Let’s just get something straight right from the start. I’m not advocating rapid weight loss here. But that title got you in, didn’t it? 😉
I’m writing because people often look at my work and make a few assumptions:
1. Gosh! She looks incredible! You must have a fabulous hair and makeup artist!
Yes, I do! I have several, in fact. And they all do a wonderful job. I couldn’t create the images I do without them. They take a person’s face and hair and transform them before my eyes every shoot we do, and I never tire of watching how cleverly they accentuate beautiful eyes and add shape to faces in all the right ways. I can’t do what they do, and I don’t think I want to learn to either. They do it so well, and together we make a good team.
2. Gosh! She looks incredible! You must do a lot of retouching!
Yes, I do! But probably not as much as you think I do. I correct colour, I remove lint from clothes and stray hairs from faces. I make skin glow a little and I make eyes shine. Sometimes I even slim an arm or remove a muffin top, but only occasionally. It is fairly gentle retouching, and not to the point where you’d notice unless you had the untouched and retouched images side by side.
3. Gosh! She looks incredible. You always shoot such beautiful women!
Yes, I do! All the women who come into my studio are beautiful, but they don’t necessarily think they are. And yet all we do here when you come in for a shoot it accentuate what’s already there. We don’t create something out of nothing. We just show you how to make the most of the natural beauty that you have in you already.
Have a look at these photos. They are straight out of camera, no retouching. This woman has been through hair and makeup, and is looking gorgeous, and yet look at her first image. It’s not so flattering, is it?
And then, with a tiny amount of instruction, we get this:
Better, but not quite there yet.
More detailed instruction, and some changes in angle of view et voila!
THERE it is! Look at the difference! It’s not just hair and makeup that makes the transformation (though that’s a good first step). It’s knowing how to pose different body shapes, how to get the right hand placement, how to coach someone into holding their head in the right position so that their face looks good through the lens. It’s knowing how to help people relax during their session. It’s knowing how to manipulate light so that it is flattering to the face and the body. It’s all those things rolled together that create great images.
