He tries too hard to identify and put at ease the audience, but it was he who was nervous not them. He doesn’t seem to get the feedback he was hoping for and feels lost. Next he continues by throwing out a few hats and leaves most people who wanted one to go without. So he totally alienates everyone, and that is his manner throughout; slightly arrogant and rude.

Sometimes he just throws something out there and sometimes he spends a lot of time discussing a topic but he talks around it and avoids actually providing the info needed, then he moves on to the next topic leaving a void.

Example: He tries to identify with people by saying that if you’ve taken a picture of people with a Camera or yourself with a cellphone, then your a headshot photographer (later he esentially denies that would count as such).

Having opened up the topic he should have told how to take your own photo with cell phone. Use a mirror so you can see the display on the Cellphone. Hold your arm up and out as far away as you can but with your elbow still bent. Now lift your other arm so your shoulders look equal when you look at the Cellphone’s display in the mirror. Frame your shot, and using a 2 second self-portrait delay, gently press the shutter.

He mentions inportant topics like makeup and lighting but does not spend 30 seconds on them (remember this is an hour long Video).

He provides incorrect Tips. Example: The Camera height should usually reflect the height of the subject. If the person is tall the Camera should tilt up slightly and if they are shorter the Camera should tilt down slightly; that is if you want the photo to portray the person the way everyone actually sees them (which he says is important, “you don’t want to look like you are 12″).

There is no technical info until 29 minutes and no subject modeling info until 33 minutes but the “suction cup” Tip was probably helpful. He then ruins anything he has acomplished at 40 minutes with the sales pitch and the name dropping.

When asked questions he really says he is put on the spot and has no real answer. The answers were almost arrogant or insulting, “why are you asking me this ?”, this is what I want to say, even if it is not your answer; I will just keep talking.

He says he intends to end by throwing out a few T-Shirts, wonder where the Pants and socks are ?

Really NOT worth watching and probably not going to be worth $300 for his DVD. If your earning what he charges per hour there is no chance you want to watch this Video, you would be a fool.

Rated 1.2 out of 10.

Thanks for the Ikea addition.

Thank you for the bts explanation of your light setup!

That’s what I basically expected. No high tech fancy stuff is needed to make high quality headshots like yours.

Btw, instead of Neil van Niekerk’s “black foamie thing” I’m using a 1$ mouse pad from IKEA. Both sides are usable because it has one black side and the other side is white. With an additional piece of Velcro I can easily fix it on my Canon flash guns. ;-)