
3. DOF on these portraits is much better than the Robert Michael set. It's still narrow, but the entirety of the face is razor sharp.
4. The group shots are entirely too tightly cropped.

1. Yep, 50mm. Why do you say it's unflattering?
2. I think that's a matter of preference. I rather like horizontal portraits. And it can always be cropped more for portrait orientation.
3. Yep.
4. We were working with a limited background space. My paper is only 10x10.
5. Feedback was that these were the best promo/head shots they've ever had done. So that's a win in my book. But of course I do want to always get better.

 

[tirediron]

The issue is that when they put together their cast board the images will either need to be recropped or will take up a LOT more space than necessary. Horizontal portraits are fine, but when you're doing work like this, it's important to consider the end use of the images. This may fit their plans, but I would be surprised.

The other nit I have is with your choice of background. The cast members are mostly in dark-ish clothing and don't stand out as much as they could. If you've only got one colour of background, then consider throwing a gelled light on it.

 

[DGMPhotography]

The issue is that when they put together their cast board the images will either need to be recropped or will take up a LOT more space than necessary. Horizontal portraits are fine, but when you're doing work like this, it's important to consider the end use of the images. This may fit their plans, but I would be surprised.

The other nit I have is with your choice of background. The cast members are mostly in dark-ish clothing and don't stand out as much as they could. If you've only got one colour of background, then consider throwing a gelled light on it.

Good point. I'll probably sent them vertical crop options as well.

And I'm not a big fan of the background either. I had planned on using their stage as a background, but they didn't have it finished yet, so I took out my roll of black paper. I'm still not very good at lighting paper backgrounds yet... I use it when I travel because it doesn't wrinkle, but it's not as easy to light.

 

[PersistentNomad]

I agree that the all the photos could use a little extra space, but the portraits especially. Their heads are almost touching the top of the frame, there's no breathing room except for the sides. Also, as being someone who has designed these books, it's entirely likely that all the headshots will be published in their program as squares.