Hi all, doing some theater headshots tomorrow for this lady tomorrow.

Shane, no image.

With dark hair, I try to go with dark backgrounds to maximize the contrast with the face if the person has light skin. If they have dark skin, I try to go with lighter backgrounds, again to maximize the contrast with the face.

I'd honestly say none of the above. And I'd also say to get rid of all the lights for the shoot.

I might have a different perspective on it, coming from New York - NYC and LA have both the largest but most codified headshot markets in the world. There are very specific expectations of what a headshot should look like, and that's going to differ for the different types of work an actor/model wants to audition for. But, across the board, you need clean, simple images without obvious lighting that will distract from your subject. Headshots are, counter-intuitively, the opposite of portraits or model photos.

Check out this guy's work - he's one of the most successful headshot shooters in LA. His look is definitely more LA than NYC, and more geared to screen actors than theatrical, but it's still a good example:

http://www.headshot-photography.com/portfolio.htm

Somewhere on that site is a video from either a Discovery or TLC profile of him, good behind-the-scenes footage of him working.

Basically, you want a background with some stuff in it (adds a little dimensionality), but you want it totally out of focus - in his case it's a garage, but I'll use the front hallway of my apartment building. If you can't get that, I'd use a white background without any light on it, so it'll go gray but with a little gradation. You want soft window light right on top of your subject (you can fake it with a large diffusion screen) so that you get a nice, even glow that falls off quickly. You want the widest aperture you can get on a medium-long lens, so that their eyes and major features are in focus and EVERYTHING else is not. For theater actors, you want an image that works well in monochrome, as B&W headshot prints are still the norm for theater. You want the actor wearing something along the lines of a black tank top so you can see the shape of their neck and shoulders, as that will be the only indicator of their physicality for casting directors.

Simon's spot-on with his comments. Kevin likes to keep things very natural-looking in a beautiful way. He does use a lot of PP in his headshot work, mainly Gaussian blur to soften the face and just a little retouching. I like his cropping, which really draws you into the face. Years ago when he first started out he had a studio in West Hollywood and primarily used flash lighting. Nowadays, he keeps it simple with reflected sunlight, which creates a much softer glow on the pores of the human skin and is typically flattering for the face.

TJ, Simon, Deezie...great advice all and THANKS! Unfortunately, I had to shoot soccer all morning and went right to this shoot so could not use the advice. Certainly will next time!

I put a post over on the People Forum for critique but here are five I picked from today. Have not worked on stray hairs, etc, but did do a quick first pass. Thanks again all, great advice that I will follow going forward!

1.

Simon, why are all those headshots cropping off the top of the head?

To emphasize the face...

As Shatterkiss has mentioned, the requirements of headshots change depending on the work the actoror model is looking for, with the theater being the most traditional. My daughter is a theater major. This is from one of her textbooks:

1. The head shot must actually look like the individual, including the current hair cut/hair style. "What this means is that every time you change your appearance, you cut your hair, you wear your hair in a new style, you gain or lose weight, and so on, you must have new pictures made."

2. It should not show too much of the body or the background. "A good head shot usually comes no lower than your collarbone and goes to the top of your head. You do not want to bring into the photo any other areas of the body, nor do you want to show too much background. Make this clear to your photographer."

3. Do not allow anything in the photograph to draw attention from the face, including the actor's hands. "...but because her hand is in the picture, attention is drawn away from her face. Do not allow your photographer to place you in this type of pose."

4. Include all of the head. "...We see her face, but look how much of her head is cut out of the picture. As a director, would not be clear to me just what she looks like."

5. The actor should be wearing very light makeup. "....she looks like she should be walking the streets (prostitute) rather than auditioning for a part in a play."

6. Stick with flat (low highlight to shadow ratios) lighting. "This photo is very glamorous and quite artistic. However the problem is that with the use of (deep) shadows, we do not clearly see all of her face. This photo might look nice in a composite for a modeliing job, but for an (actor's) resume head shot, it is not appropriate."

7. No jewelry. It also detracts attention from the face. "You want the director to remember your face, not your taste in jewelry."

This textbook was "The Audition Process: A Guide for Actors" by Bob Funk

John Power:

Ditto what Brent said. The idea that a good headshot or portrait should have a comfortable amount of headroom is a kinda outmoded concept. If you turn on even network TV these days you'll see that close-ups are generally framed with the top edge cropped just above the hairline. Creates a better sense of intimacy and draws focus to the eyes and facial features.

Insisting on maintaining headroom and negative space given the current prevalent "look" is like Sir Laurence Olivier insisting that theatre actors shouldn't walk around the stage waving their arms and moving about...that one should just stand still and give their soliloquy to the audience. The modern portrait/headshot is basically Brando to the classic headshot's Olivier.


RDKirk:

I'd disagree with several things in there, based on my time in Off-Broadway theatre and the couple of workshops I took in art school geared specifically towards shooting and evaluating headshots. The part about specifically not showing below the collarbone is way, way off - that's just not how it's done, at least not for the last 15 years. A casting director NEEDS to get a sense of the actor's physicality before calling them in for audition, which means seeing at least shoulders, upper arms and the upper part of the torso. For women there should also be at least a sense of the chest. While an actor's height/weight (and often measurements) are listed on the zed card the casting director will want to see that the actor is height/weight appropriate. Casting directors HATE calling someone in for audition only to have an unpleasant surprise walk through the door and waste their time.

That book was originally published in 1996. I'd suggest that expectations have shifted slightly in the decade since then, even in the most conservative of theatre markets.

What about for business purposes i.e a position at a corporation? Different rules (I assume, although they told us never to do that in law school)?

Executive portraits aren't the same as headshots.

shatterkiss wrote:
The idea that a good headshot or portrait should have a comfortable amount of headroom is a kinda outmoded concept. If you turn on even network TV these days you'll see that close-ups are generally framed with the top edge cropped just above the hairline. Creates a better sense of intimacy and draws focus to the eyes and facial features.
.

Simon,
Everytime I see an instructional post such as this I am reminded just how much I have to learn. You are right...even on network TV (The Office..this evening)..closeups..top edge is cropped just above the hairline...I never noticed before.

MSC wrote:
TJ, Simon, Deezie...great advice all and THANKS! Unfortunately, I had to shoot soccer all morning and went right to this shoot so could not use the advice. Certainly will next time!

I put a post over on the People Forum for critique but here are five I picked from today. Have not worked on stray hairs, etc, but did do a quick first pass. Thanks again all, great advice that I will follow going forward!



MSC,

What background color is that? [ your posted pics ] BLACK or DARK GREY?