This term I am doing photography project which is aimed to make portraits as a final work. Firstly, I was thinking about making something historical but I had a problem with getting the costumes. I was dependent on this part as I couldn't plan anything until I know that I will have the proper costume. As my continuation route is Acting, I thought it would be more useful and practical for me to make headshots for the portfolio. I have a group mate who is also an actor and we agreed to help each other. I thought it would be a great idea to make few different styles of headshots to make them more interesting.
I have looked at some headshot photographers so I will go through one of them in this post.
The first photographer whose approach I liked is Melanie Gail. She is a headshot photographer who lives in London. Melanie began with taking photos of backstage and gradually her hobby transformed into a permanent job. You can see two examples of her work in above photos. I would start with the fact that she take photos of people of any job not only actors. It was quite surprising for me because it's unusual when you hear about headshot photographer and then figure out that they have photos of pilates instructor or physiotherapist. But this makes photos interesting and diverse.
As we can see in the above image, Melanie doesn't limit herself to studio photos. She adjusts the location to her model depending on what do they do. In the picture we can see a composition in which the actress, Celinde Schoenmaker, sits on the sofa with a cup of coffee in an old house and looks straight into the camera.
This picture is black and white and I presume is underexposed as we can see only a part of the actress's face in profile. She doesn't look at the camera so there is no interaction with the audience. However, despite the darkness of the photo, it seems to me that she isn't sad, she is in her thoughts or she is meditating.
I went onto Melanie's website where I got a chance to see her point of view and description of her approach. Her main idea and vision of the work with a model is to create relaxing atmosphere during the shoot. "The most brilliantly captivating images only occur if you are truly yourself for a moment. This can mean playing your favourite songs in the background, goofing around to get that candid laugh or, if outdoors, jumping up and down with you between shots to keep warm".
Melanie also has a talk before the shoot with a model, learning the aim and wishes from the person who came for the shoot. I think it isn't something special because many photographers do this and it is indeed an important part of the process. However, it reminded me that I need to do this with my partner. Because it is better when it will be useful for us both and she then can use it.
I plan to start with studio shoots in order to focus more on the personality of my model. I will do low-angle, close and full-body portraits and then see which one works better. I wish I managed to do it well in the studio. However, if not, I will make additional shoot outside if I get some interesting idea for it.
Because the studio portraits are harder to do for me, I would like to spend more time on it and to find out how to adjust camera settings to make the best portraits.
I will start with two looks of the model and I would like to create an artistic atmosphere so I could catch the model in her true emotions and convey her inner feelings.
References
Gail, M. (2023). About. [online] melaniegailphotography. Available at: https://www.melaniegailphotography.com/about.html [Accessed 30 Jan. 2024].
McLaughlin, L. (2023). Top 10 Headshot Photographers for Actors 2024 | Just Add Milk (JAM). [online] Just Add Milk (JAM) | Making the Industry Accessible for Actors. Available at: https://www.justaddmilkjam.com/news/top-10-headshot-photographers [Accessed 29 Jan. 2024].
Gail, M. (2024). People. [online] melaniegailphotography. Available at: https://www.melaniegailphotography.com/people.html [Accessed 30 Jan. 2024].
Good that you have looked at other headshots to consider your own work
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