Whether you are an avid photographer or interested in beginning a new hobby, there are several types of photography you can discover. Beauty photoshoot can be a fun and intimate way to point out the beauty of the subject for commercial or personal purposes.
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What is beauty photoshoot?
Beauty phography is a type of photography which contains photographing close-up photos of subjects, highlighting their appealing features for editorial, commercial or personal purposes. In this type of photoshoot, photographers use their subjects to give a special feeling such as happiness, innocence, or seduction to the viewer, depending on the shoot’s subject. Beauty photoshoots can be appealing from an artistic feeling or try to highlight certain products such as makeup, skincare, hair accessories or jewelry.
Tips for beauty photoshoots
The goal of beauty photoshoot is to capture the most beautiful, and close-up photos of the subjects. Have a look at the tips below to see how to capture the best beauty shoots:
1- Choose a reliable model
Choose a model that has confidence, a strong attendance and the right attitude for the feelings you are trying to capture. The model you choose should be aware of the posing, relaxed in front of the camera, and be able to orient and adjust if necessary.
Apparently, there is a considerable difference between real working models and those normal ones. Real working models can be more helpful during a beauty photoshoot. They know the way their body lines can lead to a perfect photo. Additionally, such models are more experienced in getting special facial expressions and poses.
2- Hiring a creative team for your beauty photoshoot
In this kind of photography, makeup and hairstyling are some of the most important elements, and you should avoid relying on your models to do styling. Set aside part of your budget to hiring a professional makeup artist and hairstylist who works in beauty photoshooting to prepare your subject. They know the best products to use and can make sure that your model is ready for your beauty shoot.
When you work with a beauty team for a beauty photoshoot, assure to give them enough time to get the models ready.
You can allow the beauty team to add their special touches.
3- Prepare your equipments before your beauty photoshoots
Before shooting, make a list of all the important equipment you need to be ready for the day of beauty shooting. At least one day before your beauty shooing, pack your camera and lighting fixtures, check everything on your list, after that put everything in a visible place in your home. If you can, bring extra battery, tripod, monopod, bulbs, lenses, gels and a backup camera.
4- Make a mood board for your beauty photoshoots
The mood board is a profound tool which helps you arrange and plan the visual elements of your beauty shoot. Your mood board can have color palettes, different color backdrops, lighting settings, wardrobe, and other important components. Discuss your mood board with the stylists and models so that they understand the overall visual beauty of the shoot. Because it is essential to communicate entirely what look you want and have examples ready.
5- Use the right light source for your beauty photoshoots
Lighting for a beauty shoot can be difficult, because the natural light often changes during the day and can prevent you from taking still photos. Create an indoor space by adjusting an existing room, you can also rent a studio where you can control the lighting. You can use shadows and side lighting in beauty photoshoots. Colored lighting can make the photos great as well. Using off- camera flashes or strobes can make it so easy to shoot on location. Also, using reflectors and bounce cards can aid reflect light. Light modifiers like a beauty dish, that is a tool which generates light to the focal point and makes a contrasted look. A beauty dish creates a lighting setting that is the midpoint between a direct flash and softbox illumination, creating shadows that can improve your subject’s bone structure and other facial quality.
6- Choose the right background for your beauty photoshoots
A good background is important for photographing the most moving and flattering photos of your subject. You can choose from solid colors such as white, gray, black, or go bold and use a coherent paper background in colors like pink, orange, purple, or yellow. This paper doesn’t have reflection and is affordable and has a visual punch which can take your photos to a high level.
While using backgrounds, make sure that the fall-off of the light occurs. Thereafter, you can add or take away light from the background, depending on what you aim to have. The more fall- off you use, the more your background visible is. Remember to take some test shots to get how this will act on your whole composition.
7- Retouch for a natural look
When shooting beauty photos, you want your subjects to appear in their most natural and beautiful look. While most professional photographers retouch their beauty shoots, making too many changes to an image during post-processing may make it look too edited or unrealistic, which may be a matter for your client. If your first setup is well-lit and match your subject’s strengths, the less retouching you will have to do when preparing the last images for your client.
The skin needs to be done with a high awareness to detail. Be careful about uneven skin textures.
8- Things you should include in your beauty photoshoots contract
Though you are doing a beauty shoot just for your own portfolio, it is so crucial to have the models sign a contract. This contract has to outline every small detail of the specifics of the photo shoot.
Determine what the models will receive. If they are going to have photos, add if print or digital, retouched or not retouched, the numbers of photos, and the estimated turn around time. Indicate important terms and conditions like copyright and permissions. This will save you from argument in the future.
9- Choose the right lens
The best lens for your beauty shoots is a long lens because it compresses the background and emphasizes on the face. 100mm lens is a perfect one. Keep your aperture small, f/8 or higher, this will assure that you get every detail of the face in focus.
This is essential, specially if you are shooting a special product on the face. Additionally, this helps to get the details of the skin in focus for better retouching in post- processing.
Try to keep the angle of the lens slightly below level, this can give the model more of a high fashion feel. Whereas photographing them straight on may make a strong stare.
Shoot the model at different angles so that you get more options when you choose the right photo for your portfolio or client.
10- Take as many photos as possible
The day of beauty photoshoot will be tiring, and time is limited, but you should prioritize photographing as much as you can. Capture a collection of photos with different lighting, exposures, and positioning, so you have plenty of options to choose from during post-production work.
Beauty photoshoot can open many doors for you in the editorial and financial purposes. Whether you’re a fashion photographer, or you’re a professional trying to enhance their portfolio or social media.
