Headshot Marathon, Day 1 for C&C

divamum · March 16, 2010

ETA: Some taken wit the 50 1.4, some with the 85 1.8.

So. I again agreed to shoot headshots for a colleague's acting class at the college. Due to college budgets, it wasn't really possible to up the honorarium from last year, but I enjoyed it and agreed to do it anyway... even though there are TWENTY students this year. That is a lot of headshots...........!!! Obviously, I can't do a full 2-3hr session with each of them, but we're doing 3x 3hr sessions across the next month. Yesterday was the first.

Since this is sort of a trade-for-shots kind of arrangement (the honorarium is... er.... "modest"), I use the opportunity to try out some new and different things, and generally try to expand my own skillset. I made the decision to do reflected+nat light shots for these to work on this for myself as well as because these are the current "fashion" in headshots, and it means the kids have some good, useable shots.

Due to the stormy day (darrrrkkk outside) these became a mixture of natural light, large reflector, and in some cases a pop of heavily diffused fill flash either fong-ed, bounced, or 45" umbrella'd.

I'm pleased with the lighting. I am NOT pleased with how many OOF shots I had (I'd say I lost 50% to softness, which is seriously not good, and MUCH lower than my usual hit rate). I know what happened in some cases (I shoot shallow DOF for the look and of course know that some of those are just where I wasn't accurate), but there are many I'm not sure WHY they're so soft, especially since it's very inconsistent. I'm going to do some serious testing with my lenses before next Sunday's sessions, so I can adjust settings to rely on it more... or figure out what I may have done that messed with the sharpness.

In any case, C&C absolutely welcomed!! Also, any comments about WB, colour processing - everything. Need it all so I can try to use this string of shoots to really *improve*. Thanks!! :thumb

1. This kid has had some experience and already done some modelling and film work. It sure makes it easier for the 'tog when they know how to "switch on" their eyes!!! He's trying to transition from teen to young man, so he wanted less smiley ones so he could look a little older/more serious.

2. Shot against my favorite glass-brick wall

I blew it out in post just to see what it looked like - I kind of like it... thoughts? I think I may have lifted his face a little too much, but that's easily fixed.

3. This student didn't check her email and so didn't get the clothing/makeup tips. Turned up with zero makeup, and a star-covered hoodie. Thankfully, she had on this plain tank, and I had some lipsticks and mineral powder/blush with me (I always have something on the "just in case" basis. It's always come in handy!) She was trickier to shoot, too - no experience, and while her face is interesting, the proportions weren't easy to flatter, and she's a bit self-conscious about a lazy eye.

4. She can't really use this as a headshot (promo or website, perhaps, but not headshot as such), but I kinda liked the way it looked when I pushed the processing.... (I probably need to burn in her brows more, too)

5.
Another one who's had some modeling experience. He didn't really want shots done as a blonde, but he had apparently just dyed it for a show. I kind of like it, actually! IIRC, I was bouncing the Fong-ed flash off the window, and still had the reflector camera right.

6 This is what happens when you tell students, "No white, solid colour, and no large patterns" :rolleyes The vest (attached to the shirt so not removeable), had a big argyle pattern on it. I shot around it as best I could. Really hard to open her eyes out, especially since she was a lot more comfortable wearing her glasses...

7 With glasses - she insisted. I'm not sure if I like it. :dunno I think it's soft, too, so not even sure if it's salvageable - I'm thinking I may just suppress it from her shots so it's not even a choice :deal

8. This is a really interesting gal - she's so beautiful, but her personal style is very trendy/artsy/funky rather than "glam" as such, and she really wants to express that in her shots. It's tricky, because she photographs SO "pretty" (looks just like Katherine Heigl from some angles) but wants to present "edgy"... but within the bounds of what's expected in a headshot. Still playing around with her shots, trying to see what I can come up with. If we'd had more time, I'd have put her in the studio and done some hard-lit shots, but just not an option due to time constraints.

Her colouring is really hard to WB, I'm finding. If it's too cool, the beautiful hair loses it's warmth, but too warm, and she turns pink. Tricky.

9. Again, just liked this funky processing for fun. It works in colour, too so it's a good all-purpose shot, I think. We'll see if she chooses it or not

All C&C warmly welcomed!!!

Cuties02q · March 16, 2010

Nice work! My favorites are #2, #4 & #9

Qarik · March 16, 2010

good stuff overall Diva! #5 is my fav but #6/7 I don't really care for...looks soft and skins texture or tone seems off. Can't really put my finger on it.

heatherfeather · March 16, 2010

Woot! Diva!
You got it going on! These are really nice.

Favs are 1, 3, 8 (8 is stunning! those eyes are very interesting with those flecks of colors)

5 makes me think he is just about to yawn with his nostrils flaired, lol... (but that might just be his nose.. lol!) Great pose, sharpness, color and comp. Is it just me or does he have his 80s collar on? Lord help us.

