The 5 Secrets of Capturing Great Up Close Headshots From a Franklin Portrait Photographer

Headshots are easy, right? Just aim and click. Actually they are one of the most challenging shoots, in no other setting is every aspect and feature of a person’s face and the photographer’s skill and knowledge on display with no distraction of having a beautiful or interesting background to hide lack of correct lighting, focus, and exposure.

Some of my secrets for getting headshots and up close portraits that pop?

1. Focus on the eyes

The eyes are the window of the soul. Guiding the facial expression of the subject is crucial to capturing life in the eyes and the expression. Most people are not professional actors or models and may feel a little uncomfortable in front of the camera at first. Taking time to make people feel comfortable and relaxed in front of the lens is so important for expressions that look natural and appropriate to the style of the portrait need instead of posed and awkward.

2. Correct choice of lens and camera settings

The correct lens choice can take a good headshot and make it stellar. Depth of field, color saturation, exposure, avoiding lens distortion – all of these converge for beautiful and effective close up portraits.

3. It’s all about angles

Close up headshots are all about getting the right angle to set up the look and feel for the particular style of headshot needed. Most of the population does not have perfectly proportioned faces and straight on shots are almost always not the most flattering angle. Photographing women by shooting from a slightly higher angle looking down emphasizes eyes and makes the features more feminine and delicate. For men, shooting slightly up strengthens the face and makes it more masculine. Even when shooting extremely close up, the placement of the shoulders and lower body can have a big effect on the final outcome.

4. Lighting

In headshots and up close portraits lighting is everything. Diffused light, hair lights, natural light – all of these need to converge effectively to show skin glowing with health without highlighting blemishes and wrinkles while making eyes sparkle. Inexperienced photographers will often try to fix incorrect lighting in Photoshop but the best professional headshots start with lighting appropriate to the subject and the style of portrait.

5. Appropriate photo editing

Many portrait and headshot photographers in the Nashville area over process and edit headshots until the subject looks very different than their natural self. Good headshot editing involves enhancing natural skin, hair, and eyes – not artificially changing or over softening to cover incorrect technique.

Ready to book a session with an experienced and creative portrait/headshot photographer in the Franklin, Brentwood, and Nashville areas? Contact Allison Hendrickson Design & Photography today!