Amateur Photographer Needs Practical Help with Head Shots

[Cuckoomamma]

Because of financial constraints, I have the responsibility of taking headshots for a number of kids for a private yearbook. I'm most concerned about lighting, as the likely spots available will be indoor without natural lighting or a minimum of natural lighting.

Can someone give me a breakdown on the least expensive way I can accomplish what I need? I really need a Dummy's Guide to Lighting and Editing course that can be accomplished in the next few days!

Do I need to/should I purchase a backdrop? Do I need those umbrella things?

And after that, is there an easy way to edit the photos in photoshop to give them that "headshot" feel?

Please help!

[Blue Hydrangea]

Do you have any photography experience? Do you have a DLSR camera?

There tons of tutorials online that might help you figure out how to work with your light, an easy way to light headshots is to try and have the light come at a 45 degree angle to the face, not straight on like an on-camera flash. Do your best to find a spot that you can take the kids to that is near a window or glass door so that they will be washed in soft, natural light at a 45 degree angle. If you do not have much experience with photography, using an umbrella flash to get the right light will be a lot harder than finding a spot with natural light.

Whether you use a backdrop is up to you. They can make a set of pictures feel cohesive, but using a shallow depth of focus will blur out the background enough that you may not even need a backdrop. If you do use one, make sure it is at least 3-5' behind the subject.

Have you thought about whether there a local school, high school or maybe even a college that has photography classes? You might consider asking around to see if a talented student would be willing to do this project for a small fee. A student would probably welcome the experience, and it would be far less stressful if you haven't done something like this before. Plus, the fee you pay them would likely be much less than the expense of purchasing equipment for the shoot along with editing software that you would have to spend time learning.

[azzeps]

If there are no windows, and you can't set up outside, your best bet may be to bounce your flash off the ceiling. You will need a separate flash that will mount on your camera's hot shoe though... And a white ceiling. I'd do everything in my power to find a natural light source, and get a dark scrim to hang as a backdrop. I have done portraits in a doorway with a scrim over the door and the subject in front of that. Best of luck!

[Pennylane]

I am assuming you have DSLR camera. If you are shooting indoors and have little natural light you could set up a few household lamps and just take off the shades . One in front and one on the side maybe? Also your camera settings will make a huge difference, you will want a high ISO.

You can also try with an additional flash. Can you go in today and test shots to get an idea of what you need?

Ann

[Cuckoomamma]

Thanks for all your suggestions!

To answer a few questions:

Yes, I have a dslr and have used it for years taking family photos. I've also taken candids that were used in a previous yearbook, and you couldn't tell the difference between mine and the professional photographer. The big difference was that I had to shoot tons of photos to get good ones and he didn't :-)

I already own Photoshop so don't need to worry about $$ there. I've used it for basics on cropping and sizing. Also was able to do some funky editing that I just needed to follow the directions for. I need a list of what I should be doing to edit the photos to make them look headshot'ish. To me it always seems a little softer and the lighting is different, but what the heck do I know?!

No time for classes on photography.

Really will have little to no natural light as I'll be shooting about half of the photos in door at night.

I'm great following directions, but I need those directions to follow :-) So, what backdrop/scrim do I purchase and from whom? This isn't a one-shot deal so I'm willing to spend money on the back drop, just not a lot. Black?

I have a separate flash that I've never used. Speedlite 420ex.

Thanks again!

I can take as many test shots as I need.

[specialp]

Do you use the manual setting on your camera where you change the AV, ISO, and shutter speed or just preset modes? What lens?

[specialp]

You can purchase this stuff on amazon. You may need to go to a store to get help. I have a black backdrop, lighting kits, & backdrop holder all from Amazon. They are definitely not professional grade (although they do have more $$ options on there), but fine for me to use on my kids and friends' kids. I'm not near the level where I would feel comfortable taking photos for school. My white backdrop is actually fleece material from fabric store. It's heavy but doesn't wrinkle easily and isn't see through and was a lot cheaper. Black was easier to learn on and more forgiving, but now I have learned how to adjust the lighting for white and enjoy those more. I do think you need to know how to shoot in manual mode. You can take 1000 pictures and none of them will be good if you're settings aren't good. I have taken ones that I thought looked great until I uploaded them.

[azzeps]

My "backdrop" is black, and it is just a long piece of fabric I got at a fabric store. Not sure even what it's made of... rayon, or polyester maybe? It is matte and does not get terribly wrinkled.

Do you have some time to play around with your flash? There might be some info here: http://strobist.blogspot.com/ It has been a while since I tried to use my flash... I much prefer to use natural light. Someone upstream suggested using lamps... I wonder if you could get a certain kind of bulb that would eliminate that yellow glow you usually get with incandescent bulbs?