Quentin Decaillet is a beauty and wedding photographer based in Switzerland. He is an ambassador of Capture One.
Any good makeup artist will tell you that great eyebrows will make any face look good. Think of eyebrows like frames for prints: when they are beautifully crafted, they will make your prints standout. Eyebrows will do the same for a model's face, whether it is a male of a female model. They can totally change the expression and the look of someone depending on how they are shaped.
Getting perfect skin tones can be quite time consuming and difficult. Because everyone's skin complexion is different, the corrections needed will be different every time. Even so, there are some recurring problems such as over-saturated reds in darker tones. A great makeup goes a long way in helping with redness, but sometimes it is not enough.
Many makeup products can make the skin glow and can look great when associated with a good contouring. However, shiny products when used under strobe light can be difficult to dose out correctly. In a previous article I showed you a technique to diminish that glowing effect when too much highlighter or too few setting powder is applied.
About a year ago, Pratik Naik wrote an article about a video the guys at FX-Ray made regarding hair retouching. At the time I found the video very interesting and quite educative.
Having a makeup artist when shooting is a luxury for some photographers. While it is a must-have on a beauty or fashion set, when doing more simple portraiture it is not always easy to justify the cost for one. The biggest problem I find myself with when not having a makeup artist on set is people with oily skin are going to shine under strobe lighting.
When retouching, it is not rare to come across color problems on a model’s skin. Whether it is from a sun tan, dodge & burn, spots or skin discoloration issues, it can be really painful to treat it in post.
Elinchrom has been the brand of choice for years many Europeans and Australians photographers alike. They are cheaper than Profoto or Broncolor, offer a good range of modifiers and – unlike Paul C. Buff – have service centers outside of the USA. To many photographers they also have been a great way to get into studio photography before moving up to Broncolor or Profoto.
It is no secret that a picture will rarely look the same on every media. Even from one screen to another there can be a huge difference! Blacks that might look like pure black on your laptop might be a very dark grey on your phone.
When working with models, photographers often expect someone with perfect skin and a great physique. In reality, this is not always the case. Some models have no idea how to get ready for a shoot, and that can be really annoying -- especially in post production, as it might add a lot of retouching time!
We often hear how much makeup can impact the final result of a photo shoot. It can either make or break a picture depending on its quality. A great makeup artist can save you tons of time in post while a bad one will add many hours to your job. However, working with a great makeup artist doesn't necessarily mean you will get what you need.
