Headshots

IloveAchill

Ok, still new at studio setup etc, but my lil sis wanted headshots for her acting portfolio. Are any of these good enough? I have to photoshop them to B&W - and generally I think the light is OK - no shadows and not burnt out looking.

any feedback - tips? advice? Thanks so much!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iloveachill/

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

what age is she?

IloveAchill

ah come on - I am serious - so serious replies please :rolleyes:

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I'm always serious about beautiful women.

m_stan

I see a few issues.

The tanned background is horrible! Some of those ones are nice, but the background is mank! Also, the camera seems to be above her eye level in some of them, which gives an unnatural angle to them. The ones on black backgrounds a the best ones (3917 in particular), but unfortunately she's wearing a black top. If you could reproduce these ones when she's wearing a contrasting colour, they'd be spot on.

Trust me - I know this is tricky - I was trying during the week with a less than ample lighting setup, and it's really not as easy as you'd expect, so top marks for effort. You're very close ...

PopeBuckfastXVI

This is my mates agent... loads of headshots on there... perhaps you'll find inspiration

http://www.lisarichards.ie/site/

AnCatDubh

Generally great stuff in terms of avoiding shadows (exception of the one you identified yourself). Slight shadow under the chin in IMG_3920 too(?)

With the following;

pay attention to where you crop - an old bugbear. Her left elbow missing is not enhancing to the overall composition.

Nice catchlights throughout. The angle of the head in IMG_3917 is possibly the best of the set (IMHO). Many of the other angles are quite flat.

Cheers.

EDIT: Just thinking - you should also crop very tight for headshots - the less space around the better (again IMHO).

EDIT NO 2: One final thing (I think) - You may be able to get *more flattering* shots where you are slightly raised above the subject (i.e. looking down on them). I think this is true in some of your shots.

IloveAchill

cheers for that - first time in studio, I pulled down the white background, broke the chain, so that was the end of that! Black background this time was just a black sheet - it didn't have enough lenght, so I had to stand on a small chair, so hence the looking down shots - yeah, not sure they work well.
So, in essence - black b'ground, with contrasting colour clothing - tighter space when cropping - and generally don't crop off elbows ;-)

Thanks your very helpful - will keep trying until I clinch it (or never hear the end of it from family!)

thanks