As far as I can remember I have always loved headshots. And this for a pretty obvious reason, if you are a people shooter, you want to focus on the person, on the expression, and this clearly the head that shows the most of a personality.
This picture if NOT perfect. I like this shot, but it not perfect but I have chosen it so I can show you what could have been done better :
1
The first point is about the lens. Portraiture requires long lens, min ist 90mm but I very often shoot at 200mm when it’s an headshot.
2
Lit the background very bright (not the case here, should have been to be great). A little over lighted is welcomed as it is very common in fashion photography.
3
Headshots are about heads. So focus on the eyes and the mouth. Do not hesitate like this one to crop the head a little and show a little of the shoulders. I think you can show a little more of the shoulders than you can see on the shot above. But not to much : it’s an headshot and not a classical portrait.
4
According to the feeling you want to give, hire a MUA and a hairdresser. Think about accessories like glasses, neckless, etc… As you will not show many of them, be really selective and think if they are appropriate, if they tell something about the person you are shooting.
5
Expression is everything. As Peter Hurley says, you can have a killer background, the best good looking model on earth, but if you do not have expression you have nothing. The picture above works because you are wondering what she way saying 1 second before or what she is about to tell right after the click ! Talk to your model and play with it !
Okay, there are a lot of things to say on this subject but these are the 5 most important things to know.
I highly recommend that you guys have a look on the following videos :
More to come…
Photography thru my lenses 