Photo Critique - Improve Your Headshot and Portrait Photography w/ John Gress

Photo critique is one of the best ways to improve your photography and, in this video, I have invited portrait and fashion photographer, John Gress, to join me in providing constructive criticism for some headshots and professional portraits submitted by members of my private Facebook group, Kickstart Your Headshot Business.
If you are interested in my online course and access to the Facebook support group for the class, you can find out more about the course here:
gum.co/kyhbcom...
And save 25% on the Kickstart Your Headshot Business class by using the code "youtube" at checkout.
You can see more of John on his excellent KZbin channel here:
/ johngressphotography
Follow me on social media:
Facebook // garyhugheslive
Instagram // garyhughesofficial
Twitter // @garyhughes
My Studio IG // hughesfioretti
Listen to the Photobomb Podcast
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Here is my portable gear list with links to the items I show in this video:
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#headshots #johngressmedia #heashotphotography #photographers #photography

[@wendystumbaugh695]

Last image - lady w the orange blouse. I loved the composition and pose.

[@grnmtnskier]

Thanks Gary and John - This was a very helpful video. The back and forth dialogue was constructive and easy to understand when you provided the rationale behind your comments. The length was perfect. Agree with others that you should make these videos on a regular basis - thanks again.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Glad it was helpful!

[@terrellcwoods]

Fantastic. You two should make this a thing. I learned a bunch in this presentation.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

We are currently in talks for more :) we may even do one live!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! More to come!

[@lighthousephoto7143]

This was brilliant! More please!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

I’ll see what I can do

[@aceentertainmnt9249]

Actually found this fun. Didn't want it to end. Wish there were more videos like this.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Well let’s do another, good idea!

[@mattradlinski6122]

What a great idea for the channel, love this high quality content!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Well thanks, Matt. We are working hard to bring you all the best stuff!

[@ColbyMcLemore]

Fabulous! Thanks again.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

No problem!

[@BoorayPerry]

This is great critique...

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Thanks, Booray!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Booray!

[@JDAlbro-zc4ub]

Thanks guys, funny you mentioned about his shirt, we "messed around" with that a lot until he was happy with it...

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Thanks for submitting, JD!

[@JohnGress]

Funny! Thank you!

[@YaneckWasiek]

awesome! tons of knowledge shared in this video!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Thanks for watching, Yaneck!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Yaneck!

[@heikemartinphotography]

Thank you! That is so helpful. Great tips to evaluate my own headshots. I especially liked the "weighted" comment you made.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

You are welcome, thanks for watching!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@GeoChild]

Enjoyed this video! Very informative.👍🏾

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@weableman]

Great video. Got a lot from this, thanks guys!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

No problem :)

[@yuliyapanchenko]

Awesome video 🤩 great critiques!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Thank you for watching!

[@yuliyapanchenko]

@@GaryHughesOfficial subscribed! 😉👍I didn’t know you have a KZbin channel.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Glad you found it!

[@nosauten]

Great info! Thanks.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

No problem, thanks for watching

[@beccaunderground]

Fun video and now I have to know how John Gress did his video lighting.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Coming soon to a youtube channel near me!

[@beccaunderground]

@@JohnGress it was shadow-free and yet it was crisp and had depth.....

[@JohnGress]

@@beccaunderground This was an Aputure Light Storm 120 in their 3' Litedome, but I will be making a BTS video soon.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

and it will blow up. Because people love that stuff

[@beccaunderground]

@@GaryHughesOfficial your lighting seemed edgier and it was a bit easier to visualize what was going on with your set-up though I’d love to compare and contrast both your approaches. Just saying.

[@reneefariasphoto40]

Good video. I think with good retouching, which includes light modification, can correct all of these images and take these to the next level.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Almost anything is possible in Ps :)

[@reneefariasphoto40]

@@GaryHughesOfficial LOL yup. I say that only because I agree with your video, but those are all (except for the last one) quick fixes in PS. The photographer just needs to recognize what is needed, and that is the biggest challenge for many. I know because I have been in business for 26 years and in the beginning I had a mentor that would help me. Now, I simply choose to always learn in order to make micro improvements.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Details matter, absolutely :)

[@DileepJain]

Off late I have started capturing street portraits, wherein I go to the market place full of people, look around for an interesting subject, and capture mostly the headshot. This of course is without the knowledge of the subject in picture. My question here is, unlike studio set up where we have much better control over the lighting and directions that we can offer to the subject, what are some of the aspects that we should definitely keep in mind before we press that shutter?

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

For that kind of street photography, telling a story is really the most important thing

[@MichaelCook1981]

People with blue eyes are more sensitive to light, due to no pigment in the top layer of the Iris. That's one reason I hate driving at night, headlights really bother my eyes. I used to have a car with a tinted windshield, it was the best thing ever.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Yes I’ve noticed that in the studio, good point

[@romiemiller7876]

It's easy to remove things like the little reflection is so easy it should have been removed. I agree with the wight in the background needing darkening down. l Babies, dogs (pets) and people with conditions that flash is a problem. Continuous light solves that problem, I didn't know about blue eyes though. l At 12;38- The woman with the orange sweater: I hate decapitating people. I almost never cut off the top of the head. I'd have left a little room there.

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Thanks for the feedback

[@whiterock1865]

3:49 Of course this is all subjective, but seems to me the shot looks way too yellow/orange on his shoulders and such...just personally I would have gel'd all the strobes with CTO and like John said, maybe an extra half CTO (for total of 1.5 CTO) on the rear strip box to give a little separation from the background as the lamp is probably closer to 2700K... Also maybe try to hid that little blip of shirt just over the crotch area. Yes definitely the keystone and reflection...

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@shirazigs]

I thought you were going to annotate the photographs like the cover of your video!

[@GaryHughesOfficial]

Um, sorry?