Head Shot

[tiffanyjay]

Please I welcome all Critique.

Would this be considered a good head shot?


Shutter 1/125
F-Stop f/4.5
Iso 100
Focal Length 85mm

[Lightwriter]

Exif data and a specific question would be helpful

[tiffanyjay]

Originally Posted by Lightwriter

Exif data and a specific question would be helpful

Thanks, I forgot lol. It was late.

[Lightwriter]

What's your question?

[tiffanyjay]

Originally Posted by Lightwriter

What's your question?

My question is above the picture.

[aRad82]

To be used as a head shot, I think there should be more head and less body (boob, specifically - it's very distracting!...I'm staring right at it when I look!). I'm very new though and I am just one opinion.

[Lightwriter]

I agree with aRad82. More face, less chest. Also, is she supposed to look so umm...lustful? All in all, this is a strong portrait but I really don't know that much about model headshots.

[BigFuzzy]

First off, aRad82.. that's her shoulder!

On to the photo:
Personally, I'm not a fan of this photo for a couple of reasons.

First, and possibly most important, is the lighting. It's a straight on flash which is known to be probably the least flattering type of flash. It doesn't create any nice shadows which add depth to the image. It also washes out skin colors.
Also related to lighting is that because only one light was use with no notable ambient/background light, there is no separation of the subject from the background. Her hair is almost completely lost in the background. The lighting in general is my biggest issue with this photo.

Secondly, the focus if not on her eyes.. It appears you used a central focal point which made her lips (and bracelet) the sharpest part of this image. In my opinion, in any portrait (unless intentional) the eyes should be the sharpest part of the image.

The crop, combined with the wide cut of the neck of her shirt and the fact the elbow/arm is cropped that way create (for me) a choppy feeling to the image. I find that the headshots I like best are the simplest ones and typically don't involved the hands anywhere on the head/face. But that could be just a taste issue.

I would have used (if possible) a larger aperture (smaller f/number) to throw some of her body out of focus to draw the viewer to her face more. But again, that's a taste issue.

In the end, it's not a bad shot, but it's not great either for me.

[BigVinnie]

I like the pose, cropping etc... What I would like to have seen is some type of back or rim light. Her hair especially is lost in the image. Rim light camera left to bring out her shoulder line and hair I think would be the way to go.

I also like to see catchlights in the eyes. Her left eye has one but the right does not. I think the image would benefit from either removing the left one or creating one in the right.

I disagree about the shoulder. I think the droop of the top guides your eye to the face.

[aRad82]

First off, aRad82.. that's her shoulder!

Oh my gosh...you're so right Big Fuzzy...haha - and my apologies TiffanyJay! My head must be in the gutter! That being said, she is a pretty girl and it's not a bad picture, but I am still drawn right to her shoulder!