Continuous Lighting for Headshots Cfl for Headshots

It's estimated that over half of the population of the United States is out of a job right now. As a photographer, you may very well be in that group. While you're looking for work, you've likely updated your marketing strategies, your social media pages, your website, your LinkedIn page. In the process of doing so, you've chosen a professional photo of yourself that you could use as your profile picture. As a photographer, you likely have a good portrait of yourself, even several, because you know how to take a great image of yourself, and you know photographer friends with whom to exchange free headshots. Much of the rest of the workforce is not as lucky.

"The cornerstone of your digital brand is your headshot," says Peter Hurley, the co-founder of Headshot Booker and a speaker at WPPI. "Having a great headshot gives you a boost of confidence when you're looking for work."

Early in the pandemic, Hurley brainstormed with Tony Taafe, a Scottsdale-based photographer and the co-founder of Headshot Booker, about how they could help the millions of Americans who were out of work. They talked about taking free headshots of unemployed workers in their studios. They quickly realized that if they joined forces, they could organize an event that would span the whole country.

Thus, the idea for 10,000 Headshots was born, an event that took place on July 22 in 186 different Brookfield Place retail locations in all 50 states. In total, 200 photographers around the country participated in the event and uploaded over 100,000 images to SpotMyPhotos, a photo-sharing platform that sponsored the event.

Hurley and Taafe quickly put together a team that included Lauren Lieberman, the founder of the Palm Beach-based agency LILA PHOTO and another co-founder of Headshot Booker, and the real-estate developer Joseph Pelosi. Together, they used their formidable networking and organizational skills to find sponsors, including Brookfield Partners, Canon, Tether Tools and PhotoFlashDrive.

Organizing 200 simultaneous photo shoots on a single day is a challenge during normal times; during a pandemic, it was a Herculean feat.

Hurley took charge of recruiting and training photographers from his network Headshot Crew, which includes over 17,000 photographers in 134 countries. In the weeks leading up the event, Hurley conducted weekly coaching sessions via Zoom so that the photographers, who had varying levels of experience, would produce a consistent product. Hurley recommended the lighting setup he had used in his booth on the show floor at WPPI in February, where he took free headshots of photographers attending the event. "We didn't realize then that we were beta testing," he says with a laugh.

The Fail-Proof Lighting Plan

Hurley formulated his lighting technique at the beginning of his career, when he was shooting portraits next to a window in his apartment. Ever since, he has shot with continuous lights to mimic the effect of that window. His techniques have evolved, however. Today, he shoots with three different lighting setups using the Peter Hurley Flex Cine Lighting System, which is sold by FJ Westcott.

The first lighting setup angles four rectangular-shaped continuous LED lights in square shape around the subject's face.

The second, which he says he uses 90 percent of the time because it gives a subtle definition around the jaw line, involves using three continuous LEDs in a triangular shape.

And the third consists of two parallel panels arranged in such a way that they cast shadows across the brow bone.

These are the three lighting setups that he shared with the 200 photographers who participated in 10,000 Headshots. Not all of them have the Flex Cine Lighting System kit, so Hurley encouraged them to use whatever lighting they had to a similar effect. In the months leading up to the event, Hurley coached the photographers virtually. They posted their setups on a dedicated Facebook group for participating photographers, and then Hurley refined them in Zoom meetings.

The four rules each photographer followed in order to get consistently good headshots on the day of the event were as follows:

1. Each photographer used an unlit white backdrop, which on camera looked medium-gray. This allowed the subject to really be highlighted in the forefront of the image and the background to fade away into shadow.

2. Each photographer used one of Hurley's three pre-tested lighting setups. "We know they work because we've tested them," Hurley says.

3. Each photographer shot tethered into Photoshop Lightroom or Capture One, which allowed them to instantly upload their photographs into SpotMyPhotos.

4. Each photographer weighed down their lighting stands and tripods with HurleyPro H2Pro Weight Bags from Westcott, which are travel-friendly and prevented any mishaps on the day of the shoot.

Ready for Their Close-Up?

One of the biggest concerns Hurley and co-founders had was whether people would feel safe enough to show up for headshots. "It's a big hurdle to get someone to say, 'I want to have my picture taken by a photographer in a mall in the midst of a pandemic,'" he notes.

With the help of the PR firm Synergy, Hurley and the team reached out to the media to spread the word about the event. 10,000 Headshots was widely covered by outlets including ABC News and the Today show.

On the day of the event, all precautions were taken to keep everyone safe. Photographers wore masks, and kept at least 6 feet away from their subjects. Each subject received a 10-minute session. Six 10-minute sessions were booked every hour, and distance was kept between subjects using floor markings and signage provided by PhotoFlashDrive, which also produced masks and t-shirts.

In a Facebook group created for attendees, the reviews of the event were gushing—and moving. "I never expected the warmth and professionalism of everyone involved," said one Facebook user. "During these trying [times] we tend to question everything, ability, self worth, opportunities. These pictures really helped change my outlook."

Scrolling through the comments, it's easy to see how the headshots can help level the playing field for women and people of color, who have been disproportionately effected by the pandemic. The photographs posted on the Facebook group show confident—and happy—workers of all types, ready to take over the world. All they need now is a chance.

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Source: https://www.rangefinderonline.com/gear/lighting/fail-proof-lighting-headshots-unemployed-workers/

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