Head Shot Secrets

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Archive 2009 · Head Shot Secrets

David-Z
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p.1 #1 · Head Shot Secrets

Been shooting for about four years now - but have never really gotten a really great head shot for my friends (after shooting 10K+ tries.). Now that I just upgraded to the D700 (with 85 1.4 & 70-200vr) I am hoping to get good enough to help pay for some of it.

I'm in LA and would like to shoot outside, ideally with natural light only.

Hoping some professionals can shed some light on this dark art.

Here's a pic from a head shot photographer who shoots in natural light that I thought turned out really well. I really like the way the light glows on the face.

Thank you!

Sample headshot

Sep 16, 2009 at 03:11 PM

Nowhere Man
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p.1 #2 · Head Shot Secrets

For some reason these didn't show up in the search. But I posted to them so I was able to find.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/775094/0#7120292

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/783247/0#7193214

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/785309/0

Sep 16, 2009 at 03:47 PM

shatterkiss
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p.1 #3 · Head Shot Secrets

There really are no secrets, nor is it that dark an art. All you need is shaded natural light, or be sitting on the edge of direct sunlight and shade, and as large a white reflector as you can manage. Relatively-long fast lens and you're good to go.

These aren't good examples of headshot compositions or treatment (while I shoot headshots, I don't post client photos publicly) but they use very similar lighting scenarios:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Sep 16, 2009 at 04:31 PM

jamach
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p.1 #4 · Head Shot Secrets

here is another site with a lot of pics, Kevin Major Howard, good for posing tips too

http://www.headshot-photography.com/portfolio.htm

Joe

Sep 16, 2009 at 09:31 PM

David-Z
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p.1 #5 · Head Shot Secrets

Oh god - I've seen his website many times before and that guy comes off as such an egomaniac. But you're right - there might be some good poses in there.

I worked in commercial production for years so I have a really good idea of what goes into a head shot composition wise -- and I know all the popular photographers websites.

But would really love to know the lighting technique, not the posing, being as specific as possible.

I think having the model stand at the edge of the shade/sunlight is a great starting point. Then I bounce up with the reflector? I tried that technique years ago - and only wound up blinding the poor model everytime. So I look forward to some more specifics.

Does the reflector go into the direct sunlight or does it stay in the shade side?

Or if you have another technique I would love to hear it.

Thanks!

Sep 16, 2009 at 09:53 PM

shatterkiss
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p.1 #6 · Head Shot Secrets

Why not try it and find out? The beautiful thing about working with natural light and a reflector is that you can see exactly what you're doing before ever taking a shot. If you aren't seeing the look you want just keep adjusting the different variables until it starts to happen.

If you're blinding a model with a reflector you're probably using one with a silver surface. Try white, it's much less aggressive and harsh.

Sep 16, 2009 at 10:57 PM

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p.1 #7 · Head Shot Secrets

I shoot head shots in LA as well. A good head shot for an actor, really isn't an artistic moody portrait, but rather a good representation to the casting director of the actor's look.

E

Sep 16, 2009 at 11:26 PM

David-Z
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p.1 #8 · Head Shot Secrets

shatterkiss wrote:
Why not try it and find out? The beautiful thing about working with natural light and a reflector is that you can see exactly what you're doing before ever taking a shot. If you aren't seeing the look you want just keep adjusting the different variables until it starts to happen.

If you're blinding a model with a reflector you're probably using one with a silver surface. Try white, it's much less aggressive and harsh.

I was using a piece of white foamcore when I blinded her

Sep 16, 2009 at 11:37 PM

EA6B
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p.1 #9 · Head Shot Secrets

Sunshine and a diffuser work really well.

E

Sep 16, 2009 at 11:49 PM

Nchakos
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p.1 #10 · Head Shot Secrets

the headshots of actual clients on Kevin Major Howard's site ..most are cold and washed out..is this what the casting people want? the photos look like he pulled he middle up in curves and have a purple cast too..

Sep 16, 2009 at 11:55 PM

Bill Weaver
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p.1 #11 · Head Shot Secrets

The best way to learn anything, is by doing it.

No one has a secret formula, or silver bullet. You have to shoot, experiment, remember what worked, and what didn't. Get past the failures, and repeat the successes.

Sep 17, 2009 at 02:36 PM

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p.1 #12 · Head Shot Secrets

Nchakos wrote:
the headshots of actual clients on Kevin Major Howard's site ..most are cold and washed out..is this what the casting people want? the photos look like he pulled he middle up in curves and have a purple cast too..

Proof is in the pudding - if people are booking him then his work must pay off on some level. These are pretty close-knit industries and if his headshots were costing people auditions then word would get around.

