Don’t you just love it when you’ve got a good friend you can call for some recommendations and they point you to just the right place. For example, it’s your Mom’s birthday… the weather is awesome with a deep blue sky and little puffy white clouds. You know your Mom would love it if you treated her to a yummy lunch at an outdoor cafe’. Where ??? Hmmm… You can’t think of a place but you know just who to call to get the perfect recommendation. Sweet !!! I love having those kind of friends who just know stuff and are happy to share.
My clients call and inbox me everyday with many of the same questions and concerns. Not questions about restaurants but questions about my specialty a a people photographer. When it comes to creating portraits I would consider myself rather an expert.
It’s 3pm and so far today I’ve gotten a phone call, an email, and a text from 3 different clients about make-up for their Photo Sessions… These questions come in a number of flavors. – “Does Sparks Photography have a Make-up Artist on staff?” – “How much make-up should I wear?” – “I’m a teenager, should I wear make-up?” – “I don’t wear make-up very often, do I have to wear it for my photograph session?”
Alright, here we go… I mentioned in an earlier post that the camera & lighting that all professional photographs use is going to wash away some of the shape and detail in your face. Much of this is because you are going from a 3 dimensional living breathing person to a 2 dimensional copy of yourself in the Photograph. Now that you know this you can help bring a lot of that shape and detail back with make-up. In fact the word “make-up” means to make up for what was lost or forgotten. Even if you have beautiful full lips or big gorgeous eyes they are going to get a little lost in the lighting. I’m not saying you must apply a lot of make-up but I do recommend 99% of the time that you apply “some”. If you have fair skin and light hair you will surely need to darken your lashes and add some color to your lips. If you plan to wear bright colorful wardrobe you need color on your eyes and lips an maybe even some blush on your cheeks.
Mascara on the lashes and some color on the lips is a must. Then if you dare some eyeliner and color on the eyelids would be very good. Most professional make-up artists are also going to recommend a “foundation” (also know as a “base coat”) applied all over your face (and into the neckline). The principal behind this “base coat” is to smooth out and to hide the imperfections in your skin. The color and type of “base” has to be matched to your own coloring. If you want or need a “base” I am going to recommend you visit a few make-up sales stations at the department stores. Many of my Professional Makeup Artists prefer a make made by a company called MAC cosmetics. If you are already pretty good with make-up I would recommend Revlon’s PhotoReady Foundations (about $12 each)
One more rather advanced make-up tip is going to be to add “false lashes” to your own eye lashes. The add on lashes can really put some WOW in your portraits but the are a bit tricky to apply the first few times you put them on. I like the add-on lashes that get longer at the outside edges of your eyes. Very cool but add-ons are not for everyone !!!
Have a look at the excellent make-up in these 2 teen portraits. The makeup is rather clean an simple and I love how the eyes pop.
The last piece of the make-up recipe is a “setting powder”. The basic idea of the powder is to remove the shine from the oils in your skin (and the oils in the make-up). Even the guys look much better with some powder. Another popular trick is to blot oily spots with little inexpensive tissue papers found at beauty supply stores.
Wearing at least a bit of makeup is going to enhance your look no matter what kind of portrait I am shooting. This includes just about any time the camera sees a face – High School teens, fashion model, family portraits, corporate executives, actor headshots, etc. Below is a basic guide to simple photo make-up.
There is a wealth of information on the web on how to apply make-up, make-up tips, product recommendations, how to videos, etc. I enjoy Makeup Geeks and Makeup Geeks TV.
With all the great products and instructions every girl and every woman should be able to do a fine job with her make-up for portrait photography. If you absolutely want a Professional to do your make-up I have many very talented Artists that I can bring in to do your Make-up (and hair).
Feel free to send me some of your make-up tips. I love learning new things. Your comments are always welcome! More tips to come in future posts.
Live – Love- Laugh
Don
For more info and samples visit our website: http://www.studiosparks.com