Terri said to drop by some more, so here I am.

[hokies2379]

Traditional Headshot. I usually use white, but I really liked how the black turned out on this.

 

[NS: Nikon Shooter]

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Pretty lady!

Have considered a kicker?

 

[hokies2379]

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Pretty lady!

Have considered a kicker?

Not for this, no, wasn't the look I was going for here.

For my standard white and grey backgrounds headshots, of course it's used

 

[Jeff15]

Very nice shot.....

 

[smoke665]

I'm a little confused as to your lighting setup. At first glance I assumed it was Short Lighting, but looking at it larger, the shadows along the nose aren't matching up with that type of setup, but then you have a distracting eye socket shadow between her left eye and the hair line, which suggests something closer to broad lighting.

Black on black can create a very dramatic image, something you`ve excelled at with many of your previous portrait offerings, but as @NS: Nikon Shooter alluded above the lack of separation of the hair,/body, and lack of detail in those areas, is IMO distracting from an otherwise excellent portrait of a young lady. Moving the key closer to camera axis (Broad Lighting) would have eliminated the eye socket shadow, while adding a touch of illumination and seperation in the hair. Likewise moving the key away from camera axis would have created a true Short Light setup. Adding a reflector camera right would have given you the ablity to regulate the amount of light/details on the shadow side for just a touch of separation.

Again these are just my opinions, not meant to assume right or wrong. In the end what you like is what counts. Glad to see you back!

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I think I would have liked this one better with a portrait crop.

 

[jeffashman]

It's a nice shot! I like that it highlights the face.

 

[hokies2379]

I'm a little confused as to your lighting setup. At first glance I assumed it was Short Lighting, but looking at it larger, the shadows along the nose aren't matching up with that type of setup, but then you have a distracting eye socket shadow between her left eye and the hair line, which suggests something closer to broad lighting.

Black on black can create a very dramatic image, something you`ve excelled at with many of your previous portrait offerings, but as @NS: Nikon Shooter alluded above the lack of separation of the hair,/body, and lack of detail in those areas, is IMO distracting from an otherwise excellent portrait of a young lady. Moving the key closer to camera axis (Broad Lighting) would have eliminated the eye socket shadow, while adding a touch of illumination and seperation in the hair. Likewise moving the key away from camera axis would have created a true Short Light setup. Adding a reflector camera right would have given you the ablity to regulate the amount of light/details on the shadow side for just a touch of separation.

Again these are just my opinions, not meant to assume right or wrong. In the end what you like is what counts. Glad to see you back!

Triangle lighting.

The *sigh* Peter Hurley setup.

I *sigh* only bc it’s not an attempt at being a Hurley clone (not that there’s anything wrong with that) it was just a little fun after we did the shots we were after.

 

[hokies2379]

I think I would have liked this one better with a portrait crop.

I rarely portrait crop headshots. Not saying it’s right or wrong, just not what I do unless requested.

It's a nice shot! I like that it highlights the face.

Thanks. That was the idea.

 

[DanOstergren]

Her hair looks like she spent some time making sure it looked good for her headshots and it looks like she picked out a nice outfit, but the way all of the blacks bleed together makes it impossible to really appreciate either of those details because it's so difficult to differentiate her hair or clothes from the background. To me the lack of those details makes it hard to appreciate the image this woman is likely trying to portray through a headshot. For lack of better phrasing, at first glance the result gives her the appearance of a bald disembodied head.
Not trying to be disrespectful or harsh, just giving my two cents based on first impression.

 

[hokies2379]

Her hair looks like she spent some time making sure it looked good for her headshots and it looks like she picked out a nice outfit, but the way all of the blacks bleed together makes it impossible to really appreciate either of those details because it's so difficult to differentiate her hair or clothes from the background. To me the lack of those details makes it hard to appreciate the image this woman is likely trying to portray through a headshot. For lack of better phrasing, at first glance the result gives her the appearance of a bald disembodied head.
Not trying to be disrespectful or harsh, just giving my two cents based on first

Thanks for taking the time, Dan. I’ve always been a huge fan of yours and take your feedback to heart. I was going to show one of her shots on a white background but I’m not at my computer. This is the best I could find on my phone. Clearly not her. He didn’t spend as much time on his hair.

 

[DanOstergren]

Thanks for taking the time, Dan. I’ve always been a huge fan of yours and take your feedback to heart. I was going to show one of her shots on a white background but I’m not at my computer. This is the best I could find on my phone. Clearly not her. He didn’t spend as much time on his hair.View attachment 253711

Excellent work.

 

[mrca]

A traditional headshot would have separation between hair, jacket and background. Kickers and hair lights. Now I will hide a large body blending it into the background . A traditional "head" shot that would normally be cropped about the second or third button on the shirt. That would eliminate the back of the hand that is a distraction pulling the viewers eye away from the face that is obviously the point of interest. There is virtually no clothing or hair detail. This is a problem with black clothing. I do lots of b&w work and tell them not to wear black. Navy, burgundy or gray leaves some room for darkening the clothes whereas recovering dark areas creates muddy areas. Meter to be sure to place the dark clothing in zone IV giving room for error. Need to clean up the fly aways. On the guy, I'm guessing the highlights on the side of his head aren't kickers but are spill from the bg. Might need to drop the brightness of the bg and/or move him further from the bg at least 6-7 feet ahead. Use a reflective/incident meter to get the subject incident then power the bg light to about 3 stops brighter reflective. This allows you to adjust power from camera so can go from pure white, to light gray knowing that delta, to dark gray then killing bg light and turning on a kicker with black bg. Is this Peter Hurley attempt why i see so many catchlights? I'm counting 4. They are distracting. I have personally told Peter his catchlights are horrible, distracting, harsh straight lines surrounding the eye. That explains why it is hard to determine which one you had as the main. He is pretty much a one trick pony and the fools who ran out and bought those crazy expensive ridiculous florescent lights that were also one trick ponys soon realized the mistake. He has some interesting concepts on expression and eliciting expression but for lighting, not so much. He is a former model who started shooting portraits. Always be sceptical when some "photographer" touts some expensive gear as "the solution" and just happens to sell it. Flat lighting, ie on camera axis, is great for actresses with narrow faces, but it just adds pounds to most typical well nourished Americans. I think. and that is my taste, loop is most universally flattering and rembrandt a close second. If I am on camera axis, I want the light high enough to cast a nose shadow about 1/4 inch or soie, a butterfly, depending on nose size, being sure to get light in the eye sockets. You obviously are learning lighting. Just refine it a bit and you will be there. Hopefully, you won't find the suggestions, I have judged professional competitions so gave you what I would have suggested there. Your work is already better than 90% of people with a camera. I tell folks you can get a reasonable lit shot in about a few months then the last 10% takes another 10 years. That is when all this lighting stuff can be done while you converse with the subject, allowing you to concentrate on the real purpose of the shot, the image. That banter is what Hurley does best. Keep shooting, it only happens with practice.