I will say that cool tones with pale skin and erring on the side of undersaturated yellows/oranges seems to be much more popular for color headshots. That look is replicated in even editorial and commercial photography: open up magazines like Conde Nast Traveler or Bon Appetit or Real Simple or Dwell and you'll see a very similar color palette. I suspect it's one of the reasons that the only models you'll see with excessive tans do swimwear and glamour pretty much exclusively - everywhere else pale skin is the rule.

Sep 17, 2009 at 03:11 PM

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p.1 #13 · Head Shot Secrets

Why do youn think models have books and shoot with many different photographers? Every photographer does it differently and sees it differently. Why do photographers shoot with different models? To test; ideas, lenses, etc.
Try out a bunch of ideas that come from your head and look at some magazines too.
Are you afraid of fill flash?

Sep 17, 2009 at 09:47 PM

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p.1 #14 · Head Shot Secrets

williamkazak wrote:
Why do youn think models have books and shoot with many different photographers? Every photographer does it differently and sees it differently. Why do photographers shoot with different models? To test; ideas, lenses, etc.
Try out a bunch of ideas that come from your head and look at some magazines too.
Are you afraid of fill flash?

No offense, but that's terrible advice when it comes to headshots.

We aren't talking about model portfolios, we're talking about actors' headshots - they have very specific needs and "rules", and if they look wrong that actor will simply not get auditions...in effect, by shooting someone's headshots improperly you're actively harming their career. Magazines don't feature headshots, as they have no editorial or commercial value...they're simply a clear and flattering (but honest) representation of that actor so that producers and casting directors know if they have the right "type" for whatever role is being offered. You don't want to be "trying out a bunch of ideas", you want to understand what headshots are expected to look like and then shoot within that fairly narrow framework. The better you are at that, the more you can charge and the more people will book you. That's it.

Sep 17, 2009 at 10:13 PM

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p.1 #15 · Head Shot Secrets

Take a look at The Discovery Channel excerpt on Kevin Major Howard's website. You'll see that he shoots all the headshots in his garage, with the door open, the model inside the door with a large piece of white foam core in front and below the talent. Wide open shade. Looks simple and clean.

Sep 22, 2009 at 03:51 PM

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p.1 #16 · Head Shot Secrets

Like shatterkiss, I like headshots pretty "plain." I occasionally cast for several clients and am frustrated by the "test" shots submitted when I ask for a "headshot."

My clients want to see “what he or she looks like.” Like the old fashion comp card, for casting, I want to see a nice, but plain face photograph and a simple full length photograph.

Deep shadows, lots of wild make-up, costumes that hide the figure, and face concealing hats generally don’t help.

If a model is sending an electronic comp card that includes those two images and has ADDITIONAL “test” or actual project photographs, that’s fine.

Sep 22, 2009 at 06:28 PM

dermit
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p.1 #17 · Head Shot Secrets

David-Z,

From reading the replies here I'm getting that your original concern, lighting, had not really been fully addressed. A little bit, but probably not as much as you would like? Here's my take...

Outdoor head shots can be tricky lighting-wise unless you know what to watch out for. The key problem to resolve outdoors is high contrast. A typical sunny day will produce lighting situations your camera can not deal with. It simply does not have the capability to resolve the whole dynamic range from the brightest brights to the darkest shadows. So you have to narrow the range to bring it into something your camera can deal with.

So if you think about it, to narrow the range you must either darken the brightest areas, or lighten the darkest, or both. One thing I do when picking a spot is to try and find a place with already a narrow range. For example, it may be a bright sunny day, but I can shoot the model in open shade at an angle such that the background is the shady side of a large tree.

Next I use my flash(es) to create a nice modeling light on the subject. What I like to do is set the camera to underexpose the background slightly, then depend on the flashes to light the subject. With the background underexposed then a subject in shade is going to be very dark without flash. This can be a tricky balancing act since underexposing a strongly lit daylight background means your flashes are going to have to work hard to overpower it. On head shots it's easier since you can get the flashes in close to the subject.

The problem comes in when you consider that you are limited to a shutter speed that is max sync speed which is usually around 1/200 or 1/250. To underexpose a bright scene with that slow of a shutter means dialing the ISO way down, and then start closing down the aperture. Both of which we know makes the flash work harder.

So a typical bright day head shot for me would consist of two or three flashes, in close, usually the main reflecting off an umbrella. I also like to shoot my 70-200 close to the 200 range and be physically as close to the subject I can be to get the composition I want. This is because a long focal length in close will get me narrow DOF which is usually what I want

Sep 22, 2009 at 08:28 PM

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p.1 #18 · Head Shot Secrets

You could try checking out Sergio Motolla's work @ http://sergiomottola.com/. I'm not always a huge fan of his style of portraiture (his photos seem to have an aggressive orange cast to them and the use of tilt-shift is distracting), but he seems to work really well with natural light when shooting more traditional work. Not sure if he has ever done actor headshots, but he posts occasionally in the People forum, so maybe you can try to PM him.

