Trombonist Headshots

[stevwils]

These are a couple of headshots I took of a colleague. I was trying to mix things up a bit composition-wise and this is what I came up with. Do these angles work? I worry that this sort of thing can seem gimmicky, or at least overly self-conscious, but it also seems like the sort of thing that a lot of photographers enjoy doing.




ISO 400, f1/8, 1/400, 85mm

[BigFuzzy]

I actually thinks these are quite good, great even.

I love the natural tones to the colors, the DoF and the casual non-posey feel to things.

The only thing I thought was I might want to see more of the trombone but I also understand how incorporating it more would make it look way more posey.. so in the end, I still think i'd stick with these.

I like the composition, it's very subtle and simple, yet adds enough to the images to keep them from being the standard straight on shots you see so often here.

All in all, great job.

[wulf]

Does it work? A lot depends on the follow-on question "what for?". I think the angle is a bit too sharp in this one (nb. just one photo for critique please... you can add further examples later as the discussion develops) unless you need something very dynamic (for example perhaps as part of a magazine profile where you want him poking his head out over the words).

What was the purpose you were shooting for?

Wulf

[SuperDan]

i like it...
the dof works good, but, i wouldve included a little more of the bone

[stevwils]

BigFuzzy, thanks for your kind words. I really appreciate them.

Wulf, apologies about the double picture post. I should have known better. I guess I was asking just in a general sense about whether they work. As in, is there any obvious compositional problem with with how I've constructed the image? I see these sort of off-kilter shots all over the place and thought I'd see if it would work in this context. The context being a relatively simple musician headshot. These shots will most likely be used in promotional materials related to an upcoming concerto performance with orchestra. They would also probably appear in a stagebill type magazine.

SuperDan, I worried about chopping off as much of the bone as I did but I think this might be my passive aggressive way of getting back at my friend for blasting that thing into the back of my head at work.

[wulf]

For a headshot, I think his head is too small in the frame and I do agree with SuperDan that it would be good to have more of the trombone in the frame (that could give a good reason for the head being relatively small).

However, I think the focus of the image is under good control. It might work as part of a spotlight profile on this guy although, for most purposes a less dramatic angle would probably be a better choice.

Wulf