Simple Headshot session

On February 22, I did a professional headshot and lifestyle session with the lovely Ginny of VDS Digital Agency.

For this session, I used:

Photography Equipment	Props/Miscellaneous
Cannon R6 24-105 mm Lens Transmitter/Trigger 2 Phottix Strobe 2 rectangular soft box Eye-light reflector 2 C-stands Sandbags Backdrop stand Savage Egg Nogg Seamless Hand Painted Canvas backdrop Spyder Color Checker Card A-clamps	Stool

The set up

For this session, I shot two basic setups, one for a headshot and one for traditional full-body portraits.  The reason I did two set-ups was that the client needed two types of photos, corporate headshots, and a more lifestyle portrait look for new letters and articles.

For the traditional headshot lighting, I used two strobes, rectangular soft boxes, and an eye-light reflector.  The two strobes were positioned across from each other at 45-degree angles and tilted towards each other to form the edges of a triangle.  I then placed the reflector between the strobes to form the bottom of the triangle and angled it towards the subject.  My client then stood in front of the reflector in the center of the triangle.  It was a very simple setup, and the one shown below.  For the full-body shots, I used the same setup, removing the reflector and adjusting the height of the strobes.

Camera Settings

For the camera setting, I used ISO 100, with an aperture of F5 and a shutter speed of 1/250s.  My focal length varied from 25mm to 105mm, with the most common focal length being 39mm.   

 The Photos

As this was a headshot and lifestyle session, I wanted to ensure consistency across the set, which were the same across the set except for a few very specific images.  I started with adjusting the white balance and then using the Spyder Color Checker program to ensure all the colors were correct.  I did tweak the color checker’s suggestions slightly as I wanted to ensure a nice skin tone without washing my client out.  I then adjusted the exposure slightly, as well as the vibrancy and saturation.  I used a medium contrast curve throughout all the images.  I then removed any major blemishes and stray hairs.  I then ran the image through the Retouch-for-Me software doge-and-burn the program to even out skin tone and polish the image.  The images also have a medium vignette to draw the eye towards the center of the face.

The first image is the basic headshot.  It is a nice simple image that can be used for items that need a corporate photo.

This next image is more of a lifestyle image.  To get this image, I had my client lean against my studio wall and then rotated the strobe on that wall to face her.  You can see the slight downward direction of the light.  I used all the same edits from the previous images of the session.  This just appears a bit moodier as there is only one light, it is closer to her, and a is at a bit lower power setting causing the fall-off.  I did try to remove the chair molding, but the remove tool just couldn’t handle the gradient/shadows in the image.

We ended the session with some casual images, just using the seamless paper as the background. One of them was a more casual headshot, so she could have a couple of looks to use depending on the level of formality needed. I like this image because it is a nice, clean, and crisp image that is professional yet casual and works well for the industry the client works in.

Final Thoughts:

This session went well due to the preparation that went into the session ahead of time.  It may seem like a simple headshot session, but I did prep by sending a mood board with suggested poses and outfits to help create the images that would for her.  I also enjoyed the session due to its simplicity.  Finally, Ginny was a pleasure to work with.