What is the best way to do head shots: What is the best settings or ways to do head shots.. Im going to be doing my daughters senior pictures to save money soon. As she graduates in...

dulcina79 Loc: PA

What is the best settings or ways to do head shots.. Im going to be doing my daughters senior pictures to save money soon. As she graduates in May.. Time is coming way to fast for me and shes off to collage. Im trying to find the best settings to do head shots on her that wont look cheezy or coming out wrong with every shot. Im all new to this but ive always took pictures of myself but not of other people. I have a good camera now and I dont have to work with a webcam or cell phone anymore. I want this to be special andI think I got the lighting down pat on how to do that. Its the setting on which one is better to do them with. I want to be able to blur the background a little bit with her head shot. Like taking a pic on the rail road tracks. I want the background to be seen but not fully. Im not sure how to do this. ive downloaded apps that i can blur a back ground that way but i want it done naturally.

Im here to learn more cause I want to be able to do this regularly . Maybe I can make some money doing it. Depends how I do my daughters . THANKS

Picture of my dog Zues . Hes just the cutest thing

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twowindsbear

Larger lens opening, for shallow depth of field.

Less 'busy' background that is a bit farther away from your subject. Far enough away that the background is beyond the depth if field.

Cute pic of your best friend!

Good luck & keep shooting

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

twowindsbear wrote:

Larger lens opening, for shallow depth of field.

Less 'busy' background that is a bit farther away from your subject. Far enough away that the background is beyond the depth if field.

Cute pic of your best friend!

Good luck & keep shooting

What he said plus a medium telephoto, around 100 to 135, F stop set to the smallest number, spot focus on the eye. If using a flash, be sure to bounce it off a white ceiling. And keep the subject distant from the background or use a neutral background if possible.

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

twowindsbear wrote:

Larger lens opening, for shallow depth of field.

Less 'busy' background that is a bit farther away from your subject. Far enough away that the background is beyond the depth if field.

Cute pic of your best friend!

Good luck & keep shooting

skeeth

Collage, must be a new thing?

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

What is your equipment?

Brightest area of the photo is where the viewer will be drawn. Your dog photo has the face a little darker and the lower right is blown out. (Not sure if you meant that photo as an example ao disregard if that was not your intention
..cutie btw.)

Good portrait rules I use:
- Short distance from camera to subject relative to distance from subject to background.
- 85mm minimum focal length (if you have a 50mm on an APS-C camera it may be ok but dont get too close or you will make noses look bigger)
- brighter areas will draw the viewer....make sure the facial features are the brightest area (cheeks teeth eyes...hair highlights etc
- shadowing is ok and is also desired but subtle
- try not to use on-camera flash. Use natural lighting....window areas with no direct sunlight coming through...if outdoor...shady areas work well but make sure the background is darker than your subject.

....lastly...

Google "portrait photography" and look for tips AND check images.....practice practice practice
Film is cheap when its digital :-)
Have fun !

Paul L_S Loc: Lithia Springs GA USA

I would suggest a longer lens around 200mm, with wide open aperture. Do test shots with your daughter, her friends, anyone you get to pose for a couple shots. Practice, practice practice. Also shots on railroad tracks are not a good idea. In order to get shots on RR you have to trespass on RR property, Unless they are sounding their horn trains are actually quiet. Depending on speed by the time the operator sees you on the tracks and sounds the horn, you may not have time to get off the tracks. Please consider NOT using railroad tracks.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

crazydaddio wrote:

What is your equipment? br br Brightest area of t... (show quote)

Here is a pic I took of my daughter. She was in the kitchen and I asked her to throw a scarf around her neck and head. Lighting was from a window. Lots of mistakes in this one so will open this up for critique and you can hear the feedback as some helpful tips. (I will start - 1) the right eye is in focus but the left eye should be as it is closer to the camera 2) the shadow from the nose could be a little more triangular...window light was "high right"...would have been better to be lower)

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SpyderJan Loc: New Smyrna Beach. FL

crazydaddio wrote:

Here is a pic I took of my daughter. She was in th... (show quote)

I am confused. Is the photo flipped? I see the Left Eye more in focus and the light appears to be coming from the Left and not the Right. Other than that, I think it is a very nice portrait.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

SpyderJan wrote:

I am confused. Is the photo flipped? I see the Left Eye more in focus and the light appears to be coming from the Left and not the Right. Other than that, I think it is a very nice portrait.

Should have said "eye on the left" not left eye.
And the light is coming from the subjects left not camera left.
You are correct.
:-)

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

dulcina79 wrote:

What is the best settings or ways to do head shots... (show quote)

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boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

forgot to include the text. Don't make the mistake that I did with this shot of my grand daughter. Don't chop off part of her hair

Joe Blow

dulcina79 wrote:

What is the best settings or ways to do head shots... (show quote)

This is one of those questions where there are as many answers as there are people replying. My suggestion would be to just go out with your girls and take pictures with various backgrounds.

Some hints are,
Don't have their arms hanging, have them put their hand on a hip or cross their arms. Show some attitude.

Bring several outfits. Two or three jackets, a top and a sweater and a couple of shirts that can be worn over top in various configurations. For dresses / skirts make sure there is somewhere to change.

Go easy on the bling.

Baseball hats can look cheap so make sure the outfit looks casual enough that they go together. Other hats should match the outfit.

Bring a make-up kit, a towel, and blanket.

Take lots of shots. It is easier to toss out the ones you don't like than use the ones you didn't take. Don't be afraid of cropping. Try different crops, B&W, etc of the same shots if they're good.

Some low resolution examples.

Bill_de Loc: US

You will get plenty of advice and examples here. That's good.

But there are plenty of tutorials out there, some aimed at parents. Here's a link to one, but Google is your friend.

https://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-photograph-senior-portraits-that-will-be-loved/

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CO

I've never used the Nikon Coolpix B500 but the photo of Zues is just not sharp. Part of the problem could be that the shutter speed was just 1/25 second and the focal length was 78mm (440mm full frame equivalent). It looks like there's blur due to camera shake.

If you want to have very special pictures, you will want to find out why the photo of Zues is not sharp or possibly rent a DSLR camera.

Here's an excellent book to get. You can do a "Look Inside" on Amazon to see some of the pages.

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