Headshot, The: The Secrets to Creating Amazing Headshot Portraits (Voices That Matter)

I would like to thank Peter Hurley for sharing his secrets with the rest of us- he lays it all out in this book, which goes into greater detail than his YouTube videos, which I also highly recommend watching if you want to try Mr. Hurley's technique. I didn't know the first thing about photographing headshots before I got this book, except that I couldn't seem to get any good ones taken. They were so awful that they didn't even remotely resemble how I look in person or in the mirror and frankly I just wanted to cry. I love the conversational tone and humor in the book, and there is no contesting that Mr. Hurley has mastered this type of photography.I needed headshots for LinkedIn because I just graduated from college and I'm looking for a job, and I need to look professional. I was worried because I have never considered myself to be photogenic- I wouldn't want to scare potential employers off with a horrid pic. You just never know these days... The campus photographer offered to shoot some pics for me, but they came out hideous. I'm not sure what lens he was using but I must have gained fifty pounds in my face alone. He is great at photographing the sports events but not so much with a headshot. I'm grateful that he took a stab at it anyway, he was trying to save me some money from hiring a pro. I have a Nikon D7000 and decided that I would give it a try, using the remote. Lots of equally horrible shots later that miraculously did not break the camera, I ordered some books on posing and this book on headshots because I knew there was something I was missing, and I had to find out what.I liked what Peter Hurley had to say about people who think they are not photogenic, and paid lots of attention to his techniques on not adding weight to people with the camera. I watched his YouTube videos, practiced squinching in the mirror, and got a tether cord for my camera. I downloaded a free tethering software program called digiCamControl so I could shoot tethered. I rigged up my own fluorescent light box using four 4-ft long 2-bulb fixtures from Home Depot and Lowes, and I used 6500k bright daylight bulbs. Expect to pay around $20 for a T8 fixture and $12 for a T12 fixture, and two-packs of the bulbs ran about $11 each. So you can set this up inexpensively, and then you have lights you can use for other purposes, like starting seeds if you garden. I have a chrome shelving unit that I put directly in front of my desk, and I zip-tied the upright light fixtures to the shelf posts and rested the bottom edges on the desk. I laid the top light across the top shelf, and set the lower one on the desk. My square is more like a # but it does the job on the budget I have. I set my laptop on the shelf and put the mouse & pad on a hardback book that I held in my lap. I put the camera on a tripod behind this shelf rig, and dinked around with it until I got it the way I wanted it. I put it on full manual and used the settings Mr. Hurley recommends on page 33; I could change the ISO setting from the laptop with the mouse afterward. I had a 30x40" foamboard from some art classes I took, and I binder-clipped that to a chrome shelf I had behind me.If you follow his setup, you will pretty much be in the zone for the cropped head style he favors. Then if you follow his advice about finding your good side (for me, it's the side without the ginormous zit that just surfaced! coincidentally my good side is the left side), posing correctly ("it's all about the jaw"), and making sure your hair isn't ruining your shots, you will probably not even need to break out Photoshop. I have done two sessions so far as a learning process, and I could probably use what I have but I want to try again with a few little changes. The first session I did would have been fine except for some reason my hair frizzed up, and I had to wash it and restyle it before trying again. Then the second time some strands of hair ended up getting on my face but I didn't notice it until too late. I figured out what I need to do to my hair (strong hairspray!) and makeup to get it right, and I will resume shooting tomorrow.When I got the setup right, my photos came out WITHOUT adding weight and slimmed down my face, my skin looked luminous without a bunch of makeup on it, I looked confident & approachable like he says in the book, and the pics look way better than selfies with a bunch of distracting crap in the background and so-so lighting. I studied the pics in the book to get an idea of how his makeup artist does the looks and tried to copy it. I don't want to look like I'm wearing a ton of makeup, just want the natural myself-but-better look. (Which of course involves wearing a lot of makeup, but lightly and skillfully applied.) Keep in mind that the camera, with its single lens, does not have the depth perception that we do with our two eyes, and you can do some contouring with makeup to trick the camera into seeing what you want it to see. Wayne Goss and others on YouTube have lots of videos on how to do contouring, and IMHO it's necessary for still photography. That is one reason why you can look good in person and horrible in pictures- the camera only has the one lens and it flattens everything out to varying degrees depending on the lens being used.I am super-pleased because I got excellent results using stuff I already had, except for three of the light fixtures and the bulbs. I also learned how posing and lighting can make all the difference in whether you are photogenic or not, and Mr. Hurley's recommendations prevent reasonably attractive people from literally looking like trolls in photographs. I've taken a couple of photography classes but I'm still quite the amateur; I haven't taken any studio lighting classes, and being ignorant of that subject was hosing me over before I got this book. I love that the fluorescent lighting is continuous and you don't have to mess around with flashes. I also love the plain background which puts all the viewer's attention on the person in the photograph, and allows the subject's personality to show. I can only imagine what I could get with better lighting and equipment, but I was able to do a lot with what I had, and it's all due to this book. Loveee!

