I did a short headshot session today. And learned some lessons.
Not that these were things I didn’t already know – but I was trying to fight it – to see if I could make it work.
What am I talking about? Light! Good light is good light and not good light is Bad light. Period.
Shooting at high noon (12-12:30pm) is a major challenge. It can be done, but you really have to find yourself some good shade (or start one-lighting). Even with that, you still have to contend with no longer having nice catch-lights in the eyes (eyes look dead without them) – or trying to man-handle a reflector on your own, if you don’t have an assistant. Anywhoo, I’ll go into more detail once I post those images. Below, are some images I took while walking around a park – taken at the ‘right’ time – 4:00pm – as the sun was in the 2/3 o’clock position (getting near the horizon).

Canon 50D, 70-200f4, 200mm, 1/1000, f4, ISO 200 and is around a 50% crop (If I understand that term correctly)

Left: Canon 50D, 70-200f4, 200mm, 1/500, f4, ISO 200 | Right: Canon 50D, 70-200f4, 91mm, 1/200, f4, ISO 200