Very nice shot.

7 I think you are right to toss... (the one tooth showing is the killer for me. If it was a needed save it would be simple to lasso the eyes from #6 since they are so sharp and drag them onto 7, especially since they are in almost the same exact position.

Way to go, our Padawan Learner. The force is very strong in you.

(Sorry! feeling silly this morning.)

Macushla · March 16, 2010

I love the processing on 4 and 9. 9 is my favorite, she looks gorgeous. I love the lighting in #5, the way the background is darker on one side. They are all fabulous. Can't wait to see more.

D'Buggs · March 16, 2010

You've bin busy.

I find it interesting that you broad lit #1 and can't help wondering what he'd look, lit short... Even though, as is, it's nice.

3 & 4; Her eyes are much nicer in the second - I think it's because of the different angle; her head is turned a bit more and she's not looking up as high... That slight turn makes that one eye work a little harder, me thinks and I likes the 'less whites,' under her iris.

5; Very nice.

6 & 7; yeah,,,, toss 'em. And how did you fill in these two??? I *think* the fill light is the killer here....

8 & 9; Very nice - 9's a Rabbit.

sweet caroline · March 17, 2010

Nicely done! You captured some great eyes. I like the light in these.

kidzmom · March 17, 2010

So fun! I adore 2,5 and 9. They jump out from the rest! Great work!:D

Scott_Quier · March 17, 2010

Disclaimer - I have no idea, aside from what you tell us, about what is the current "in" style for head-shots, so take the following with a grain of NaCl

This is good on so many levels. But (and there's always a but) I'm not in love with the dark area along the left edge and it looks to me (on this POC uncalibrated monitor) that the lit side of his face is a bit blown.
Love his expression! My son does that to me all the time. Again, it appears his right side is a bit blown.
This one - I would bin it. Her hair is a mess. Not loving the exposed left shoulder. Background is cream on left and green/blue on right.
Aside from the lack of any background on the right side, this one rocks! Can you share your processing technique?
I like this one .... I really like this one He's got the whole "James Dean" thing working for him here. And the blonde hair really does work in this one. I wonder what it would look like if you changed his hair color?
Square on to the camera? She either needs to really smile or not smile at all - what she has going on here really makes her lips look ultra-thin. I would clone out a couple of the stray hairs as well.
I agree - bin this one as well.
This one works and work well. I think I would crop it just a bit from the bottom (to remove the sense of a "down-blouse" shot) and from the right side (to remove the small bit of background). Love her eyes!! Question - is the tat something that might cause her problems?
Same question about the tattoo. I love the processing (again, care to share?). And, I think this one is the the most in-focus shot here.

Lighting-wise, I find most of them to be a bit flat (but that may be driven by the current market) and, from a lighting perspective, find your #5 to be the most interesting. You have nice tones, very good shadows, and the fill is spot-on!

As for the 50% miss for focus issue ... I would love to be there when you are shooting just to observe your technique. And, as nice a lady as you are, I don't think I'll be making the drive. Some things to consider (and pardon me if some of these are of the "well, of course I do that" variety):

What focus point are you using? Is it the one closest to that which you most want in-focus?
Is there any focus-and-recompose (call it FAR) going on here? And, how close are you to your model? The closer you are, the more impact the FAR technique will have on the focus. Is your model moving on you? Could happen.
Are you working with a tripod. With the very narrow DOF you are using, is there a chance that you are getting a good focus lock and then moving just a hair before the shutter actuates? If the camera moves just the smallest amount between focus lock and capture, that might account for the hit-or-miss nature of your focusing results.
I set up my cameras to use the back button to activate the AF system. This allows me to activate the AF system with out engaging the shutter. And to re-acquire focus lock. The first time the AF system acquires a lock, it's usually a very good first approximation. If you re-activate it (without moving the camera, of course), you can get some fine-tuning of the focus. Try it .... focus, re-focus, capture image.
If you are hand-holding these, the shutter speed might be a little on the slow side. Your number 7 is shot at 50mm at 1/60s on your 50D. On a cropper, that's maybe a bit slow.

divamum · March 17, 2010

Thanks so much everybody - I appreciate EVERY single comment made, more than you can know. C&C is the only way to keep raising the bar!!

I'm swamped (and now have a stinkin' headcold on top of everything else - boooooo) so forgive me for responding "en masse" rather than to each message.

@Heather - I fear the collar was my idea! I dunno, he just seemed to have such a Young Thug/James Dean thing going on that I asked him to turn it up. I hope it isn't too cliche.... ! (And thanks too for the very encouraging words!!

