Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
Wed, 25 May 2011
I get occasional requests to do headshots for people, which even more occasionally turn into me actually doing such headshots.
They're an odd business, with a very specific set of rules and aesthetic choices already made, if you want a headshot to be competitive. It has to very clearly show the actor's face, and in the best possible way. The expression should be appropriate to the kind of work the actor wants to do (ie, no frowns unless you only want to be playing frowny character parts). Hair and make-up has to be done, and done fairly well. I personally feel that excessive airbrushing has no place in a headshot, since it might get you in the door, but will inevitably lead to disappointment on the part of the casting director.
There are also some interesting technical challenges, although they're the same challenges that apply to any portrait. Exposure and color balance have to be really good. Focus needs to be millimeter-accurate; shallow depth of field is fine, but the focus better be dead on. Funny angles tend to work well (shooting from above or below, for instance), although shooting from above will always make someone look skinnier.
(I amazed some women in a restaurant one day with this trick: they asked me to take their picture with an iPhone. I did the typical across-the-table shot, and it was pretty meh. I handed the phone back, and one of them started joking with the other about photoshopping out her double chin. I asked for the phone back, and took another picture standing up, with the phone about 4 feet above their heads. It went back, and they both oohed and aahed over the result as I explained about getting someone to jut their chin forward, away from the chest (however it's accomplished) to reduce the appearance of a double chin. One of them exclaimed to the other, after I'd gone back to my book, that this was her favorite shot of the trip so far.)
Anyway, I recently had an opportunity to photograph my friend Maggie, and we came up with what I feel is a pretty good headshot:
The single most interesting thing about this particular shoot was that there was an even better shot we both wanted to use, but it was very slightly out of focus: her right eye was perfectly in focus, but her left (which is closer to the camera) was out of focus. As soon as I saw that, I immediately refused to use it -- even if you never noticed exactly what it was, there would always be something wrong with that picture, particularly once you saw it printed out on paper. It looks pretty good on the web, where you're looking at a 72 dpi (ie, low-res) version. You can't see the focus error unless you zoom right in.
But that simple and comparatively negligible flaw would be enough to render it a less-effective headshot. That was the thing that got me pondering on the subject of headshots. Ultimately, it's not how good your headshot is in absolute terms, it's about how good your headshot is compared to the headshots of everyone else who's up against you. And wouldn't it suck to be kicked out of contention because your photograph was slightly out of focus (even if the director never consciously knew that was causing the prejudice)? You won't be out of focus in person, but damn if it doesn't make an impression once you have left the room, or before you ever get there.
Posted at 14:50 permanent link category: /photography
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater