Photography project Headshots: First shoot

In my previous post I wrote a plan for my project and here is my first shoot. I went with my partner to the photo studio at our university to do our headshots. She took three looks so we had different characters. I started to use a tripod but I found it more comfortable to hold the camera in my hands so I was more flexible. I got first two shoots very bright so then I changed camera settings as we learned before. I put ISO on 100, aperture on 4.5 and I underexposed images to -2. I also turned on music for my model to feel more relaxed and see her real emotions. I decided to use just normal studio light and black and white backgrounds to create different headshots.     

After completing shoot, I downloaded all the images and created contact sheets so I can analyse photos. Please see contact sheets here:

After going through the shots, I was very pleased with the amount of good shots. It is my first attempt to make a whole shoot using the camera and I am very happy that I managed to do it well. If you look at the contact sheets, you can notice that a model demonstrates many diverse emotions. I was also glad that I managed to create such atmosphere where she could feel open to me.

I preferred photos of the last series with white background as it is lighter and makes her easy-going. 

I liked this photo because of the kind of character in her, we took a hat which was in the photo studio and added more character in this picture. Unfortunately, as it was the first look and I was still adjusting camera settings, this is the only image which appeared to be really good and clear.

This photo I made high-angle and very close, to see only an actor. The image works good because of clear framing, Victoria's view and good combination of colours - blonde, red and black. There are no distractions and we focus on the depth of the personality. 

I liked this photo because of good framing and Viktoriia's view straight to the camera. I had a problem with framing before as it turned to be much space above the model but in this shoot I managed to correct this mistake.

Here I decided to catch her when she doesn't look into the camera, when she is relaxed and we can see her real in her own thoughts. I liked her pose and how it along with her hair created a diagonal.

As, I mentioned before, I liked this style of the photos the most as they are lively and truly convey Victoriia's character. I asked her to make different emotions and I coordinated her with that and now I'll go through these photos.

This image is bright and emotional which makes an audience smile. Here is a nice emotion of surprise which works very good in creating easy-going atmosphere. Also the colours with Viktoriia's hair and background make it very light.

In this photo she is more sad and we decided to close her body with a jacket so it feels more closed. I liked the framing and Victoria's view. She is trying to communicate with the audience but still isn't ready to share her feelings.

Next three pictures are horizontal so they wouldn't go as portraits but I decided to make few ones and then to share them with Victoria. They are also bright and diverse because of her emotional changes.

I liked this picture the most because it turned to be very good. The light worked great on Viktoriia's face, her pose, hair, beautiful smile and framing of this picture create a nice and a light portrait of her. 

This picture is more casual which I think is important in the headshots because apart from the character, it aims to show a real actor as he is in life.