I am kind of being obligated to take my mother in law's headshot (she's been working as an extra). I don't want to, because I feel I have no experience, talent, skill, whatever, to do so - I told my husband, but he doesn't seem to agree, so in short - I gotta do it.
Does anyone have any samples of headshots for people who are a little older than your normal model? :) She's in her 60's.
Any tips, suggestions?
I'll be using my lightsphere and a simple backdrop (see? I don't even have a studio).
I'm already regretting it, but gotta make the family happy....
:)
Thanks!
You're welcome. If you click on the NY PHotographer link, or the LA/Chicago one, it will give you a list of the photographers. Click on a photographer, and there will be a sample of their headshots. If you like them, there is usually a link that takes you right to their webpage for more samples. :)
There's a video clip somewhere on his site that shows him setting up in his garage with a reflector under the talent - so it's bouncing up into their face. I think it's this web site. hmmm,
I shot some of my kids ( more than a head, but still the same principle) by opening my garage door (north facing) and using a bounce on the south side of the person. I had to use a tripod, speeds were in the 1/40 range, but got really nice lighting.
Edit to add I hung a black cotton sheet behind my subjects to hide the "garageness" of the place - Kevin obviously just keeps his garage really clean and shoots against the concrete.
does it have to be indoor ? If you don't have experience with indoors, outdoors is much better, preferably find a shade and use your long lens, the 70-300
natural gives a much better look unless you have good lights and have experience using them
If you have access to a place with good light, I'd definitely suggest trying to shoot with just natural light. It makes a world of difference. A reflector would be nice but not totally neccesary. A nice blurred background and natural light will usually give you a very nice headshot look. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a natural reflector, an example of something I've done was to sit on the floor in the doorway of my basement with the double doors open. There's a deck above so it's shaded but when the sun is in the right spot it reflects nicely off the concrete up onto the subject. Two examples using this technique from a Self Portrait project awhile back:
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Of course an older lady probably isn't going to want to be getting down on the floor. :) I've been working on my headshot technique alot lately and I've found natural light has always worked best. There's a couple more in my Model Photography gallery if you feel like checking them out. :)
Oh wow, so many replies, and all of them very helpful. I'll look into the websites and write down all those tips, come up with a plan, and if i were religious i'd also pray :)
Thanks again!!
dwterry, really loved your lighting, can you please explain your lighting i.e. where did you place them,( assuming you used artifical lighting)
I basically copied what Kevyn Major Howard describes on his website (digitalknight provided a link to Kevyn's website). The website includes a video that describes what he does.
But no... it is not artificial light. It is natural light. I put a chair in my garage with the garage door open. The chair is back underneath the shade, so the garage door opening is the big "white light" you see as a reflection in her eyes. I had my daughter sitting on the chair holding a white reflector in her lap. This is what lit up her face. And in the B&W photo, it is the bottom reflection of light that you see in her eyes.
Shot almost wide open with the Canon 70-200 2.8 lens so that the background would be out of focus. But with the light drop off, it really didn't matter too much.
Post processing was minimal. I found that by slightly over exposing her skin, it took care of most of the editing that I would have done to clean up her complexion.
