Makeup Tips From a Photographer

Makeup Tips To Be Photo Ready

With so many Youtube Tutorials these days, many are opting to do their own makeup for their San Diego Photography Session. For some, hair and makeup can be easy. While for others, you may be currently suffering from anxiety at even the thought of this kind of responsibility. The following lists and advice will help you to be photo ready for any Type of Photography Session.

For your typical San Diego Portrait, Wedding, Family, or Engagement Session, you will want to have a natural look. Save the glitter, gloss, and special colors for Fashion Sessions. Even a smokey eye can be a bit too much for many Portrait Sessions, however, your photographer is there to help advise you. Here are a few tips that I wanted to share to help put you at ease to do your own makeup or make the decision to hire a Make-up Artist, aka MUA. 

First of all, I’ll begin with the biggest things that could go wrong and how you can avoid it:

1. Your Foundation doesn’t match your skin color. This can be easily discovered by asking a friend. Have your friend take a look outside in the daylight. If you need advanced help, go into a friendly place like Sephora or MAC and ask for their advice. You can even get a foundation sample to make sure you like it. If you decide to hire an experienced MUA they will be able to match your skin perfectly but this is also something that you may be already doing well or can easily fix with a little effort.

2. Not being prepared for Flash Photography. When your photographer may be using artificial light, there are a couple things that you want to be prepared for. Avoid using light reflecting products such as SPF products, including moisturizers, highlighters, and other products with glitter. These products reflect light and in the case of using moisturizer and foundations with SPF, it can and will make your face appear shades lighter than the rest of your body. 

3. Contouring. Kim Kardashian made this famous for a reason. It does make you look better in photos. When done properly, this will definitely enhance your natural beauty and the look of your photos. If you don’t feel comfortable with this technique, there are many tutorials on YouTube that will assist you in the technique that best fits your face shape. There isn’t a particular way for this to particularly go wrong when it comes to editing, post-session, except when it isn’t applied to enhance your natural features properly. If you need one-on-one help with this, there are free makeup lessons available at Sephora on contouring. You can also get makeup lessons from MakeUp Artists, if you would like to learn how to do this for the long-term. 

Now that you know a few of the most important things to be aware of, let’s discuss general information and options to have your makeup perfect for your typical photography session.  

1. Your makeup should be HEAVY. Natural but HEAVY. If you think it’s heavy enough, it’s probably not. Despite, popular belief, it takes a lot of time post-session to Photoshop out imperfections on your skin. One single photo can typically take up to an hour. So, to have your makeup heavy (thick) is actually at the top of my list of importance. Think about how heavy makeup is on stage for plays or on TV sets. *Keep it natural but heavy*

2. Bold lips. If you decide on a bold lip and you should definitely bring this up to your photographer, make sure that it is lined perfectly. If it doesn’t have a sharp edge, it will be noticeable in your pictures.  

3. Have your makeup fit your wardrobe. If you have a bold wardrobe then you’ll want a more simple look and the same goes for a bold makeup look. You’ll want a wardrobe that fits and doesn’t look like it was “too much”.  

When you break it down, these tips are actually pretty easy to follow but are also important so that you have the best results during your Portrait Session. If this seems to be too much for you and you have the budget to hire a MUA, then you have a couple options for that as well.

1. Ask your photographer for recommendations. Typically an experienced photographer knows how to spot an experienced MUA and can provide you the best options for your particular style and the style of your Session.  

2. You can book a MakeUp Artist at a department store, Sephora, or MAC. This will give you free options as well as options for free with a makeup purchase.

3. Book a Makeup Artist from a Salon or a Freelance Artist. They may do hair as well or work closely with someone who does.  

4. Your photographer may include the service with certain sessions, so make sure to ask.  

Well, there you have it! These are the biggest makeup tips to be photo ready, that I think you should consider before your San Diego Portrait Session. If you have ever booked a Photography Session with me here in San Diego or Las Vegas, then you will have received my Style Guide which outlines all of these tips and more. In all honesty, you can roll out of bed with no makeup and hair and I can still make you look good, so don’t stress over this. When I began in the fashion industry, hours and hours were invested into photo shoots before the camera was even turned on. Now, while your Session isn’t quite as involved as a huge marketing campaign, the more effort you put into your shoot, the better the outcome!