Great beauty photography is a lot more than throwing a pretty model in front of your lens with a beauty dish. If you want to create compelling and commercially successful beauty imagery, you must dive deeper into this artform.

Over the last decade I’ve photographed hundreds of models, been in dozens of magazines, and shot beauty campaigns that have appeared in magazines, on billboards and product packaging. I’m passionate about creating memorable imagery that represents my style and can appeal to potential beauty clients.

Beauty photography is a precise art form. If your model choice is ‘off’, or the makeup is wrong, or your light isn’t quite right, or if the pose is unflattering– any one of these things can ruin the shot. That makes beauty photography more challenging that people realize; everything has to be just right.

I help you to approach each element of beauty photography with a better understanding of how it affects the final image. How does my camera angle change the appearance of the face? How does this particular lighting setup reinforce the concept? What type of words and images can I use to describe the type of makeup I want in a shot? You’ll learn this and much more in my essential Beauty class!

Here’s a bit more of what you’ll learn:

• Categories of beauty photography including skincare, commercial cosmetics, luxury cosmetics and editorial beauty. With each category we will break down the types of lighting, makeup and specialty considerations.
• How to develop a concept, create a mood board, and work with a creative team to bring your ideas to life.
• How to work with modeling agencies, how to speak the lingo, and what to look for in a model portfolio.
• How understanding traditional standards of beauty can allow you to flatter your model
• Common beauty lingo to communicate with makeup artists.
• Ideal apertures, white balance, lens choice and megapixels
• Macro beauty considerations for angles, depth-of-field, focal length and more
• Posing essentials including posing hands and shoulders.
• Favorite beauty lighting modifiers and essential beauty setups. We cover magnum reflectors, scrims, beauty dishes, hard light, soft light, and everything in between.