Shoot a Pro Headshot on a Bus or Train

Scout Your Ideal Vehicle and Seat

You need a train, not a bus. A bus has too many seats facing forward, terrible vibration, and windows that are often tinted green or scratched. Commuter trains and light rail are your best bet. Aim for a newer model with large, clean windows. Your seat is everything. You want a forward-facing window seat on the side of the train opposite the platform. This gives you a consistent, distant background of cityscapes or trees, not a blur of concrete platforms and people every thirty seconds. If you can, snag the seat at the very front or back of the car; you'll get a diagonal view out the side window, which is more dynamic than staring straight out. Scout the line on a sunny afternoon. The 2:15 pm express might have perfect, golden light streaming in, while the 4:30 pm local is stuck in the shadow of buildings.

Master the Moving Light from Windows

This light changes every second. You must treat it like a constant, soft studio light source that happens to be flying past trees and buildings. Position yourself so the window light hits your subject's face at about a 45-degree angle. Don't let them face directly into the sun—they'll squint. Don't let them sit with their back to it—their face will be in shadow. The sweet spot is just off to the side. The light will flicker. Wait for the train to exit a tunnel or pass a wide-open field; you'll get 10-15 seconds of gorgeous, even illumination. Shoot in burst mode during these moments. Your camera settings are non-negotiable: Shutter speed at 1/500th of a second or faster to freeze the motion outside and any train shake. Aperture around f/2.8 to f/4 to blur that speeding background into soft streaks. Auto ISO is your friend here, letting the camera adjust as you move from bright to dark areas.

Pose Naturally Despite the Motion

Forget stiff, formal poses. The environment demands authenticity. Have your subject lean slightly into the window frame, creating a stable anchor. Their shoulders should be at an angle to the camera, not square. The key is the gaze. Have them look out the window, as if thoughtfully observing the passing world, then slowly turn back toward the lens. Capture that transition. It feels candid. If there's a seat-back table, use it. A rested elbow and a chin on a hand can look contemplative, not cheesy, if the expression is right. Give them something to do with their hands—hold a closed notebook, adjust a glasses arm, rest fingers lightly on their collarbone. Shoot continuously for 2-3 minutes at a time. You'll get 20 awkward shots and 3 where the motion of the train has literally rocked them into a perfectly relaxed, unposed moment.

The Biggest Mistake: Ignoring the Background Story

A blur of color is good. A blur of a specific, recognizable object is often bad. That streaky green blur? Lovely, abstract foliage. That distorted, ghostly half-sign for a fast-food chain? Distracting. Pay fierce attention to what's flying by. Time your shots for backgrounds that add to the narrative: the geometric lines of city bridges, the soft gradient of a river, the repeating patterns of power lines. Avoid backgrounds that tell the wrong story: the back of a grimy industrial building, a crowded parking lot, a billboard for a competitor. The background should feel like an impressionist painting, not a messy garage. If something ugly is coming up, stop shooting. Just wait. In 8 seconds, the scene will change completely. Your patience here separates a professional shot from a snapshot.

Edit for a Clean, Professional Finish

Your editing goals are simple: clean up the skin, enhance the catchlight in the eyes from the window, and manage the color cast. That moving light often has a blue or green tint from the sky and glass. First, use the color balance tool to neutralize the whites of the eyes. Then, subtly increase the clarity or texture slider just on the face—about +15—to add definition that the moving soft light might have washed out. The background blur is your asset, but if there are any distracting, sharp "speckles" (a bright sign that didn't fully blur), use a healing brush to soften them. Crop tightly. A headshot taken in a public space often benefits from a closer crop, maybe from the mid-chest up, to focus the viewer entirely on the person, not the fact they're on a train. Keep the skin texture real. Just remove any temporary blemishes.

So grab your camera, buy a day pass, and ride the line for an hour. You'll discover that the constraints—the motion, the changing light, the public space—force you to make decisions faster and see light more keenly. The best headshot might come as you pull into a station, the chaos outside slowing to a clear, still moment.