THE J0B OF A HEADSHOT PHOTOGRAPHER

I’d thought a quick break down of how I approach each headshot job would make a good blog post. Only because, on paper, the idea of taking a headshot of somebody sounds incredible easy.

I’ll break it down in a few pointers below:

UNDERSTAND THE CLIENT
Sounds obvious but I talk to the client about what sort of headshot style they would like. Do they want a serious look, more natural and lifestyle or have they seen a photo they like and want to try and replicate it? I’ll ask all these questions to get an idea of style and expectations.

WHAT LlGHTING SET UP
Lighting is one of the most important parts of any headshot. Ugly shadows don’t sit well with a good headshot. The classic lighting involves what is called a ‘Three-point lighting set-up’. One light on the subject, one behind as a hair light and another on the background. It’s simple and effective. I tend to go for two lights as I like to use the light in the room as ambient lighting so I’ll have one beauty dish above the model and one lighting from behind.

WHAT LENS DO I USE.
I know a lot of people use their phone cameras for their headshot but this is far from ideal. The bog standard lens a phone camera uses is a 28mm lens which is way too wide for a portrait and will distort the models face. It’s not flattering. I use an 85mm standard lens as this seems the perfect sweet spot for a good headshot.

RELAX THE CLIENT
Probably the most important part of any shoot. If the model isn’t relaxed the headshot isn’t going to look its best. A lot of talking from me, maybe too much, a little bit of posing, positive encouragement and mico-adjusting the position is usually all it takes to get the right look. I like to take at least 15-30 minutes per client to get the look where they are happy.

RETOUCHING
I always like to do a little bit of retouching and usually my clients asks for it as well. Not too much but a few adjusts here and there to make the portrait pop.

At the end of the day my job is to make my client look good and by making sure all the steps are in place we always get the right look.

Get in touch if I can help. www.lookinggoodheadshots.com

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