Getting ready for your photo session.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your photo session.
What to wear
Make sure the clothes fit you well. It is a good idea to bring some options and we can pick at the session. For personal branding and portrait sessions, bring a variety of outfits from casual to more dressed up. If you are planing on doing full body photo (head to toe) remember to bring shoes. Make sure your underwear doesn’t show through.
Solid colors work best, busy patterns can be distracting. Medium tone colors are good. Often your photos will be used in a variety of places and you may not have control over the quality of how they are used. In low resolution situations pure white can be overexposed, pure black can loose detail. If you can avoid wearing white or black your photos will have more flexibility on how they are used.
Dress for Spring or Fall. You want what you are wearing to work for most of the year. It keeps your photos from looking out of date. Wearing a heavy sweater looks out of place in summer, Warm weather outfits look cold in the winter. Start with selecting clothes that reflect how you want to present yourself to your audience.
Iron or steam your clothes before the session.
Unless you are a jeweler, keep jewelry to a minimum, the photos are about you and too much jewelry can be distracting.
Hair
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“He creates a safe and comfortable space in which you can be and express yourself. To look through the proofs and not only like but love what you see is the sign of a real master.” – Tamar Stone
Make Up
For photos you want definition of your features and control over shine. Mascara brings attention to your eyes. Lip color emphasizes your expression, foundation will even out skin tone, concealer helps with under eye discoloration, bronzer adds contour to your face, blush will add color, powder controls shine. Fill in any gap in your brows. Do not wear sunscreen. It reflects too much light and creates odd reflections.
There are lots of Youtube videos on make up tutorials for photography. I can recommend some if you wish.
Be sure to put you make up on in daylight to have accurate color. Often when people look like they have too much make up on, it is because they did their make up in incandescent light, which is yellow / gold. Daylight has more blue and broader spectral range so what looks good in the bathroom looks very different in daylight. The studio lights have the same color as daylight.
If you are unsure about doing your own make up consider having a make up artist for your shoot. You will look great and still be yourself without being overly “made up”. They commonly do a natural look that translates well on camera.
Shaving
