The Headshot: The Secrets to Creating Amazing Headshot Portraits

The Headshot: The Secrets to Creating Amazing Headshot Portraits

by Peter Hurley
Released August 2015
Publisher(s): New Riders
ISBN: 9780133928822

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Peter Hurley is well known among headshot and portrait photographers as a passionate photographer and teacher. His business has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and he is a go-to resource as both a photographer and an educator. He teaches his own workshops, and is a regular instructor at conferences such as Photo Plus, WPPI, and Photoshop World.

In The Headshot: The Secrets to Creating Amazing Headshot Portraits, Hurley shares everything the reader needs to know in order to get great images of their subjects–whether it's on assignment, a personal project, or simply shots of family and friends. Starting with his trademark "recipe"–"white background, flat light, chopped-off heads"–in over a dozen chapters he covers the following: the technical aspects of the shot, including lighting, composition, and camera setup; establishing a rapport with your subject, as well as provoking thought in order to drive expression; and how to direct the subject, including detailed discussions of how to influence the jaw, the smile, the eyes, and the eyebrows. With The Headshot, readers will be equipped to dramatically improve their headshot photographs–from lighting to composition to directing the best expression from their subjects.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. About the Author
  6. Introduction
    1. The Opportunity
    2. I’m So Un-Photogenic
    3. My Purpose
    4. The Ricochet Effect
  7. Contents
  8. Chapter 1. The Headshot Recipe That Started It All
    1. The Headshot Recipe That Started It All
    2. The White Background with Flat Light
    3. Cropping the Head
    4. Selling My “Look”
  9. Chapter 2. Hitting the Technical on the Head
    1. Strobes
    2. Backgrounds
      1. HURLEYPRO ProBoard
    3. Window Light
    4. Continuous Lights
    5. Lighting the Background
      1. Containing the Spill
      2. Power Settings on the Strobes
    6. The Square Window Light
    7. Lighting Your Subject
      1. Lighting Women
      2. Lighting Men
      3. Triangle Lighting
      4. Dealing with Eyeglasses
    8. Lens Info
    9. Camera Settings
  10. Chapter 3. The Art of Sherlock Holmesing
    1. Sherlock Holmesing?
      1. How Does It Work?
      2. Catching Them Behaving Normally
      3. Taking Notice of Issues
      4. What Are You Looking For?
    2. What’s Their Side?
      1. What Are the Indications of a Good Side?
      2. Getting the Best Side—Pulling a “180”
      3. Finding Their Sweet Spot
      4. Are They Ambifacial?
    3. Finding a Side Builds Confidence
    4. Finding the Flaw
    5. Create a Mental Checklist
    6. Hammer Them Down to Lift Them Back Up
    7. Concluding the Holmesing
  11. Chapter 4. My Lethal Combination
    1. Injecting Confidence Into Their Personal Brand
    2. Layering Confidence on Top of Approachability
    3. Just Can’t Seem to Nail C&A
    4. From Zero to Sha-Bang!
    5. Goin’ Sneaky on ‘Em!
  12. Chapter 5. Lights, Camera, Action...or Not
    1. What’s the Action?
    2. Camera Invisibility
    3. Establishing a Rapport
    4. Four Types of Subjects
      1. Picture Avoidance Syndrome
    5. Getting Life from the Lifeless
    6. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Expressions
      1. Capturing the Thought
    7. Developing Your Shtick
    8. Directing the Client
  13. Chapter 6. What’s in Your Director’s Toolbox?
    1. Clean the Room
    2. Positive Reinforcement
    3. Finding a Common Thread
    4. Speaking In Opposites
    5. Mirror Work & Copycat
    6. Rocking Out the Squinch Book
    7. Tether It Up, People!
    8. Direct Direction
    9. Direction By Misdirection
  14. Chapter 7. It All Starts With the Jaw
    1. Bring the Forehead Toward the Camera
    2. Lean Toward the Camera
    3. Tilting Your Subject & Un-Tilting Them with the Camera
    4. Hooking the Body
    5. Always Elongate the Body
  15. Chapter 8. The Beauty of the Human Smile
    1. Diving into the Smile Dimension
    2. Say, “Cheese”
    3. From a Miniscule to a Duchenne Smile
    4. Residual Laughter
    5. What About Those Pearly Whites?
    6. Taming the Gums
    7. The Fake, But Genuine-Looking, Smile
  16. Chapter 9. Make ‘em Squinch
    1. The Model/Celebrity Squinch
    2. It’s a Squinch People, Not a Squint!
    3. Showing Them the Squinch
    4. Teaching the Squinch
    5. You’d Better Believe in the Squinch
    6. Beady Eye Syndrome
  17. Chapter 10. The Hurley System
    1. Start by Building Your Shots from the Ground Up
    2. Step 1: Get That Body on the Move!
    3. Step 2: Freewheeling with That Head!
    4. Step 3: Primp That Hair and Clothing!
      1. Hair We Go!
      2. Keep an Eye on the Threads
    5. Step 4: Frame That Sucker Up!
      1. Why I Continually Chop Off the Head
      2. Croppin’ the Sides
    6. Step 5: Get That Face Moving!
    7. Step 6: Firing at Will!
    8. Step 7: Repeat to Keep Their Juices Flowing!
  18. Chapter 11. Signature Moves: Firing Up a Li’l Direct Direction
    1. Suction Cup to the Face
    2. Karate Chop to the Face
    3. Follow the Finger with the Nose
    4. Let’s Get That Jaw Where We Need It
    5. Lean Toward the Camera
    6. Hook It!
    7. Tilt/Un-Tilt Move
    8. Still Can’t Get a Jaw Line? Here’s a Move
    9. Let’s Get Those Arms Where We Need Them
    10. Have Them Hold Their Sub
    11. Miniscule Smile
    12. The Squinch
    13. Pterodactyl Neck
    14. Shoulders One Way, Face the Other
    15. Brows, Brows & More Brows, People!
  19. Chapter 12. My Greatest Discovery: Direction by Misdirection
    1. The Quandary
    2. The Start of My Discovery
      1. The Issue
    3. Direction by Misdirection
      1. Don’t You Dare Cut the Crap
      2. Control Freak
      3. Start with a Thread
      4. Intuitive Factor
    4. The Method to My Madness
  20. Chapter 13. Hurleyisms
    1. Working with a Thread
    2. Working with a String
    3. Working with a Rope
    4. Working with a Chain
    5. Hurleyisms & the Method to My Madness
  21. Index

Product information

  • Title: The Headshot: The Secrets to Creating Amazing Headshot Portraits
  • Author(s): Peter Hurley
  • Release date: August 2015
  • Publisher(s): New Riders
  • ISBN: 9780133928822