• actor
• Hudson Valley
• Fashion
• studio
• Editorial Portrait
• Headshot Photographer
• Kerryn
• On Black
• OnBlack
• VFlat

First off, If you’re looking to get a fantastic headshot, you should really check out my portfolio of [headshots](http://www.davebrownphotography.com/Hudson Valley-Headshot-Photographer.aspx), or if you’re looking for something a bit more creative, you can look at my portfolio of [editorial portraits](http://www.davebrownphotography.com/Hudson Valley-Editorial-Portrait-Photographer.aspx).

Kerryn came in honestly not completely sure exactly what she was after.  No worries from me.  We worked together to get some great portraits of her.  Honestly, quite a few people come to me, wanting to get a great portrait of themselves with just a bit of a fashion flare.  That’s what I love abo

ut this style of shoot.  I get to operate with a bit of creative freedom.  Sometimes I have to shoot specifically within the specifications of a creative director.  Which is fine, they’re there to get a fantastic shot, and they have a specific idea in their mind as to exactly what they and their client wants.  This has it’s own challenges and payoffs as well.  I always try and push the client just a bit in my direction.  That’s the only way that I can really wow a client.  Because typically they get something they weren’t entirely expecting, but something that they are surprised at how much they love them.

Kerryn and I worked on getting some fantastic portraits of her, a bit in the direction of an acting headshot.  I really love the way they came out.  Not to mention I had my favorite makeup artist on set with me that day Monique Ness.  She’s fantastic, you can really see how great her work is on the bottom shot.  The first few were a bit simpler on the makeup and the lighting for that matter.

The lighting in the first shot was super simple.  It’s just a big octobox at camera left, and a large white v-flat to soften the shadows.  It’s a setup that I’ve really been loving lately.  I tend to add so much contrast in post that shooting with just one octobox and no reflector the shadow side of the shots end up just a bit too contrasty.  When you’re shooting headshots like this, you don’t want the shadow side to go completely black.  If you do that, it tends to look more ‘artistic’ than you would want.  You want the person to shine, and while I love that style for things like fashion, it just doesn’t quite work when you’re shooting headshots.

I also like posting up shots like these, because I love showing off the fact that I’m not always shooting 15 year old fashion models.  I just love taking pictures of people period, and it’s great when you can shoot someone and know that they really love the portraits of themselves. I mean don’t get me wrong Kerryn is a gorgeous woman, but she’s also a real person.

This shot you can really see the fantastic job that Monique did on the makeup here.  It’s understated, but vibrant.  I really do love working with her on shoots like these because she always makes my clients feel like a million bucks.  And you simply can’t pay for client interaction like that.  Whenever my clients get out of her chair they really feel great, and it leads to getting such better shots.  I always try and stress to my clients how important a great makeup artist is, and I’m always surprised when clients don’t listen to my advice.