4 Photography Tips for Beauty Photos
—By Aimee Hale
Personal beauty shots have become one of the biggest photography trends of the 21st century with selfies dominating social media (a whopping 93 million taken each day!) For those looking to turn their beauty shots into a commercial venture, it can be difficult to stand out among the millions of these images online.
Capturing beauty photos is more difficult than people realize, and with so much focus drawn to the face, these photos can feel intimidating to take. Fortunately, we have some useful photography tips that you can follow so that your beauty photos will look their best.
Practice Beforehand
In order to get good photos, it’s important to feel comfortable in front of the camera—and the only way to achieve that is to practice! Try taking as many photos as possible to learn your best angles and poses, as well as how to position yourself within the frame. Doing so will help prevent the awkwardness or discomfort that often leads to bad photos.
Whether you’re framing your own beauty shots or hiring a professional photographer to take them, practicing beforehand is always a good idea.
Choose the Right Lighting
Lighting is everything in photography and how you use it can change the look and feel of the photo completely. Natural light is your best friend for beauty photos since it provides the most flattering airbrushed effect, especially during the golden hour. However, it can also be quite unpredictable and result in a wasted photography session.
Artificial light gives you far more control and improves your shots no matter the setting. Whether you’re using your phone or a DSLR, there is an array of lighting equipment you can choose from that is ideal for beauty photos. The Vivitar VIV-RL10KIT, for example, can be used for either a phone or a camera and features a ring light that can soften your features and highlight your makeup.
The Go Live with the Vlogger Series from the same brand features a similar ring light, but with a shutter release that makes capturing selfies from a distance much easier—just be discreet with your hand placement! You can also choose between white and warm light depending on your setup. By investing in lighting equipment, you’ll have a much easier time achieving beauty photos that look just the way you want them.
Use Great Editing Software
Even with the perfect lighting, there may be some minor tweaks you need to make before your beauty photo is ready to be posted. Fortunately, there are plenty of easy-to-use photo editing software options for your phone or computer without having to learn the complex functions of Adobe Photoshop.
Try Snapseed for an app with a minimalistic interface and all the basic features of a photo editor and more, such as healing brush correctors and lens blur options. iPhone and Mac users can also maximize Apple photos, which allows editing and an AI tool that selects your best shots.
Use Concept Cards During the Shoot
It’s one thing to have all the technical equipment ready to capture good photos, but no shoot would be complete without a well-defined concept. Even casual beauty shoots need to have a clear goal in terms of their look and feel. This is especially important for experimental beauty photo shoots that require lots of creativity and inspiration.
Having concept cards ready will help the whole shoot go smoothly for beginner photographers and professionals alike. Prepare general mock-ups of the overall look, color schemes, textures, and posing ideas well before the photo shoot. It will give you a much better idea of the goal.
Taking beauty photos can be plenty of fun, whether you’re doing it as an influencer or for a personal project. By familiarizing yourself with these useful photography tidbits and relevant beauty and wellness tips, you will come out with gorgeous beauty photos!