First Headshot Problem

Alright, so this is my first official 'headshot' attempt. I had a friend ask me to do one for her to use on her senior recital invitations. We went out and caught the last glimpse of sun one day and I took several pictures and as part of our agreement I would give her 2-3 pictures edited up and she would get those so she could choose one for her invitations.

So, we go out and I take a bunch of shots, then I went up to her and showed her the pictures on my camera so she could see the composition, lighting, angle, etc before we left. She said they looked great and thanked me and we left. I did some editing and cleaned up a couple little things, took a little of the red from the son out of her face so she didn't look like an oompa-loompa and gave them to her Monday. A day or two later I get a message asking if we could re-do them because she didn't like the way she looked in the picture. She claimed it was "the angle, etc." and we talked about doing it this weekend. Then today I get another message basically saying, "thanks for taking them, your pictures are fine but I don't like the way I look so I am going to go a different route. Thanks though."

Sorry for the novel but I just wanted to give some background of these pictures and ask you all to please give some C&C and help me see if I am blind, or if as a mutual friend tells me that she is just a very self-coucious person and is unjustified in saying these things and I shouldn't be upset about it. Thanks for any tips or suggestions you fine folk can give!

PS. Taken with my 60D, Nifty-fifty, and 55-250 on the last two.

The other 2

I dont know about the back drama involved, but... You should never pose a woman of her size that square to the camera. It makes her look larger. The colors are off, the red you reduced from the sun left a pink cast. And honestly the framing isnt traditional headshot framing. You've cropped her at funny lines and left a lot of space above. I understand why she wouldnt be thrilled with them.

I like the B&W the best, color seems off in the others. The crop on #1 and #2 breaks the no cutting the joints rule, and I think this time it applies. The eyes could use a bump in exposure/brightness and some sharpening. Maybe just a slide of the white balance would fix the color up!

As for her and her "issues", calling her a b**** on the internet is a very unprofessional way to handle things. I'd be willing to bet most people would run from the photographer who did that, regardless of image quality. Better left unsaid no matter if it's true.

Not really liking the second two. The white balance is just way off. The second one, I would crop in some from the left. The last photo, I personally believe it has too much head space.

Thanks so far! I edited my post to remove that term, I erroneously thought that posting what my friend had said, NOT something I said to or about her directly was ok. I apologize for that.

@gonzogolf, so I should have stood at an angle and had her just turn her head slightly towards me instead? I guess the sun was too low or the balance just off in my camera and made it too red. I got my remote flash triggers today in the mail so I can use my umbrella now instead. I know they were 'traditional' tight headshots. I didn't think she would want one that tight for the given use. How would you have suggested cropping them instead?

@HP31308 Thanks for your thoughts. I only have Aperture, so unless theres something I didn't think of or know about I tried changing the WB but couldn't very much. Noted on the third one, and the last one I figured in her making of the invitations online she would make those slight adjustments in fitting within the page parameters, I suppose I should have just done it myself from the get-go.

You have her turn her body at degree angle and then turn her head so she is looking back toward you over her shoulder a bit. This slims her profile and adds womanly curves along her chest rather than squared up from straight ahead. A custom white balance would have likely helped? Did you shoot in raw? Crop them lower on her body and less head room above. Dont crop at the joints or so close to her elbows. The horizontal shots using the rule of thirds are showing way too much uninteresting background for no purpose.

I didn't shoot in RAW. I do at times, and for certain things. I guess I just should all the time for pp purposes. Cropping tips noted. Thank you.

saxplaya wrote in post #16339799
I didn't shoot in RAW. I do at times, and for certain things. I guess I just should all the time for pp purposes. Cropping tips noted. Thank you.

Raw is important for portrait work. It gives you more leeway to adjust white balance which is very useful. Sometimes portraits benefit from a slightly warmer wb so a technically accurate wb may not be as pleasing. It also gives you a bit more latitude for missed exposures.

The backgrounds are terrible ...the color balance is off...they are OOF... you cropped them so that her head is the subject, instead of "her"..even cutting her hair off. It's as if you didn't want her body at all in the shot. They are underexposed yet the whites are blown out. The teeth are yellow the eyes are red. They look as if they've had no PP at all.
Sorry to be so blunt...but she did the right thing.

Alright. So with all of this criticism, could I please get a couple 'how-to's' or suggestions so I can correct what was wrong instead of only pointing out the errors? I am trying to learn as much as I can and this is the second time I've made a photo post on this forum and hopefully there will be more to follow as I improve. I haven't done much in the way of portraits until the last few months or so. I have always been more interested in landscapes and macro instead. So this is kind of my birth by fire and learning on the go! Thanks everyone for the help.

Thank you jhonnnn, exactly what I am looking for! I will keep these things in mind. I am considering seeing if she will reconsider and let us get back together and have a do over, but I am not sure it would be worth it. I have one or two recitals this weekend I will be taking pictures at so I will try to get a couple different decent pictures at that. Though I will have no control over lighting or pose. I may try to sneak a pose or two with my umbrella before or after while they are still in their dress. Hope that goes well!

I think part of my problem with this shoot is that it was my first time doing a real 'shoot' with someone and I was not really giving any directions at all from nervousness and not really knowing what I should say. I imagine nothing but practice can help with this.

On another note, how much do you think it would be worth to invest in getting 2 more stands and a backdrop that I can put up inside when I don't want a natural background?

posing, cropping, and background IMO

But wondering, is she ok with her picture on the internet? Here?

phantelope wrote in post #16339893
posing, cropping, and background IMO

But wondering, is she ok with her picture on the internet? Here?

Why would it matter ? doesn't he have rights to the pictures he has taken ?

if she signed a release, then yes. Did she?