If you have even a casual interest in headshot photography, you've no doubt come across the work of Peter Hurley. Hurley's signature style is instantly recognizable and he's done a number of videos ("it's all about the jaw", "the squinch", "hold your sub") that describe some of the techniques he uses in his images.This book was somewhat of a surprise in that it is quite a bit longer, and much more text heavy than you would expect from a typical photography book (and it still has plenty of images throughout the book). However, despite the length, the instructional value is somewhat limited because of the somewhat repetitive and meandering conversational style of the text, making the density of information rather low. Some parts felt a bit drawn out, although there's always a meaningful point that Hurley tries to draw out in every section (even if the point at the end could have been stated in far fewer words, and more concise examples)."The Headshot" starts out describing how Hurley got started, which is fairly interesting. You get a sense for the hustle he put into trying to establish himself, and how he stayed true to the vision he had for headshots. The second chapter talks about some technical details about lighting. Hurley will talk about the lighting positions he likes to use, as well as his equipment, although this isn't the kind of book that talks about F-stops, light meters, etc. When camera settings are shared, it's not terribly interesting (although I suppose some people crave that kind of data). One noticeable thing is that he seems to mention his specific line of lighting equipment a lot, almost to the point of being an ad.The rest of the book describes things Hurley looks for (and he has a very keen eye for detail). Of course, he talks about the same tips he has in his youtube videos that you've probably already seen, but don't expect a lot of other tips along that lines. You should also not expect a lot of technical details, or post-processing. None of that exists in this book. I'd also note that there are a lot of images in this book, but many times there are images without any specific reference to what he's trying to tell you with that image. Many times they just seem like random pieces of eye candy rather than images that had a specific purpose in trying to illustrate some concept. This isn't always the case, but it is noticeable and somewhat distracting (since it's a pretty text heavy book).Instead, Hurley talks a lot about assessing your subject, not just to find their good and bad features, but also to get a sense for their personality. A lot of anecdotes are given to try to nail home the importance of establishing a rapport with your subject, and how he uses various techniques to get subjects to relax and give genuine expressions. This is where Hurley's work really shines, and despite so much time spent discussing this, the long and short of it is that the techniques Hurley uses work for him in large part because of his personality, and what works for him probably won't work for a lot of people.If you've ever had a chance to view Hurley's fstopper's tutorial, you'll also notice that most of the value of that tutorial is just seeing the interaction and reactions of his subjects. It's hard to quantify exactly what you've learned at the end of this, because in the end, it's a very general approach and not a specific concrete technique that makes it work. You can even walk away from watching the video (or reading this book), feeling like you've learned (concretely) very little.So while this certainly isn't exactly a primer, and the density of information is relatively low, I'd still say that this is worth a read for anyone interest in taking headshots. The book has a lot of tips (some that might be for you, some might not), and gives you plenty to think about if you step back and look at the big picture of what he's trying to say rather than look at the (somewhat drawn out) specifics.