)

@Buggs - the lighting was actually a direct result of where the window was relative to which way I could shoot. I think I may on the next batch set it up so I can reverse things more easily depending on the face I'm shooting - these kids were all very slender so it wasn't really an issue, but you're right - some short-lighting is definitely in order. Thanks for the reminder. 6/7 are the same window+reflector light set up used in 1-4 (although not 5, where there's a pop of added fill because it was getting so gloomy outside). I'll have to think about why it made the light flatter for her than for the guy. Thankfully, my daughter is coming as my assistant for the next round - I REALLY need a lighting stand-in between subjects!!!)

@Scott - what, you mean you're not going to drive for 10hrs just to show me how to push buttons?!

Seriously. Talk about poor after-sales service

(and yes I AM KIDDING!!! Scott already went hugely above and beyond on my behalf in the course of selling me his 50d, which is why he's teasing me about it!!!)

We talked about the tat. It's not to my taste to have it in shot, esepcially since it conflicts with the neckline and the necklace, but she felt it was more her style and wanted it in, especially since the shots were already going for a softer/more glam look than she naturally presents in person. I told her we could clone it out, however, if she wants a more conservative shot for the files.

As for the soft-focus... the points you raise are ALL good ones, and in some cases they are reflected in the shots. But not in some of the tossers, which is where I'm frustrated. I can live with a soft shot when I know what caused it; what's frustrating is when I know I was being accurate and it's still soft. I do know that I'm going to try and stay at 3.0 and above next week - both of those lenses can (and have) given me great, sharp shots at around 2.2 but for whatever reason... I wasn't nailing it consistently enough. I've also reset the MFAF to default, and will be taking a bunch of test shots before Sunday to see if I can identify what's going on.

Of course, when I stop down, I lose my lovely melted out background - it's actually a tiled hallway, but the colours are so flattering combined with the wash of natural light that I love shooting there... but I do have to shoot shallow to get the effect I like.

Here's a SOOC outtake which shows the actual location:

I'm not sure what to do about the gal in 6/7 - she was just hard to photograph at so many levels. One of these days I'll get good enough to make even the UNphotogenic look fabulous but I'm not sure I'm quite there yet. I'll ditch 7 (yuk - I'm now amazed I even wasted time working it up at all - funny how one's judgement clouds after too much editing!). What do we think of this one? I'm not crazy about the crop (and, sadly, it was mostly cropped in camera rather than afterwards), but is it any more flattering to your eyes?

Her set was done with window light and reflector and that's it - no added fill, so it was the same lighting as the dark-haired guy. (And yes, my SS is too slow here. I had just switched lenses and forgot to up the speed, although I think this one is sharp despite my mistake (?)

10

I also came up with this one for the other challenging gal - what do we think of this?

11

divamum · March 17, 2010

Forgot also - the processing y'all like is that fun LR split-tone preset that lilmomma came up with and sent around a while back. On the right image, it packs a big punch!

kidzmom · March 17, 2010

Diva, I'm no pro..but I think 11 looks WAY better than her first shot. I agree with Scott that the hair was most unflattering and it looks great in this shot! Nice job!

Are you using single select point of focus? I always have a lot of luck with one focus point. I don't know what your camera is like but I use the upper right hand button on the back to manually select focus point. I have to change it a lot but I've become really fast. I put the point on the bridge of the nose and then both eyes are usually pin sharp. I've tried using one eye but unless they are on the same plane of focus there is often a soft eye (WHICH I HATE!).

If you are only using natural light 1/60 sounds WAAAAY too slow. High ISO's aren't the end of the world. If exposure is on target (which you have learned to master already!) then at worst you run it through something for noise. I'd up the shutter and ISO and see if you have more luck with sharpening up some of the soft images. They all looked great to me (the ones you posted---maybe just 1 or 2 that were obviously soft). Anyway, great job. This looks challenging! Coming up with unique angles for everyone and trying to make them look flattering. GREAT WORK!

PS Hope the headcold clears fast. NO fun and makes everything 10x harder!

divamum · March 17, 2010

Absolutely single point. I do have a tendency to focus on one eye though; I may try the bridge-of-the-nose approach and see how that works. You always have INCREDIBLY sharp eyes even at wide apertures, so it sure works for you!

I try to shoot headshots no higher than iso 400, simply because they need to go to 8x10 for printing. Well exposed that isn't a dealbreaker, but it's kind of my rule of thumb. Typically, I've been fine with that approach - it's just this last shoot that it seemed to be a problem.

All good things to think about though, and I'll be spending much of Saturday working through various things in anticipation of Sunday's 2nd marathon shoot (7 subjects this time....

)

D'Buggs · March 17, 2010

Hey.

10 has a MUCH more pleasing ST. IMO this one surpasses the others of her.

11 is also GREATLY improved.

