Tight Headshot Tests - C&C Please

[TimothyJinx]

I finally got someone other than my daughter to sit and pose for me a bit. A girl from our church was thrilled with the idea of getting some pictures taken. So we tried various backgrounds, lighting setups, outfits, etc. Here are a couple from the session. Believe it or not I did very little to the eyes in the way of retouching. This girl has amazing eyes!

I've got another two sessions this week. What suggestions do you guys have for improving what I have here. Any ideas on poses, backgrounds, etc.

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[kundalini]

..... What suggestions do you guys have for improving what I have here. Any ideas on poses, backgrounds, etc.

Slightly raise your lights vertically. The catch lights are pretty much at 9:00 and 3:00. Strive for 10:00 and 2:00.

You've probably done this, but shoot fat and crop in post. Don't tie your hands too tightly by framing too close in camera. You want the head to show some foundation for it to sit upon.

Beautiful model. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rick50]

What he said ^^^^ but these are still nice photo's.

 

[TimothyJinx]

..... What suggestions do you guys have for improving what I have here. Any ideas on poses, backgrounds, etc.

Slightly raise your lights vertically. The catch lights are pretty much at 9:00 and 3:00. Strive for 10:00 and 2:00.

You've probably done this, but shoot fat and crop in post. Don't tie your hands too tightly by framing too close in camera. You want the head to show some foundation for it to sit upon.

Beautiful model. Thanks for sharing.

Good point regarding raising the light. I will try that in my Tuesday session. Regarding the framing - these were actually not cropped so I shot them very tight. I have several that are wider and some full body shots. But I was shooting tight on purpose - I really love extremely tight shots with beautiful eyes. Thanks for the comments!

What he said ^^^^ but these are still nice photo's.

Thank you sir!

 

[JenR]

You have already received some great advice. She has gorgeous eyes. To show them off to the best advantage, I think you need to adjust your light setup in the first so that the mask of her face is not in shadow. As it is, the lights highlight the sides of her face and not really her features.

 

[KmH]

+3 on the light height.

In the second, the whites of her eyes look overcooked and very un-natural.

 

[TimothyJinx]

You have already received some great advice. She has gorgeous eyes. To show them off to the best advantage, I think you need to adjust your light setup in the first so that the mask of her face is not in shadow. As it is, the lights highlight the sides of her face and not really her features.

Jen, can you elaborate? Are you suggesting I move the light around closer to the front as well as higher?

+3 on the light height.

In the second, the whites of her eyes look overcooked and very un-natural.

I agree, but believe it or not, all I did was add a tab bit of sharpening. No whitening or cleanup.