Commercial headshots

Learn these tips and tricks for shooting professional headshots

in this project, we’ll show you how you can take professional headshots, even if you just have a small space and only one studio light and softbox!

We know people can be put off by using lights as they can seem expensive and complex to use. But it’s not as complicated as you may think – you have full control of your lighting conditions and, therefore, your photos. We’re also going to prove you that only need one lighting head for great professional headshots, that are ideal for websites like Linkedin.

We’re using a large softbox. The larger the light source, the softer it is – and more flattering it is for portraits. Softboxes also produce square catchlights in the eyes that bring portraits to life. We’re using a small yet powerful Elinchrom D-lite RX 4 head, which is reliable and simple to control.

We’ve shot at an aperture around f/13 for good depth of field so the whole subject is sharp. For a shallower depth of field, use an aperture around f/5.6, and reduce lighting power accordingly for a good exposure.