Hi Geoff,
I'm assuming you haven't seen my other head shot posts. I've described the setup, the catch lights and the reason they are what they are. Please keep in mind that these are not supposed to be pretty portraits (well, the glamour shot is, but that was an afterthought using the same lighting) or shots for grandma to have on her wall. They're commercial head shots.
Not everyone is going to like the catch lights. I readily accept that and that's cool. I'm copying Peter Hurley's setup and philosophy on creating commercial head shots for actors and models. Agents, agencies and casting directors actually love this style of head shot and it's only photographers that notice or have comments about the catch lights.
The clients love them, the girls and women think they're amazing, casting directors identify them and like the distinct difference and also understand enough to know that the lighting setup creates a virtually shadowless facial mask, which is what they need to see.
I do use other setups and with men, I typically use more standard portrait lighting, allowing more contrast and shadow but even then, very sparingly.
The best way for these people to get work is to present a great head shot that shows their face with no shadow. When I see that casting directors no longer love this style of lighting, that's when I'll think about changing. For now, I'm running with what I know works in the industry.
