Head Shot vs Portrait
By: Daniel
Although professional photographers, who shoot people, realize what the difference is between a portrait and a headshot oftentimes the layman, who isn’t a photographer, is not cognizant of the distinction(s) between them. To be clear at times there isn’t much of a difference. But here are some guidelines that help to distinguish one from another.
A portrait can be full body, 3/4 body or head and shoulders (as many headshots are). Often portraits are of people sitting, or lying down, walking, leaning against something, etc. And most portraits, whether shot in a studio or an outdoors location, are lit somewhat differently than a headshot.
Headshots, for the most part are just that: headshots. And they too can be made indoors or outdoors. They prominently display the individuals face but can just as often reveal a portion of their shoulders and upper chest. Headshots are often the first thing you’ll see in a model’s portfolio, along with other full or partial body images. Usually, a headshot doesn’t reveal much, if anything, behind the persons image, they’re designed to bring the viewers’ attention to the person in the photograph—so the backgrounds and foregrounds are out of focus. The lighting used for most headshots is somewhat flat lighting to eliminate any imperfections a person may have in their skin texture. You’ll see a lot of headshots on dating sites and in executive portfolios. It’s also common to not see all of a person’s head in a headshot. Many photographers cut off a portion of the top of their head. It’s an acceptable style of shooting a headshot.
Portraits are often shot using loop, or Rembrandt lighting styles to enhance shadows and bring out more facial contours. Portraits, whether head and shoulders or otherwise, often contain back or foreground information. You’ll see studio portraits with decorative backdrops or lighting that accentuates the backdrop. And for the most part portraits usually display more of the individual than a typical headshot. Portraits are more formal, often more posed than headshots appear to be. Portraits will, unlike headshots, pretty much always contain all of the head if it’s a head and shoulders portrait.
Above are two images I made of two young ladies about the same age, but the one on the left is a portrait and the one on the right is a headshot. The one on the left was shot in my studio while the one on the right was made outdoors. The portrait on the left was made with clamshell lighting, a background light with a gel on it, and a hair light. The image on the right was shot outdoors, using the sun as my hair light and a silver reflector as my main light to illuminate her face. As I stated earlier headshots and portraits can be made in a studio or indoor setting or outdoors—both can yield good results if you know how to light your subject. You can see that I opted to include all of the model’s head in the right headshot.
There are times when a headshot is what a person is looking for and times when a portrait is required. Business publications often call for both for their printed advertising. A portrait is usually required when a business or firm wants to have the image enlarged big enough to hang on a wall. Families often want individual portraits or a full-on family portrait. Requests for headshots of family members is extremely rare.
If you’re new to photography, or new to shooting headshots or portraits contact me for lessons.
