“Studio” Headshots
Ezra 130mm, f/4, 1/180s, ISO 200
Ezra, a family friend, played the role of young Luke Chisolm in the recently released movie Seven Days In Utopia. The movie starred Robert Duvall and Lucas Black as…well, just go check out the movie’s website. Lucas Black played the “main” role of Luke Chisolm and Ezra played young Luke in the flashback scenes.
Ezra needed some headshots for a talent agency and I was asked to take them. We set up a makeshift studio in our family room and went to work one evening. The talent agency had recommended particular photographers so I studied their work a bit and prepared to imitate the lighting, depth of field, and poses (poses were generally very simple). Each photographer had a different style. One used particularly flat lighting (face and ears blasted with light…homogenous exposure throughout), straight-on poses, and lots of depth of field. Another used light which added a little bit of shape to the face and a shallower depth of field to throw the ears out of focus — this is the one we chose to imitate in the shots you see in this post. Almost none of the photographers used dramatic lighting of any sort for this kind of work.
Ezra's Serious Look (he had some trouble not smiling) 200mm, f/4, 1/180s, ISO 200
There was a lot of trial and error getting the look just how we wanted it. We ended up using the following set up: A 580 EXii into reflective white umbrella for the key light (slightly above subject at camera left). A 430 EXii above and behind for a hair light. An optically triggered Lumipro flash for the background. Finally, a while reflector to add a little more fill. I set a custom white balance in the camera and went to work — a few hundred shots covering many different in-camera crops, changes of clothes, and backgrounds. In post I did almost nothing — fixed a few hairs, sharpened the eyes up, etc. but no exposure adjustments or the like.
Our "Studio"
Michael Tuuk Photography 