So, Am I a fauxtog?

[DavidVRJ]

Hi, I’m a photography hobbyist looking to make a name for myself in the photography business in the future. I focus on club/event photography and head shots. I set up and tested some new lighting last night, so I’d prefer critique on just the head shots,  but feel free to criticize everything!

 

http://www.davidvrj.com/

[stef]

Just looking at the headshots, looks pretty good. You show some advanced skill. Everything is in sharp focus, lighting is good (and in a controlled environment, it better be), and you show clear initiative in posing.

 

When using studio strobes, have them kick out the light, and lower your ISO to 100.

 

Run a lint brush over your subject’s clothes.

 

I was happy to see you didn’t use too shallow a DOF, despite the opportunity. I believe your aperture choices were good.

 

Some of the crops were a little wonky… they were tight enough crops that doesn’t have much room to put someone’s eyes above the 1/3 horizontal line. That causes a feeling of off-balance when it varies by much.

 

Don’t tilt the heads of men toward the upper shoulder. That looks feminine. They can tilt toward the lower shoulder without issue. http://www.davidvrj.com/Category/Headshots/i-RW5tbMJ/0/M/Test00024-M.jpg Women can tilt in either direction.

 

Clearly, you’re not a fauxtographer and I’m pretty sure you already knew this.

[DavidVRJ]

Thanks for the feedback!  I like to think I’m not, and I have this site to thank. I didn’t use any strobes, but I will next time to brighten up the background a bit. The two guys in the photos are good friends of mine who were around to help me set up the lights, which is why their clothing was so.. messy.

Can anyone explain to me the shoulder thing? Maybe an example of the heads tilted to the upper or lower shoulder? I’m getting a little confused trying to figure that out

Lastly, for fun, here are some old fauxtog headshots of mine that i liked http://www.davidvrj.com/photos/i-KwHNXt5/0/M/i-KwHNXt5-M.jpg http://www.davidvrj.com/photos/i-hrRm5kw/0/M/i-hrRm5kw-M.jpg http://www.davidvrj.com/photos/i-8kJhTDC/0/M/i-8kJhTDC-M.jpg http://www.davidvrj.com/photos/i-c7hbFzK/0/M/i-c7hbFzK-M.jpg

[IHF]

David you are not a fauxtog 🙂  I enjoyed looking at  your photos

as for the shoulder thing….  I tried to find good examples of it for you, but came up empty.  Look in the mirror and put one shoulder forward, but lower than the one in back, now lift it higher than the one in back.  Then look straight in the mirror, and put your hand on your hip to raise one shoulder and tilt to both sides.  You’ll see the difference, I’m sure of it, and will have a better understanding of it.  You could also do a “posing men for portraits” search.  They may or may not speak about the shoulders (they should though), but the shots that work will always have the man leaning/looking/tilting to the lower shoulder.  I was in awe of this when I learned it.  Something so subtle, makes such a HUGE difference.

 

[DavidVRJ]

Thanks! I get it now, I found some info on it too; it’ll definitely help a lot.

Here’s a photo I took earlier today, first time taking shots like this; any pointers? http://www.davidvrj.com/photos/i-Rzr9P52/0/L/i-Rzr9P52-L.jpg

[Brownie]

Looks pretty good, just don’t overwhitened the eyes and the teeth.

[DavidVRJ]

Okay cool, I’ll keep that in mind, since I didn’t retouch her at all lol. I guess I’ll have to unwhiten them

[Brownie]

Really? Oh wow, she’s stunning then. Hahaha, I thought you did some editing, nevermind then!

[stef]

I think she’s overexposed a bit. Teeth and pants are blown.

But she is stunning.

 

[dicksforeyes]

Headshots are technically ok imo. Crop is a little weird. I would make sure to include the hairline and blow out the background.

Consider shooting at a slightly wider aperture to get just hint of fall-off in focus around side of the head –get a little romance in these shots.

[DavidVRJ]

Thanks for the feedback Jason! I feel the same way, and since I’m so fresh at this, I’m going to delete all those photos and make way for new ones that I love. For example, these are the ones I took today, straight from the camera. Also, I crop out some of the hairline so that I can include the shoulders more, which I feel are more important, while still keeping the head at a nice size with the eyes on the rule of thirds line

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/259486_4295822469800_1981826127_o.jpg

and https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/190160_4296411604528_670433134_n.jpg

I understand that the photo in the first link is not following the rule of thirds, but I still like the crop lol. Here’s a better example (still unedited) http://www.davidvrj.com/Category/Headshots/i-rMBw66s/0/L/Chantelle-100331-1-L.jpg

[Brownie]

Reminding you that the Rule of Thirds is a GUIDE, not a Photography law.

[dicksforeyes]

If you want to include more, you zoom out or move the camera back.

http://peterhurley.com/photography/actors-headshots/wonder-boys/

[DavidVRJ]

ohhh right, I see what you mean. Most of my pics include the hairline; I just had the camera tilted up a little more. The third pic is more of what I go for

[dicksforeyes]

Incidentally, that guy charges $1100 for headshot session, so those images might be worth looking at.

[Author]

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