Headshot Lighting Makes All the Difference!

The word Photography is derived from the Greek words photo and graph, meaning drawing with light. Lighting is another one of the key elements of a successful photograph – it creates mood, it can make people’s faces look great or not, it can accentuate or mask things you may or may not want to emphasize.
For headshots, the best complementary lighting is critical as you’re “up close and personal” – facial features are very visible – and in particular, a person’s eyes and crevices need to be properly lit. Let’s look at some examples of the impact of how lighting can effect the look of a photograph.

While these are different people the concepts are still valid. And while the expressions for the subjects on the left look pretty genuine, the lighting for those images create issues that detract from the person’s appearance –there are overexposed (ie, hot spots) areas on her skin, the crevices in the women’s face is not flattering, and the lack of light in her eyes gives her the appearance of looking older and virtually eliminates the “energy” coming from her eyes. For the man, hot spots, dark eyes, and how the skin exposure goes from light to dark to light (moving camera right to camera left across his face) is jarring.

Contrast that with the images on the right – the women’s face is very smooth, soft, even. The crevices are there, but soft and you can see the energy in her eyes. For the man’s image, while the light has some directionality, the transition is smooth and defined, accentuating his jawline. His eyes are well lit and you can feel his energy.

The overall impression is night and day – and yet the images on the right don’t look “stuffy” or “corporate” – they just look well done. Lighting makes all the difference!