ponzu Thank you for CC. I often chop off the top of the head of swimmers. I don't know how much I am influenced by Peter Hurley (look him up, he is one of the leading experts on headshots and he thinks top of head is not needed), my own instincts, or just miss the top of the head because of an extreme closeup and concentration on the goggles (that would be the eyes in a headshot) and then turn that drawback into an aesthetic. I honestly don't remember if in this particular shot the top of the head was available and I cropped it, or if it was missing to begin with. What I do remember is cropping out all the water in front of the swimmer, no matter how much I personally like the ripples, to concentrate on the goggles, the shoulders and the mouth (see the droplets?)
Chopped off heads don't bother me, maybe they should. It's not the first time someone told me to keep the whole head in. I will have to think about it again.
Rafal Googles really attract the attention to the swimmers head, reflections give more action to the picture, i don't know Peter Hurleys tips, so I have to look at this. I am not a people's photographers, my photography is aviation, nature and macrophography, but as you mention in discussion - maybe this kind of advices (ie. Peter Hurley) are needed to get more from TC. THX
ponzu Peter Hurley chops off tops of head of all clients (he is primarily a commercial headshot photographer) on principal. He made it part of his signature style. If I took every advice and tried to imitate every style I see, my photography would be nothing, but a mess and an exercise in frustration. Still, a tip like that is hard to overlook. He basically says: no one needs the top of head. Everyone know what is, was, or should be there. He wants the eyes, and the top of head and bottom of chest get in the way, so he pushes in close and gets rid of the non-essentials. Hard to say if this advice could/should apply to sports photography. But for some reason I keep doing it.
agnieszka bladzik i think much depends on where you made the cut. i did google the work of this Peter Hurley and I don't like majority of the cuted heads, sorry, only with some angle it's look ok to me, in many cases the only very top of head is missing and it looks like mistake not done on purpose and personally it irritates me
ponzu I am not completely sold on cutting tops of people's heads off, but more and more headshots look that way. Either Peter Hurley is influencing the tastes and the industry, or he tapped into something that people like.
Rafal As for CC - the same as for the car - the top of the head is missing, it would be much nicer with the whole head