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What are most common beauty photography mistakes?

admin July 27,2017

I want to encapsulate my secrets of the top retouched beauty shots in a quick summary of the most common mistakes that the beginner may have. You also can check out my previous post basic tips for beginner photographer to learn more tips for beginners. I will definitely mention more about beauty photography, however, I would like to summarize a few thoughts on this point.

From my own experience, I found that the elements and things that photographers have reminded us hundreds of times over the one-year course. And that experience was ingrained into my essence. When we listen teachers repeating the content a lot of times, we are aware of the most important thing to remember and apply in taking pictures.

Sometimes, we listen to something for the third time, we already know the importance of it. That’s a reason that some of the stuff I’m going to mention today will be what I said in the previous articles. I want to remind you today because I believe that it is very important.

And of course, as usual, all that I posted in this post is purely my personal opinion. You do not necessarily agree with all the content I give you, just grab the content you like and I hope that you will improve on beauty shooting.

Not believe in yourself?

I think this is the most serious mistake that a new photographer can have. And if you think about it, that’s just an excuse to comfort yourself. Have you not been in contact with beautiful models, creative and experienced teams, modern galleries, and expensive photographic equipment? Well, at the start of the profession, a very few people can have that condition.

In today’s age, setting up a photography team is easier than ever. Social networking sites, Facebook … Yes, you meet people who you do not like, but you still have to keep looking for clear, creative and trustworthy artistic partners. If there is no experienced member in your team – Do not worry!

You can just shoot, meet and analyze each other’s work (you, models, hairdressers, make-up artists, makeup experts) and will progress together.

Have you ever been work with a studio? Well, you will find it interesting when you see that a part of my work is taken in the living room or in the working office. Fortunately, for beauty shots, we usually only need a small space. Close-up photography requires only a small angle and a smooth wall.

Photos of individual customers can be taken anywhere – on the floor, outdoors, wherever you want. You can shoot everywhere.

You do not have expensive projector lamps, no professional cameras, and no photographic lenses? keep shooting with what you have. You can buy a cheap flashlight at a certain store if you can not afford a professional lamp. Skills You need to have is to look at and “feel” light, “framing” the most beautiful images and guide the model, no need to pay attention to famous brands or expensive equipment. And many did that.

Using incompatible lens

When you take a beauty shot, you do not need to put too many external elements into the frame, so you do not need a wide-angle lens. Moreover, anything with a focal distance of 70-100 mm will distort the facial features and symmetry when you move closer to the subject.

I have noticed distortion in photos taken by 70mm lenses. So, you need to remember that the more space you take in a face, the more focal length you need to be able to take the picture. If you take the extreme close-up (faces only), you will need a Macro lens.

Using an inappropriate lighting fixture

You should always keep in mind that the older or more problematic your subject is, the less light you need to use. Large flash cartridges, scattered light, shade- these elements will easily help you clean skin post-production, making the picture more “shimmering”.

Lighting from one side will emphasize uneven skin, which we would like to avoid beauty shooting. Therefore, you need to make the light not only soft, but also accurate.

If you only have a very normal metal reflector, you can use parchment paper as a dispenser. This piece of paper will make the light softer and will not catch fire from the heat of the lamp.

I’m sure you understand this but anyway I would like to restate it as it is one of the most important things you need to know about how to handle brightness.

Direct sunlight will produce very shady shadows. The smaller the light source is (depending on the size of the subject) or the farther distance from the light source to the object is, the sharper and darker the shape is. The strongest light produced from the light source is a point. If the light source is small and far enough, its size is no longer a problem. You can imagine about the sun on a clear day, or a light from a certain stage.

Diffused light will “scatter” the object from many different directions, creating a very shiny shade or removing the shade. The closer and larger light source are (depending on the size of the object), the sharper and brighter the light will be. You can imagine to a sky full of clouds when the sky becomes a light source, a giant window in the north of the building.Placing the camera above eye level of the subject.

Placing the camera above eye level of the subject.

Of course, this is not a rule for all types of beauty photography but you have to keep in mind that when you shoot above the model’s eye level, their necks will look shorter.

During the shoot, when the model sits on a stool, I almost bend over or kneel down. My eyes are slightly up that allowing me, visually, to lengthen the model’s neck, making her look more graceful, more elegant.

Stepping too far back

In editorial photography or fashion photography, we often “put” a lot of things around into the frame and use the wide-angle lens. However, with beauty shots, we usually focus only on the face of the subject and need to move closer.

Watching beauty photos in magazines, you will see that people only leave very little negative space around the model’s head.

“I will retouch it later in Photoshop”. Do not think like that.

Vigilance and attention during the shooting are the things you can do in post-production. In case you’re an expert in Photoshop and can make miracles with your patchwork skills. You can save a lot of time by tweaking hair, makeup stains, twisted shoulder straps before you pull the shutter.

If a makeup artist and or hairdresser is there to remodel during the shoot then it’s good! They will find and adjust a lot for you because they are standing outside the frame, next to the model.

If you are taking pictures of your customers, you can help them save an editorial fee by adjusting on the camera. And that patchwork will praise you because you have provided him with a very clean and beautiful “material source”.

Not checking the screen regularly to fix errors

I witnessed this situation very often in the shooting room. Many photographers keep shooting without ever checking what they have got. In my opinion, it is easy for you to get in trouble. Especially, when you do not check the screen while adjusting the light at the beginning of the shoot.

This is my”remarkable experience”. Many times, the model has given me beautiful poses, nice movements or an extremely expressive face, and I pressed a lot and complimented her, later I realized that my light source was too far away to capture as I wanted.

Or maybe it was too bright or too dark because I just adjusted the camera and forgot to check the screen.

Now, my habit is to check the back of the camera after 4 to 7 shots. If the brightness and everything are ok, I can safely keep shooting without having to check again.

Lacking information exchange

You should talk to your models during the shoot. It helps the model feel comfortable and, also can get more beautiful poses and more expressive face from the model.

If you are trying to make a good shoot, you need to talk to the model. You can guide and help her to create nice poses, encourage, and raise positive aspects.

I mean, to have good beauty shooting, it is necessary to have a connection and understanding between you and the model. This is only possible if there is good interaction between you and her.

And I will carefully repeat once more about contacting with the model: if you need to fix her hair or accessories, you need to gently ask her for permission first. You need to respect her, and show that you are a professional and polite photographer.

Caring skin too careful

This is not just about the field of photography. This is a factor that can make images look better or worse. And I see many photographers have trouble with this more often than the content I mentioned above.

When we retouch skin, our goal is to make the skin look smooth and lively. We want the skin to look healthy, smooth and fresh. If you just start shooting and retouching, I suggest that you get to know the technical guidelines for retouching.

Once you know how much you need to fix, you will focus on essential tools to retouch. And after you get these tools, you need to learn and practice the Frequency Separation Technique. This technique helps you to change the color and shades with the best results.

I hope this summary will help you!

And in case you think of a common mistake of the new beauty photographer (or maybe you) often have.