It's not that heads shots are SO different from a regular portrait session, but it really depends on how you go about it. Head shots are meant to be completely about the person, with the background and surroundings being as minimal as possible.
This is where it gets different for me, because the surroundings typically play into my sessions greatly.
Another thing, is that I think a lot of people typically associate head shots with studios, off-camera lighting, and lots of retouching. Which as you may know, is definitely NOT for me. But I do love the challenge...Using 100% natural light and minimal retouching to create head shots for my client that will compete in a world of more artificial images. And that's where I enjoy it. Because even though the posing and composition for head shot sessions is a lot more traditional and un-changing than a portrait session...there's still an art to it. Head shots are more or less meant to be "posed" and carefully composed...but I just can't handle the stiffness of "tilt your chin this way"..."now a little more to the left"..."HOLD THAT!"...."Now put your hand like this"..."A little higher".... And of course direction IS important, but in my opinion..genuine laughter and body language will always win :)(Especially for photos that are being used to judge them for future jobs!)
And that's what we went for with Christa. Christa wanted her head shots to be lively and vibrant...to go hand-in-hand with the type of roles she would like to target in her acting career. SO....of course we got that like by conducting a session that was...you guessed it...lively and vibrant :)
As you're about to see...this girl, Christa, is ridiculously gorgeous. It's pretty...ridiculous. It's funny too...because she looks exactly like Mary Poppins at Disneyland...no really, I mean EXACTLY. Almost like they could be the SAME person...so crazy. Take a better look next time you're at D-Land. You'll see! But you didn't hear it from me ;)
This day we did the session on, was most definitely NOT ideal. But after already rescheduling once, we refused to do it again. So despite the insane wind and chilly temperatures...we made it happen....
And finally, here are my faves that we snapped in between tornado gusts!....
At one point, the wind got SO intense that all we could do was laugh about it. And I said "Forget this, let's embrace it for a second". I love these "fierce" images of her with her hair whipping at my camera that we got when we gave into mother nature ;)
Isn't she just stunning?!
xoxo
