Techniques for photographing head shots
One of the questions I often get asked on my Portrait Photography Course is “I want to offer studio portraits but I don’t have a studio.”
With this quick guide I will quickly take you through a recent shoot that I did for a construction company wanting their 40 employees to be photographed.
As you will see from the photo below, I wasn’t provided with the largest of rooms (12ft x 9ft), in fact I’ve had to use a fisheye lens to capture this photograph. However it didn’t really matter.
Here is my studio set up for the day
1. Tripod. this helps to ensure that every photograph will be taken from the same position
2. Infrared trigger. This is a very reliable way of firing of the flash units without having more wires over the place
3. Softbox. This is the main/key light . By positioning the soft box close to the subject you will create nice soft lighting. Strangle as it may seem, the closer you get it to the subject the softer the light.
4. Umbrella. I’ve used this to partly light the white background but it also provides some light to the side of the subject to separate them from the background
5. Backdrop. I’ve used a vinyl backdrop here but there are other options including paper, cloth or a light box
6. Chair. Sitting is more comfortable than standing for the subject. Ideally a stool would be more suitable fas it helps them sit upright
7. Photographers chair. If you’re going to be at the shoot for a few hours you may find it more comfortable to sit down also.
8. Macbook or PC. This isn’t totally necessary but I have my Macbook tethered to the camera so I can see how the images look on screen as I take them. It also allows the subject to see the end results.
Technical set up:
Camera: Manual setting – ISO 100 – Aperture f/11 – White balance set to Flash – Shutter speed 125 sec
Softbox: (Key light) I set this to 1/3rd power (depending on your own flash units you will need to tweak until you’re happy with the exposure of the subject). Positioned about 3 feet from the subject, above head height and 45 degrees from the camera. Get in close to create softer lighting
Umbrella: (Fill/Background light). I set this a couple of stops greater than the key light. This ensures that you get a bright white background and not off-white or grey
Execution: With the first person of the day it took a few minutes of tweaking before I was totally happy with the lighting and skin tones but after that it was really a case of ensuring that everyone was the same distance from the background and the light (making adjustments as taller and shorter people come in)
For full hands-on training on studio portraits, including headshots like this then why not come along to our next Portrait & Lighting workshop
Jeff
