How To Shoot Head Shots At Home

Hopefully you can see a big difference between these two head shots. Yet neither one was taken in a studio or with lighting equipment. If fact both head shots were taken only a few meters apart in the same location on the same day.

The biggest difference between the two is light. You have to shoot head shots (or indeed any people photos) in light that's appropriate for them. And watch out for cluttered backgrounds which are a distraction.

The top image was shot in shade in a place with an overhang to block down light. The bottom one has strong sunlight crossing the model's face - and lots of nasty clutter in the background.

When you know about light, how focal lengths affect an image's appearance and composition you can shoot head shots almost anywhere.

In this case they were for our friend Abbie who's been in several of our films over the last summer. her agent had contacted her and asked for some new head shots, Abbie asked me and we thought we'd make a film about low tech solutions for professional looking images.

When you're shooting head shots for a model they should be an accurate representation of what the model actually looks like without loads of make up or hair styling. They should show a blank canvas so photographers and agencies hiring the model can see what the person really looks like.

It's good to try and get a bit of life, a bit of spirit across because we all want to work with interesting people. So you need to go beyond just taking the photo. have a rapport with the model so they have genuine reactions to you as a person and this will put a sparkle in their eye and produce photos which are more than a simple.