Some head shots...

jcskeeter · Feb 11, 2015

Given the choice, I would prefer to take the photos within some type of environment for sure. The plan is to get something like that down the road. Even if you drop something into the white BG it still just doesn't feel right. (Probably more to people like us than others but oh well.)

Makes sense on the lens choice. There is something comforting about holding that honkin white piece of glass though.

Forkie · Feb 12, 2015

There is a massive leap in quality from the first post to post #11.

That one is much cleaner, crisper and clearer. That is really nice work.

To get people to relax in front of the camera, I always go in front of the camera with them, stand next to them and show them the poses I want them to do. I explain to them, for example, that I want them to stand facing slightly off camera, with their arms folded, or in their pockets, or on their hips. If you want a lady to "pop" her hips, do it yourself - do the girly pose with them. You'll likely get a laugh out of them and they will more relaxed straight away.

Make a joke about the whole process "You look great... Or at least you will do after a couple of hours of Photoshop!" (DON'T say this to the girls!), or something along those lines to break up the awkward silence or stiffness.

If they look a bit stiff (and corporate people quite often are in front of cameras), stop shooting, tell them it looks great, but tell them it's normal to feel weird in front of the camera and get them to shake it out. Shake it out with them.

Don't be afraid that you'll look silly, if you do this stuff with them, it validates what you are asking them to do and makes you look as if you know what you're doing!

Being silly and doing silly poses with my clients is how this happens:

Ok, they're not useable as headshots, but they both chose these images as extras and have them in their acting portfolios as "character" shots. The moment they burst out laughing at me doing silly poses, they immediately loosened up, their shoulders relaxed and their smiles became natural.

I use all these techniques with my headshot clients and it works 9 times out of 10. There will always be the odd Mr Rigid Rigidson of Rigidville, but for the most part, doing the stuff you are asking them to do works - because they don't feel as much pressure to "perform"on their own.

My 2 shots were actresses (who are often surprisingly nervous in front of stills cameras, too), but corporate clients have a personality and the ability to laugh at someone being silly, too. You just need the confidence to do it

jcskeeter · Feb 12, 2015

Thanks Forkie! I really like the idea of physically interacting (well, not like that of course). I can be witty and funny but just not all the time. To be able to just jump in and show a pose or do something a little odd is a great idea of something I could mix in!

Forkie · Feb 12, 2015

jcskeeter said:
Thanks Forkie! I really like the idea of physically interacting (well, not like that of course). I can be witty and funny but just not all the time. To be able to just jump in and show a pose or do something a little odd is a great idea of something I could mix in!

Cool

Not only does it relax your clients, but it also makes it more fun for you, which I think is just as important.

On the odd occasion, I've even deliberately popped my lens cap on before the client comes in just so I could make the good old, "You look great! Ooops, I forgot to take the lens cap off!" joke.

It doesn't always work if they spot the lens cap before you pretend to, though... :icon_rolleyes:

Derrel · Feb 12, 2015

A couple thoughts about the set-up used on the first man. I think the under-chin reflector is too small, and if it had been a wider piece of board or a wider reflector, you would have eliminated the slight issue with the eyeglass reflection not filling the entire width of the eyeglass lenses. As Tirediron mentioned, modern AR coated eyeglasses reflect a good deal, so, the idea I have would be to use a very wide reflector, from close under his chin, and to just "fill" the entire eyeglass surface with the diffused reflection of the under-chin reflector.

My second comment about the lighting set-up used is about the way you used the two lights. Using the convex-fronted, Halo-type modifier camera left as the main light caused two problems. First, it made reflection control on the eyeglasses more difficult than it needed to be, since the curved front of the Halo was reflecting light from "an arc", and not a single,flat plane...so you had more of an issue with eyeglass reflection.

Secondly, the Halo as the main light and the softbox camera right as fill means that the camera-left eye was rendered with only ONE catchlight, and the right eye had two catchlights. I don't prefer one eye with two catchlights and the other with one catchlight. If you would have swapped the main and fill modifiers, you'd have been able to get the dual catchlights in each eye pretty easily, since off to the right hand side the Halo's curved front would have given a bit of a glint off that camera-left eyeball. again, the curved-front modifiers will create reflections on a curved eyeball due to the 'arc' that is the light soure, where the flat-plane front of the softbox was blocked by the nose bridge.

Whenever shooting people with eyeglasses, especially in a low-ceilinged room, I like to have my main light be a SMALL, flat-fronted modifier, not a curved-front one. The flat, single-plane modifiers (of all types) make it easier to 1) raise the light higher while still clearing the ceiling and also create only ONE, single angle of incidence to deal with in minimizing or eliminating eyeglass glares more easily than curved-front modifiers like Halos or Starfish.

jcskeeter · Feb 13, 2015

Interesting thoughts about the modifiers. I guess the reason I went with the Halo for key light was that I kinda thought that the circular catchlight looked better than the square. :icon_rolleyes:

idk? I should also mention that I did have a grid on the box to help focus the light more. (But in hindsight that may not have been necessary at all.)

For the next go around I'm going to try switching the lights up to see what the difference is like. I agree on the two catchlights in each eye. When I was retouching I even had that similar thought. thanks

runnah · Feb 13, 2015

Forkie said:
There is a massive leap in quality from the first post to post #11.

That one is much cleaner, crisper and clearer. That is really nice work.

To get people to relax in front of the camera, I always go in front of the camera with them, stand next to them and show them the poses I want them to do. I explain to them, for example, that I want them to stand facing slightly off camera, with their arms folded, or in their pockets, or on their hips. If you want a lady to "pop" her hips, do it yourself - do the girly pose with them. You'll likely get a laugh out of them and they will more relaxed straight away.

Make a joke about the whole process "You look great... Or at least you will do after a couple of hours of Photoshop!" (DON'T say this to the girls!), or something along those lines to break up the awkward silence or stiffness.

If they look a bit stiff (and corporate people quite often are in front of cameras), stop shooting, tell them it looks great, but tell them it's normal to feel weird in front of the camera and get them to shake it out. Shake it out with them.

Don't be afraid that you'll look silly, if you do this stuff with them, it validates what you are asking them to do and makes you look as if you know what you're doing!

Being silly and doing silly poses with my clients is how this happens:

View attachment 95187 View attachment 95188

Ok, they're not useable as headshots, but they both chose these images as extras and have them in their acting portfolios as "character" shots. The moment they burst out laughing at me doing silly poses, they immediately loosened up, their shoulders relaxed and their smiles became natural.

I use all these techniques with my headshot clients and it works 9 times out of 10. There will always be the odd Mr Rigid Rigidson of Rigidville, but for the most part, doing the stuff you are asking them to do works - because they don't feel as much pressure to "perform"on their own.

My 2 shots were actresses (who are often surprisingly nervous in front of stills cameras, too), but corporate clients have a personality and the ability to laugh at someone being silly, too. You just need the confidence to do it