Good luck

Sep 22, 2009 at 09:13 PM

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p.1 #19 · Head Shot Secrets

mdude85 wrote:
You could try checking out Sergio Motolla's work @ http://sergiomottola.com/.

I only saw a single photo on his site that would really be acceptable as an actor's headshot.

I still feel like people are confusing "head-and-shoulders portrait" with "headshot". Especially in NYC and LA and when dealing with people in entertainment, the term headshot has very specific connotations...it may mean something more general when speaking to a corporate client or a private individual. Given that the OP lives in the LA market, referenced a fairly solid example of a modern color actor's headshot and hasn't said otherwise I think he's looking for tips on that specific type of photography, not the more general guidance others are offering.

The stuff on Kevyn Major Howard's site are perfect examples of conservative headshots. Or look at some of these headshots for working Hollywood actors:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1667603712/nm0876138
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1231260160/nm0009716
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3076562176/nm0171059
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4015627520/nm0659048
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2330301952/nm0068338
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1754373376/nm0515116
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3785134080/nm1140300

Sep 22, 2009 at 09:53 PM

mdude85
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p.1 #20 · Head Shot Secrets

True shatterkiss. However.. I did specifically say that I was unsure whether or not he has ever done actor headshots, but that it might be worth a try anyway since he seems to have a command on natural light shooting. I think it shows that I am not confusing actor headshots with mere above-shoulders portraits.

Sep 23, 2009 at 02:34 PM

TezM
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p.1 #21 · Head Shot Secrets

look up a guy called Lallisig on Flickr.

He's an Icelandic photographer and one of the absolute best I am aware of when it comes to portraiture. Also, he gives lighting information on all his shots.

It isn't actor headshot stuff though, more fashion/magazine type images but great nonetheless.

Sep 27, 2009 at 03:05 AM

David-Z
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p.1 #22 · Head Shot Secrets

Thanks for all the great feedback and ideas!
Got a lot to digest and try out.
Thanks!!!!!

Oct 01, 2009 at 04:44 PM

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p.1 #23 · Head Shot Secrets

I have attended a small amount of casting sessions. As a real blooded pro with decades of experience in most every phase of Film and TV production I found that my brain turned to jelly after only one day of casting. Yes it's true that the casting director wants representative shots.

It's also true that if your picture of this actor looks like all the others then it is easy for the clients to forget him/her at the end of a day (when there is a pack of head shots as the prime memory jog). That's why I try to have a different (but honest) photo impression so my actor doesn't get lost in the pack.

Oct 18, 2009 at 03:20 AM

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p.1 #24 · Head Shot Secrets

Nchakos wrote:
the headshots of actual clients on Kevin Major Howard's site ..most are cold and washed out..is this what the casting people want? the photos look like he pulled he middle up in curves and have a purple cast too..

I've been doing color correction on a system that has both a crt and an lcd. Both are color corrected. After color correction the crt screen still has a slight warm cast and the lcd a slight cool cast. My guess is that Kevin is working on a crt and you are viewing on an lcd.

When I do color correction I find it helpful to look at my images on both screens. If I correct for one screen only, when I move my image to the other screen the color looks like it has a slight cast. if I remove that slight bit of cast while proofing on both screens my images look really really good in both environments.

I'm not sure anyone cares about, but it's interesting to me...

Oct 18, 2009 at 04:02 AM

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p.1 #25 · Head Shot Secrets

David-Z wrote:
Oh god - I've seen his website many times before and that guy comes off as such an egomaniac. But you're right - there might be some good poses in there.

I worked in commercial production for years so I have a really good idea of what goes into a head shot composition wise -- and I know all the popular photographers websites.

But would really love to know the lighting technique, not the posing, being as specific as possible.

I think having the model stand at the edge of the shade/sunlight is a great starting point. Then I bounce up with the reflector? I tried that technique years ago - and only wound up blinding the poor model everytime. So I look forward to some more specifics.

Does the reflector go into the direct sunlight or does it stay in the shade side?

Or if you have another technique I would love to hear it.

Thanks!

Ego notwithstanding, drill through the "pr" link on his website to the Discovery Channel video that was done on him to see his specific methods in action. That video pretty much tells you want a headshot needs to be from the point of view of the "market"--the casting directors-- and a basepoint for how to achieve it.

Oct 18, 2009 at 07:17 PM


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