Off with his head!

[Baaaark]

I've been told on headshots to keep the whole head in the photo. But I see a LOT of photos with the hair cut off, and even the forehead cut off, to the point of not being too much above the eyes.

So, is this an okay practice? I understand artistic rules are not hard and fast, but some are more universal than others. Saying that, is this something a lot of people seem to do, and have seen it in the professional forum also.

Thank you ahead of time for me learning something.

Edit: I did a search on this, but wasn't finding much. Its kinda a hard thing to search for, cause I didn't know what to type in.

 

[inTempus]

Yes, you can cut the forehead off sometimes and it's perfectly acceptable. If you're doing a group photo and cut only the tallest guys head off at the top, then it looks bad.

See my avatar for acceptable head cropping.

 

[Baaaark]

Yes, you can cut the forehead off sometimes and it's perfectly acceptable. If you're doing a group photo and cut only the tallest guys head off at the top, then it looks bad.

See my avatar for acceptable head cropping.

Ah. So many exceptions. I just saw a photo on an ad that had forehead, chin and ears cut off! I was thinking "That's not right," but then I realized I still kinda liked it. So I guess I need to get out of this "by the book" attitude, and just roll with what FEELS right (while understanding key compositional aspects).

 

[Sherman Banks]

See my avatar for acceptable head cropping.

Acceptable? You left your face in the shot!

 

[musicaleCA]

See my avatar for acceptable head cropping.

Acceptable? You left your face in the shot!

I agree. Geese tharmsen, what were you thinking?

 

[Samanax]

I've been told on headshots to keep the whole head in the photo. But I see a LOT of photos with the hair cut off, and even the forehead cut off, to the point of not being too much above the eyes.

So, is this an okay practice? I understand artistic rules are not hard and fast, but some are more universal than others. Saying that, is this something a lot of people seem to do, and have seen it in the professional forum also.

Thank you ahead of time for me learning something.

Edit: I did a search on this, but wasn't finding much. Its kinda a hard thing to search for, cause I didn't know what to type in.

Since you're still fairly new at all this my suggestion is to stick to the basic rules and work on your technical skills for now. Once you're comfortable with composition, exposure, seeing the light and all that good stuff and can produce some fairly acceptable images, then go ahead and push the envelope a bit while you try to find your own artistic style. I think it's a good idea to have the basics down before you start messing around with the more advanced ideas.

 

[inTempus]

See my avatar for acceptable head cropping.

Acceptable? You left your face in the shot!

My bad, I knew someone would call me on it. How's this edit?

 

[Dylan-Fishman]

Nope it's still the cubs... I'm a White Sox fan.

 

[KmH]

Our local newspaper decided to change the way they crop the headshots of their regular columnists. They crop vertically at the outside edge of each eye leaving just a sliver of a headshot with no cheeks or ears. Looks like sh!t, but provides a bit more room for text.

 

[inTempus]

Nope it's still the cubs... I'm a White Sox fan.

I knew there was something off about you.

 

[CareToPose]

See my avatar for acceptable head cropping.

Acceptable? You left your face in the shot!

My bad, I knew someone would call me on it. How's this edit?

not the brows!