Actors rely on headshots as their calling card, their first introduction to casting directors who are often looking for a certain vibe/look to fill roles. They often will make initial selections/cuts based on those headshots so it’s important to have the right look for the particular role you’d like to audition for.

Patricia (Sissy) O’Hara is a New England based actress who often gets cast in elderly roles, including those where the character is ill. So she wanted to create a moody, somewhat dark headshot that would show off that type of character.

The use of light, shadows, and contrast plays a huge role in creating a mood for a photograph. In particular, shadows are a photographers’ best friend when used properly. Shadows give shape, texture, and dimension to an image and when you combine soft, beautiful light with shadows the resulting image draws you in. And when you remove color from the equation, the interplay between light and shadows become not only more evident, but also more dramatic.

For this type of look, I really like shooting with 1 light called a beauty dish, which is often used for fashion shoots. So you may be wondering why use a beauty dish for an image where you want the subject to look ill? The answer is that it offers that great combination of soft light plus dramatic shadows, when placed very close to the subject – in this case, it was around 20” from her face and angled slightly to the side (for fashion shoots, they’re often placed directly in front of the subject). There are 2 characteristics of light at play here – the closer the light source is to the subject the larger it becomes relative to the subject – and that creates a softer light. At the same time, the closer the light is, the faster it decreases in intensity (aka, the inverse square law) as you move away from the light source.  Ever notice how bad people look in a photo in direct sunlight? The sun is a pinpoint light source 90+million miles away – it’s very harsh and as you move around, the intensity doesn’t change much. Yet when it’s an overcast day, you have a huge light source (that deck of clouds) so the lighting is softer (if not flat) – this is why photographers generally don’t photograph people in direct sunlight (or if so we use fill flash, but that’s another discussion).

But the expression Sissy is portraying really makes the look and is consistent with the lighting, mood, etc.. It all goes together to make an impactful image. And despite the mood of the photograph, we had a blast!