My first headshot shoot

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Name
Andy
Edit My Images
Yes
So, I shot my first headshot last week. We had decided on the location and it wasn't the best of days, so we had literally 10 minutes between showers. Shot with completely natural light. Both the client and I are happy but is there anything I could improve on here? Thanks!

On a second glance as I upload it, I think I could still work on the eyes and brighten them a little?

Headshot-3_1.jpg
 
I like the lighting and the model but, on my screen, just about everything looks rather soft.

Chuck
 
I don't do portraits so I may be wrong but the hair on her temple looks to be in focus and the rest as suggested above looks very soft.
it looks like you have had your lens wide open and been too close to the subject because of this the DOF is next to non existent.
another explanation could be that if you focused on the temple your camera / lens combination is front focusing and will require calibrating.

Or I may be completely barking up the wrong tree :rolleyes:
 
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I have to agree with the others in that you have missed the focus by a mile.
That being said the subject looks very comfortable with you so i would revisit this.
 
I don't do portraits so I may be wrong but the hair on her temple looks to be in focus and the rest as suggested above looks very soft.
it looks like you have had your lens wide open and been too close to the subject because of this the DOF is next to non existent.
another explanation could be that if you focused on the temple your camera / lens combination is front focusing and will require calibrating.

Or I may be completely barking up the wrong tree :rolleyes:
It all looks a little soft on my phone, but could be overdone skin softening in post production
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. Now that it's been pointed out to me, I'll agree that the image is very soft. I was shooting 50mm on a crop sensor wide open at 1.4. Typically, what aperture should I be shooting at to get more in focus? Somewhere around 2? All feedback is appreciated.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. Now that it's been pointed out to me, I'll agree that the image is very soft. I was shooting 50mm on a crop sensor wide open at 1.4. Typically, what aperture should I be shooting at to get more in focus? Somewhere around 2? All feedback is appreciated.
The problem isn’t a lack of DoF (which is a matter of taste) but of misfocus.
Shooting at apertures that wide means you have to nail focus on the eyes.
At f8 it wouldn’t have been quite so soft, but it’d still be OoF.
I’d suggest half a stop on the exposure too. Or a reflector to lift the face, the brightest part of the image are her shoulders.
 
Hi Andy.

I think before we get to apertures we need to know where did you focus and how many focus points were you using?.
 
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