Then I Saw Her Face...Now I'm a Believer

I did my first headshots in New York City during September 2008 at the request of some friends.  I had owned a dSLR since March.  In other words, I was completely clueless about lighting and didn't have any of the equipment that I now consider necessary to properly do a shoot.  Post-processing was an alien concept to me.  I rented a Canon 35 1.4L and a flash for the hot shoe of my Digital Rebel XTi.  The only things that saved me were that the girls had a GREAT look and didn't need any instruction on how to pose.  This was convenient, because I couldn't have given any legitimate instruction myself.  I knew from this first shoot, though, that I was hooked.

Catherine, September 10, 2008.  By using a wide aperture and a higher than necessary ISO because of my lack of experience, serendipity produced an image with a shallow depth of field that put the focus on the model's beautiful face and stunning eyes.  The noise created by the high ISO gave the image a 'grainy' film effect.  That's what I tell myself, at least.

  

Brooke, September 10, 2008.  When you have a model this alluring, the photographer's experience almost becomes irrelevant.  We still keep in touch, but as you can imagine she's very busy these days.  On the second image, all I did was boost the contrast until I got the desired effect- by accident.

I figured that if I could get some good shots as a rank amateur, some practice and research might pay some dividends.  The first technique I tried to learn was high key.

Nikki, January 24, 2011.  Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8L @ 200mm, f/13 @ 1/125, ISO 400.  Despite the stray hair on the collar, I still love this shot.

Nikki, January 24, 2011.  Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8L @ 110mm, f/16 @ 1/80, ISO 400.

Nikki, January 24, 2011.  Canon 5D Mark II, 70-200 2.8L @ 150mm, f/11 @ 1/125, ISO 320.  The focus for this image was soft, but I felt it did not spoil the image.

Now two-and-a-half years since my first shoot, I'm still learning and experimenting. The learning curve is steep.  At least I'm able to make the money back that I spent for my equipment while enjoying myself.  It's rewarding to see someone excited about an image of themselves.  I tell the model that all I had to do was hit the shutter release, but I know it's much more than that.  I think a good model is over 50% of the equation, though.  At my level of experience, it's probably 75% as far as I'm concerned.