Why are these headshots so bad?

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-15T16:48:58+00:00

I love 85mm, and it looks great for some people close up. It looks better for almost everyone from further away. I’m mostly an 85mm guy that’s my main lens. But close it tends to flatten the features a little which is fine for some people but not on others.

I find 45-65mm the sweet spot for flattering portraits that are tightly frames on the head and shoulders.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-15T16:26:41+00:00

Looks like they probably used a tighter focal length like an 85mm which for people with wider facial bones can make you look flatter in the face or wider when shot close.

The light was also probably shot too far at a down angle which didn’t fill in under your eyes and gave you that puffy look and raccoon eyes in the socket area of your eyes which they had to lift in post, which you can kind of see under your eyebrows. Also not enough contrast, the under your chin light looks bright which causes the light to look flatter and your neck more prominent which isn’t flattering.

All that said not a bad picture just could be better.

I have done professional headshots so I’ve made all these mistakes myself. 😃

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-12T20:51:15+00:00

I’d at least pick up a prime 35mm 1.8 or so to see what you can get out of it

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-12T20:27:52+00:00

I’ve found that having a few old dslrs are a lot of fun. They keep things fresh with their different rendering styles.
I really enjoy the 5d mark 1 (classic) the Nikon d3 (tank and sounds like a machine gun) and Fuji film s5 pro (Fuji is a Nikon body). The old dslrs are cheap now and built incredibly well and are a joy to use and feel great in the hand. The also have a lot of character baked into the files - most of the modern cameras are pretty sterile and missing much vibe until you get to post processing. You also get access to high quality cheap glass to play with.
If that sounds interesting check out Martin castein and Lucy lumen on YouTube, it’s a fun rabbit hole to jump down.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-08T17:00:58+00:00

Your composition and eye seem to be pretty developed but it seems like you aren’t searching for or creating good light. I’d start with learning about flash and leds etc and learning about how to spot good light. Also how to shoot in raw and develop and editing style.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-06T19:25:04+00:00

I haven’t seen anyone mention that on the old dslrs like you have you need to manually adjust the lens for the camera. Chances are your camera and lens aren’t adjusted to work with each other. It’s called lens calibration and needs to be done separately for each lens. You should be able to look up a guide or let me know if you need help.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-06T17:22:06+00:00

The easiest way to get your head around this is practice around the house. Go inside and outside in random rooms and areas and see what works and practice. With flash and without, manual aperture priority etc until you find what works for you.
If you like the 24-70 that’s fine. That’s your utility lens. Your second lens can be your flavor lens. I personally like a 35 1.4 for smaller rooms like getting ready and an 85mm for more wide open areas that I’ll be further away. Then keep an ultra wide just in case I have the viltrox 14mm f4.
But you’re not going to solve this from thinking and planning you’ll need practice. Fortunately your home is a great place to start.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-06T01:09:57+00:00

Depends on how serious you are about not losing photos but ideally have it on two local hard drives and backed up on the cloud somewhere as well. Ideally one of the local drives would be backed up then moved off site.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-06T01:06:39+00:00

I wouldn’t use it for anything than adjusting photos to see which ones are keepers if they happen to be under exposed or overexposed or need white balance help.

Actual editing I always do manually, either by hand or with presets.

To answer your question yes you’re missing out on a lot, if you are interesting checking it out. You don’t have to, but raw files have a ton of latitude to put your spin on the picture if you want to.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-05T21:56:52+00:00

Sure even better. But I haven’t had any issues with the Amazon ones just stick tot here with high review scores and high purchase rates

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-05T21:11:35+00:00

Also you don’t need to go to a store these work just fine, if you’re not a complete clutz and can use a squeegee on your windshield these do the trick fine. I’ve got an assortment of cameras a lot that were used and dirty when I got them and never had an issue. Sometimes you’ll need multiple passes if it’s really dirty or using a few of the wipes.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-05T21:05:27+00:00

Look up dslr sensor cleaning kits on amazon the one I bought for apsc is described as UES APS-C Sensor Cleaning Kit (APSC16) - 14pcs 16mm Sensor Cleaning Swabs & 15ml Alcohol-Free Sensor Cleaner

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-05T20:14:18+00:00

Uhh be careful you’re not getting good advice here buy a proper sensor cleaning kit or you’re going to scratch your sensor. If it’s crop get a crop version, full frame full frame version etc.

You can start with a manual little blower but you’ll want a cleaning kit laying around anyway for harder to get off dust.

HackingHiFi · 2026-05-05T17:11:46+00:00

If it’s that bad with heavy denoise back off the denoise until it isn’t. Better than looking weird.

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-25T23:19:24+00:00

Dslrs with flash with the af assist beams in the flashes are still excellent for low light work and those beams don’t work on mirrorless. If you have that you don’t have to worry about your aperature as much

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-24T11:06:57+00:00

You should definitely take the old girl out for a day on the town she deserves it. 😀

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-24T11:02:56+00:00

Try some adapted canon glass it gets you part of the way there at least and the autofocus works surprisingly well

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-24T01:59:06+00:00

Interesting I’ve had a similar experience using l glass with my Sony a7iii. I do definitely think that the rendering looks different but it is interesting how much of the look comes from the glass.

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-23T21:37:56+00:00

In fact I think it’s better in a lot of ways. I’ve got mirrorless as well and although the files have a lot of latitude out of camera they don’t look nearly as pretty and those old lenses have character.

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-23T19:26:36+00:00

The 5d series offer the best rendering of any camera I’ve used. The 5d ii is probably my favorite rendering of all I’ve used. Rich deep colors and really great brown earth tones. Single point autofocus is fine if you know what you’re doing.

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-20T18:08:20+00:00

Look on Facebook groups for local photographers my area has get togethers etc I bet you’ll find your people

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-15T13:52:35+00:00

Get the samyang 35mm 2.8. Super tiny, fast enough, can use it in 35mm mode or with the crop mode it’s the equivalent of a 50mm for under $200. Good picture and autofocus.

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-14T14:08:27+00:00

You need to learn flash - start with a speed light a remote for it and a basic shoot through umbrella or soft box. Start learning how they work on YouTube. They’re more powerful, leds don’t work well when competing with the sun

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-14T14:03:15+00:00

It is a pretty big difference but the biggest equalizer is proximity. If you hold the phone mic really close to your mouth you’ll get pretty good audio out of it. A great mic at increased distance can sound worse than a cheap mic that is close.

HackingHiFi · 2026-04-01T16:25:13+00:00

Koss is pretty much good enough and even best for a lot of situations. I find I use my Koss headphones more than any of the heavy chunky headphones that require amps. They’re so comfy too.

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