Okay it's time for me to share a few images. For the last month or so we have had the new Tamron 85mm 1.8 VC lens in our studio and besides some travel photography and wedding photography I haven't really had much time to play around with it for what I think it is most effective: headshots. Two weeks ago I had a headshot client in my studio and I figured I would show you some of the images taken straight out of the camera (no retouching on these yet).
Having worked a ton with Peter Hurley and Dylan Patrick, I know how important head positioning, facial expression, and overall pretty/flattering lighting is when creating a great headshot. I've also learned from both of them that having a unique style and aesthetic is very very important in being a well sought out headshot photographer (which to be honest I'm not focusing on filling my schedule with headshot work here in my market). So that being said, I'm constantly tweaking my background and lighting to produce something that builds upon what I've learned from Dylan and Peter without completely copying their entire style.
The two blue background images are shot pretty much with Peter's Hurley kit except the top light panel was thrown into a small Profoto octabox because we like to film with that modifier and I was too lazy to remove it from the softbox. Single profoto B1 firing on a brown/gray fabric I got from West Elm that actually produced a cool blue color instead of brown.
The dark background, which shows the brown fabric a little more true to color, is a claim shell lighting setup similar to what I've done in a few Fstoppers videos on our youtube channel (one light above and one below). I also had a profoto Beauty dish behind acting as a hair light with no light on the background if I remember correctly. Since this girl was an actress I wanted to go for a more CSI/Drama look for at least one of the outfits which I think turned out pretty well.
Let me know what you guys think or if you have any questions. I might include this session in a review I'm slowly working on about the Tamron 85mm lens but IMO this thing really shines for headshots even though I wish it were just a tad more telephoto.
These look great right out of camera. How does the lens stack up against the canon 85 1.8?
I've only shot the Nikon 85 1.8 which I own. The Tamron is super fast to focus and I love the VC for video work. It's honestly a bit unnecessary for stills since you need super still subjects at lower than 1/50th which isn't that common but for hand holding video it's pretty nice. If I had to buy one 85 1.8 I would probably get the Tamron but I can't tell THAT much of a difference to call one better than the other. Now if you need 1.2 or 1.4 then I think the Canon and Nikon's win there
Hi ! I've had the Canon 1.8 for a couple years, and now that I got the Tamron too, I can tell that the AF is way better on the Tamron, but also the sharpness of the image and the flawless images. I can remember struggling with purple on the edges with the Canon, and didn't find any on the Tamron, even at wide aperture (f/1.8) ;-)
Very nice!