Critique 5 x Recent Corporate Headshots

[sduk]

I am getting asked more and more to do headshots for the companies that I photograph houses for and starting to quite enjoy doing them!

This week I did 5 headshots for one of the solicitors and would love some feedback on how I could improve...


Web Size-5 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

Web Size-4 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

Web Size-3 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

Web Size-2 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr

Web Size-1 by Sammy Donaldson, on Flickr


The were shot with my 70-200mm at 1/200, f4. ISO100 and lit with twin AD200's on the AD-B2 head and a reflector used for fill.

Thanks

Sammy

 

[Harlequin565]

They're nice & bright. I like the slight turn to the body (#4 needs a bit more). However in my opinion, they're half-body shots and hot headshots. I'd be looking to get in much closer.

I'm also no expert, but I think your reflector needs to be a tad closer to add a bit more fill (which you could do if you zoomed in) and you could then do something to remove the cheek/forehead shine. It's not too bad on 3 & 5, but 1 & 2 could do with a bit more fill & less shine (for my liking). Again, I'm no expert - I just stopped by because I wouldn't call them headshots, but I liked them as nice bright friendly portraits.

 

[sduk]

They're nice & bright. I like the slight turn to the body (#4 needs a bit more). However in my opinion, they're half-body shots and hot headshots. I'd be looking to get in much closer.

I'm also no expert, but I think your reflector needs to be a tad closer to add a bit more fill (which you could do if you zoomed in) and you could then do something to remove the cheek/forehead shine. It's not too bad on 3 & 5, but 1 & 2 could do with a bit more fill & less shine (for my liking). Again, I'm no expert - I just stopped by because I wouldn't call them headshots, but I liked them as nice bright friendly portraits.

thanks for the reply. So would you say the right side of the face is too dark and the reflector is needed closer to light it better?

I guess they are not technically headshots haha. I was given a brief to keep them quite wide with plenty empty space around them for their web designer to work with. Maybe that was in my mind when I took the shots. I guess they are easily cropped though.

On the forehead shine. What can you do to remove that?

 

[Harlequin565]

So would you say the right side of the face is too dark and the reflector is needed closer to light it better

Yes. But it might be useful to get other comments. Don't just take one reply - I could be (and often am!) wrong.

was given a brief to keep them quite wide with plenty empty space around them for their web designer to work with

In that case, super. However you could add a chunk of space either side in post. Making the canvas bigger with more white is very easy. Just a suggestion.

On the forehead shine. What can you do to remove that?

(not an expert caveat!) It's very difficult. I tend to be liberal with the highlight slider in LR, but if I do spot it in-camera, I'll often turn the power down on the strobe, move the light back a bit, or move the subject away from the light. I'll then open the aperture if it's made things too dark. I've discovered that the light source will often dictate things like this. With small direct lights (and my 40x100 softbox is included in this) you get a powerful burst in a small area. With the 160cm softbox I picked up recently, it gives a much more forgiving gentle light.

 

[Snapper67]

Hi Sammy,

I done a quick retouch in my favourite software and cropped.

I'm also finding the background super bright, maybe some sort of light cyan cast on it could do wonders. Just my thoughts and interpretations.

Cheers,

Dougie.

 

[sduk]

Hi Sammy,

I done a quick retouch in my favourite software and cropped.

I'm also finding the background super bright, maybe some sort of light cyan cast on it could do wonders. Just my thoughts and interpretations.

Cheers,

Dougie.

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Thanks for taking the time to share.

Can I ask what methods you used for the retouching?

I wasn’t sure how far I should take that so left it to the minimum.

 

[Snapper67]

Thanks for taking the time to share.

Can I ask what methods you used for the retouching?

I wasn’t sure how far I should take that so left it to the minimum.

Hi Sammy,

I used PortraitPro Studio, quick job with defaults.

Dougie.

 

[juggler]

On the forehead shine. What can you do to remove that?

I keep some of this powder in my lighting bag to deal with shine: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B0UNHGI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Ask your subject to dab it on very lightly with a tissue.

In post you'd have to extract some texture from somewhere similar and then blend in the colour. It's doable on half length but tricky to get convincing on close ups.

I take it you've seen Peter Hurley's videos? He's annoying but there are some useful posing tips in his free stuff.