{"id":20071,"date":"2014-04-29T01:01:23","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T05:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=20071"},"modified":"2017-08-18T19:06:15","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T23:06:15","slug":"headshot-photography-what-makes-great-headshot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/headshot-photography-what-makes-great-headshot\/","title":{"rendered":"Headshot photography: What makes for good head shots?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NJ<\/p>\n

Headshot photography: What makes for a good headshot?<\/h1>\n

A few out-takes mixed with a few keepers from this headshot photo session, and it helps illustrate some of the process of getting to a good headshot.<\/p>\n

The lighting is key. Posing is important. But there’s another aspect that makes a great headshot – your subject’s personality needs to come shining through. So, yes, it is in the lighting. It is in the posing. It’s in the expression … but\u00a0a very important key\u00a0is the personality of the photographer – how to make your subject feel relaxed. How to make the photography not feel like an intrusion.<\/p>\n

For most people, being photographed is a fairly vulnerable thing – we don’t want to appear foolish or unpresentable to the wider world. Although you could make a valid argument against that idea, with the bad snapshots that people post of themselves on social media. So there is that. Still, I’d say it is quite a vulnerable thing to do – to be photographed. And it is up to you as the photographer\u00a0to make someone feel relaxed in front of the camera.<\/p>\n

The key here – your personality.\u00a0It starts with a warm handshake and a friendly smile. That handshake is important. Not limp, but firm. Go so far as to ask friends to honestly give you their opinion – a brutally truthful opinion about your handshake. Your body language needs to be confident.<\/p>\n

By now your skills in basic lighting should be such that you don’t stress about that, but can concentrate on getting the best out of your subject. It’s up to you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Nicole was the\u00a0make-up artist<\/a>\u00a0with the recent photo-session with Ulorin Vex<\/a>. We met up a few weeks later for headshots for Nicole’s website.<\/p>\n

I did my best here to try and crack Nicole up, and have her lose a little bit of control. “Give me serious” … people generally can’t keep a straight face then. Being a little goofy helps. Be personable. Chat, and keep up an easy conversation. It’s all part of\u00a0remaining\u00a0warm and approachable.<\/p>\n

This is what I wanted to show with this sequence – the photos where she cracked up a bit, and with that, loosened up in front of the camera. Then the expression and smiles are more real … and somewhere there in the longer sequence of images, are the keepers. I don’t aim for every shot to be successful. I want the shoot<\/strong> to be successful, and if we can pick out the best images and they work well, then we were successful.<\/p>\n

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Techie details about the photographs<\/h2>\n

So just to cover how this was lit, because I know you’re curious …<\/p>\n

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The setup is very similar to that when I had actor Mike Larose in my studio to photograph his headshots<\/a>.<\/p>\n