{"id":47983,"date":"2019-08-15T23:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T03:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=47983"},"modified":"2019-08-25T20:36:57","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T00:36:57","slug":"photographing-headshots-in-a-small-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/photographing-headshots-in-a-small-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing headshots in a small space"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photographing headshots in a small space<\/h1>\n

This headshots photo session for a large corporate client, started off as a bit of a challenge — they wanted half-length seated portraits against a white background. Because the room they put me in was a bit too tight, I set everything up at an angle, so that I could shoot from outside the door to get a proper working distance. I would have had enough room here if I only had to do tight headshots, but the client wanted half-length seated shots, and the space was too small for that if I wanted an even background.<\/p>\n

I wanted to avoid the need for any avoidable Photoshop work.\u00a0I had to photograph 40+ headshots that day, so I want to keep Photoshop to a minimum. Even though Photoshop’s Content-Aware Fill Tool is fantastic, I really wanted files out of the camera as close to correct as I could.\u00a0Therefore I dragged in a roll of 9ft-wide paper roll, and lighting stands.<\/p>\n

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Lighting setup for this photo session<\/h2>\n

I used 4 lights, as can be seen in the photo above. Two lights on the background, and two lights for my subject.<\/p>\n

The two lights on the background were two Profoto B1 flashes<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(B&H<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0Amazon<\/em><\/a>). They had a 45″ umbrella each to help spread the light.<\/p>\n

The two main lights on my subject were \u00a0Profoto D1 Air 500Ws studio\u00a0flashes<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) that I ran off AC power.<\/p>\n

The main light to camera-right is the Westcott 7-ft Parabolic Umbrella \u2013\u00a0white<\/a>\u00a0(B&H<\/a><\/em> \/ Amazon<\/a><\/em>). You can see the corner of the main light (the 7-ft parabolic umbrella) in the top right-hand corner of this frame. This large umbrella just floods the entire place with light, helping to avoid specific shadows on the background – although the two background lights would remove most of any shadow. Here is a review: Westcott 7-ft Parabolic Umbrella<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Because the space I had for the fill-light to camera-left was so cramped, I used the narrow Angler Parsail 60″ Umbrellas<\/a> (affiliate<\/em>). It is a superb umbrella that helps me in a pinch. Here is the review: Best photo umbrella for a home-studio & indoor headshots<\/a><\/p>\n

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About the photo session workflow<\/h2>\n

For this headshot session, I rented a the Nikon D850<\/a> (B&H<\/em><\/a> \/ Amazon<\/em><\/a>). The client requested seated portraits as the headshots, but I also wanted to be ready for requests afterwards for a tighter, more usual headshot. The extreme megapixel count of the Nikon D850 still gave me an easy 12-16 megapixels on a tighter crop of everyone.<\/p>\n

I had to photograph around 40 people intermittently during the say as the group took breaks or had lunch. \u00a0Then it is a 5 minutes per person crunch. And then I sit and wait for an hour or two to the next break time.<\/p>\n

I shot everything hand-held. I don’t do tripods for headshots.<\/p>\n

It is essential to shoot tethered to a computer. This helps client to pick a favorite photo, and also change anything they want in how they present themselves. This 99% avoids anyone being unhappy \u00a0a week later when you send the photographs over.<\/p>\n

The computer I used here was a MacBook Air, but I brought a 26\u201d Apple Cinema display along to give an impressively large image which helps in the selection process which had to be fast.<\/p>\n

I use Nikon Camera Control Pro as the tethering software, and I use Bridge to preview the RAW files.<\/p>\n

I shoot, go through the images … star rate them and pick the subject\u2019s favorite shot. Then I rename, and move the images to a folder of their name. Next!<\/p>\n

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