Headshots look like mugshots. Help?

[aribabybug]

My mother-in-law wants some headshots for her renaissance faire cast to use in their promotional materials. I am a part-time wedding and portrait photographer, mostly for friends and family but with a few paid shoots. I told her that I had never done headshots before, but she insisted that I could do them easily. After we did the first round, she immediately started complaining, saying that they "aren't headshots" and "look like mugshots." Granted, these aren't the best headshots I've ever seen (and the eyes are not as sharp as I'd like), and even though I've done a bit of research I'll admit that I'm not in any way an expert about headshots. She wants me to come back out tomorrow and redo them all, but I'm not sure how to do it differently. I'm planning on being above, rather than on a level with, the models, and to try and angle them in some way, but I'm worried the pictures will turn out the same. Any suggestions? I'm including what I think is the best and the worst of the batch.

[i speak in math]

I don't mind the first one so much. Its a bit pink but overall, pretty good. The second looks a bit underexposed. The composition of that one looks a bit off as well...too much space? head to low?

Avoid having the subject facing straight into the camera. This leads to a dear-in-headlights look that nobody likes. Your subjects aren't quite dead on, but they could turn a little more. The lighting is a little too even and doesn't give a good feeling of 3D. They are flat and unrelate-able.

You could try having them turn so that the light source is to one side of their body. It looks like you are in the shade of some sort of overhang. Try having them turn slightly so that one shoulder faces out and one in. Have them turn their head slightly toward the light. For men, remember to have their head parallel to their shoulders.

This should give a little more texture to the light, a more pleasing pose and result in a better looking shot.

[Benji]

Every mug shot I have ever seen has at least three things in common. Flat lighting from an on camera flash, the subject posed square to the camera and lastly the subject's torso posed straight up and down. Doing all of these will guarantee one very uninteresting and extremely boring image. Professional photographers know this so they use side lighting, they pose the subject's torso so it is at a 45° angle to the camera and they lean the subject "over the belt buckle" to give some action and interest to the image. They also tip the head.

Benji