As some other reviews indicate, Peter has that American ‘oversell’ style (no offence intended). But then he is American and he is presenting his style (which I chose to learn more about) so he rightly deserves his space on that front. You can get a feel for his presentation style if you put his name in a search engine (and if you watch some of his videos on YouTube – which are very informative).There is no doubt he has first class technique and professional competence. I learned a lot from the book once I got past the Bio content at the start. When I read this, I was really 'studying' studio based headshots and Peter is a master in this field. From reading the book I adapted my skills and techniques. It is not set out as a training book – you pick things up as you read through (and I took bullet point notes of things I should carefully consider and remember).The book influenced my buying decisions when choosing a lighting configuration. I can't stretch to the kind of gear he uses – but I am also not using the cheapest either - so I was really picking up on configuration for this. He makes interesting (non sexist) observations about useful differences in light and shade depending on your subject being male or female.The book has also influenced my work style, my headshot composition (and my post production work).Peter rightly emphasizes the importance of ‘people factors’, specifically connecting / engaging with your subject, helping them feel relaxed and presenting them with pictures that even they love. I may be wrong, but I really think this is 50% of the skills required for studio portraits (the rest being technical camera and lighting knowledge).I am a serious enthusiast with a high end DSLR although I would still have learned from this as a novice using a medium format camera. You don’t need his high end gear to learn important headshot principals and really make difference to your work. Read it, digest it, consider it and then apply it (and scale up / down according to what you want to achieve and the size of your budget).I have purchased other books on this subject but I was drawn to read Peter’s first. My guess is that others will be better written, more detailed, perhaps more technical. They will certainly teach me other things and give me more things to consider and apply to my work. After reading these other books, I somehow think I will still be very pleased I purchased and read this one.

I first encountered Peter Hurley through Scott Kelby's online classes and immediately thought this guy is great at understanding the dynamics of successful Portraits and Headshots. This book encapsulates everything I learnt throughout these online courses and is a terrific resource for mastering this fascinating aspect of Photography. This book goes into the psychology of human nature during the headshot process and teaches strategies and techniques to get your subject to relax so that you, the photographer, can capture an authentic expression.I love this book, I think it is outstanding - Peter Hurley writes exactly like he expresses himself on video and I am ok with that, the information is comes from someone who really understands how to get the best out of his subjects. The images in the books are really fabulous, inspiring and compliment the written text perfectly.This book is well worth having in your library.

Don't expect technical data or studio layout's. This is a methodology of Peter Hurley's techniques. He goes over his background in the industry. Then gives guidance and tips for working with clients. He's style of writing is just how he speaks in life ( see you tube tutorials to get his approach). He's fun and full on. Personally I've learnt quite a few good tips from this book I now put in practice. Glad I bought this book. Will be good as a reference book in terms of images to study for lighting set ups. If you know your way round a camera and strobes looking to up your game. Buy this book. Fun read as well.

Thank you, Peter Hurley and Scott Kelby, for this well thought out, highly informative (and at times) funny book on just one subject: 'THE HEADSHOT'.After less than 30 minutes' reading, I was straight into my studio, shooting selfies, and practicing 'The Squinch'. It really works! It's not a gimmick. The power of the expressions I was extracting was through the roof!The production quality of book itself is highly polished and represents excellent value for money.If you want to take your portrait/headshots to a polished and professionally-shot level, you can't go wrong with this book.Well done!

This is a pretty woeful book on portrait photography! There's plenty of nice photos of good looking people but precious little in the way of technique, instruction or insight into the genre. The author seems a little self obsessed about his intuitive self taught talents rather than revealing any of the secrets to amazing portraiture. I've purchased many disappointing books on photography and without a doubt this is down there with the worst of them. Peter Hurley is no Scott Kelby.....unfortunately!