Okay there's this photographer (I am leaving him anonymous)

What do you think of his works?

and this one is his too

They're not headshots, but they're clearly not meant to be headshots, so that's all right. The first one looks like a fun portrait shot, like the woman is a famous musician and this shot is meant to go with a magazine profile about her. It's a cute shot, lots of personality.

The second one doesn't work for me because the background is too dark and the guy's hair and suit blend right into it. It needed a brighter background that would contrast more.

That's what I was thinking, a lifestyle photog. Lots of personality and framed up for a magazine or style section in newspaper. Is this someone you are considering for headshots? I used someone like this for dd, the first shots were great, but when we went back a year later, wasn't real happy. She was rushed, my fault cause we were running late, and she had a bunch of people waiting. But it was cheaper, so as RK said about them, you get what you pay for.