Mitchell · March 17, 2010

What great variety. You did a nice job mixing things up with these.

Here's my take (since you asked!):

1. My favorite shot of the bunch for the lighting. I don't mind the hot areas on the skin. What bothers me here is the crop seems unbalanced. Too much space on the left where you tried to keep from clipping the collar. This crop makes his ear the center of attention. Bring the left side closer to his ear and don't worry about the zipper.

2. Could be cropped even tighter. I like to try and keep the eyes at the upper 1/3 line. I don't care for the raise eyebrow (smirk) unless that's his trademark look.

3. I like this shot (why am I the only one?)! People with "lazy" eye tend to look best when you catch them straight ahead (like you did). Yes, she is square to the camera, but what you sacrifice with the pose is made up for how well you've captured her eyes. A keeper.

4. Fun.

5. Solid portrait with nice, sharp eyes. The crop needs to be tighter on the left to bring the eyes to the 1/3 intersection. Any chance you have a horizontal one of this shot? Could be fun to play with.

6. Too soft for me. Had potential.

7. Too soft for me. I don't like her mouth position.

8. Lovely!! You nailed this one.

9. Fun.

Nicely done. What's with the softness??? Are you shooting with a tripod?

kidzmom · March 17, 2010

7 subjects coming up... on ONE day? WOW. I look forward to seeing your new set!

divamum · March 17, 2010

Thanks for the added input, guys - glad the other choices work better. I'll be recommending those as picks (I don't get the final say-so, but I've noticed with the students they're fairly easily pointed in the right direction. Here's hoping!)

Yes, Kelly - SEVEN this coming week. It's way too many, but it's just the way it has to be. Usually my headshot shoots are 2-3hrs for a single person, so this is definitely rather different!

Mitchell, THANKYOUTHANKYOU for the detailed C&C - appreciated.

Mitchell wrote:

W
1. My favorite shot of the bunch for the lighting. I don't mind the hot areas on the skin. What bothers me here is the crop seems unbalanced. Too much space on the left where you tried to keep from clipping the collar. This crop makes his ear the center of attention. Bring the left side closer to his ear and don't worry about the zipper.

I must say I have to smile, because so you clearly understand how my mind works when I'm cropping - ha! That zipper is exactly why it wound up as it did....

Also, I really hate his ONE exposed ear - it's just odd to me. SOmehow, however, that's all I seemed to get.

5. Solid portrait with nice, sharp eyes. The crop needs to be tighter on the left to bring the eyes to the 1/3 intersection. Any chance you have a horizontal one of this shot? Could be fun to play with.

I don't remember offhand, but very likely - I took a lot of them in landscape orientation.

Nicely done. What's with the softness??? Are you shooting with a tripod?

BLeahhhhh to tripod - never use one if I can avoid it - I feel like I'm in a straightjacket since usually during a headshot shoot I'm moving around all over the place trying to find interesting angles and keep up with their changes in expression (well, the changes in expression I HOPE they're going to give me!).

I'm still not sure what's going on with the focusing, although another batch of test shots this afternoon was still softer than I'd like despite nice high SS. Harumph. One thing I think I'm going to do for every person - since these shoots are short (maybe 20 minutes for each of them) and thus I'm not taking as many photos as I would in a typical 2-3hr shoot - is make sure I take at least a few at F4+ or so. That SHOULD mean that I have some guaranteed keepers, even if theyr'e not the shallow DOF as I like. If I frame them right I should still be able to minimize the bg. I hope. And if that isn't enough light, I'll just add some fill flash - it worked better than I thought it would as long as it was just a tickle, and the ambient light prevailed, and the reflector still provided the catchlights...

It would be so much easier if the focusing anomalies were consistent, or if it was obvious that I was actually missing the focus point, but it's not that clearcut, which is why I'm confused. Main thing, to be honest, is it would be nice to get more SOOC shots to post as proofs because doing 30+ shots per person before uploading is really killing me. Normally I'd process one or two as samples of what can be done with them, and then let them look at the rest without much, but this time? Can't. Too many things I want to "improve" before they see them.

Whoops - thinking out loud again. Thanks again!!!

Darren Troy C · March 18, 2010

Would love Kid #5 in my portfolio! His "look" is very fashion-forward.

Great headshot on this one.

adbsgicom · March 18, 2010

divamum wrote:

Forgot also - the processing y'all like is that fun LR split-tone preset that lilmomma came up with and sent around a while back. On the right image, it packs a big punch!

Thought I recognized that creaminess.
Really nice work Diva. Can't add anything other than

divamum · March 19, 2010

Thanks Darren and Andrew!

What's interesting is that this class is predominantly guys... which is GREAT for my portfolio, because so far 90% of the headshot sessions I've done to date have been women.

Headshot Marathon, Day 1 for C&C

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