Senior Portrait Tips: Why Your Photographer is in Love With Your Make-up Artist

2/5/2017 - Blog post written by my fiance and edited by me, from our website KentAndCarolynPhotos.com for our High School Senior portrait campaign.

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Senior portrait time is exciting! The outfits, the jewelry, the beautiful sunset locations, and of course, the hair and make-up!

Getting the look you want out of your senior portraits is much easier than it seems, especially if you have left your style in the hands of capable professionals. A great make-up artist/hairstylist and a great photographer will work together, most of the time without even having met each other, to make you look and feel your absolute best on picture day. Your make-up artist will give you the foundation (literally) that the photographer needs to make your features pop after you step in front of the camera. It is a combined effort. Teamwork!

In this post, we are going to show you how we use the work your make-up artist has done to touch up a senior portrait during editing. The idea is to remain true to who you are, while getting rid of the fleeting imperfections, like acne or blotchiness. You will see how we enhance features, smooth skin, refine the hair, whiten teeth, and brighten eyes to get a crisp, blemish-free image.

If you still decide to do your own make-up for your photos, that's fine, too! After the video, you will find a few tips that will help us, your photographers, bring out your best features when you step in front of our camera.

Want to see how it's done? Check out the time lapse of the editing process in this video:

As you can see, the goal is to remain as natural as possible. We use a method called "frequency separation" to do away with blotches and red patches in the skin. Then, we get rid of the blemishes and start working on the details that make a person who they are - the facial features. We use the tones in the make-up your artist applied to accent those features, even defining each eyelash by hand and enriching the tones of the brow and eye shadow. After we refine the hair, we complete the image by adjusting the overall tone, and viola!

Here are a few make-up tips to keep in mind when planning your senior photography session:

1. Hiring a professional is key! - Your make-up artist has the knowledge and experience to professionally match your skin tone to the correct color pallet. They know how to apply that pallet so that it will show best for our cameras. This ensures that your look will be natural and true to YOU.

2. Have a skin washing and moisturizing regimen, but don't over-do it! - Refrain from trying any new skin care products at least a couple of weeks before your session. If you have a bad reaction, it will show in your photos! Stick to what you know works for you, and consider adding a moisturizer if you don't already.

3. Choose a matte finish. - Stay clear of primers and foundations that are oil based or contain SPF. These can make your face seem shiny or oily under professional lighting.

4. Go with what you know. - The ultimate goal of your senior portrait session is to capture who you are RIGHT NOW. To create a true representation of what you are like at this pivotal time in your life, and have a fun, amazing experience along the way!. With that in mind, maybe picture day isn't the time to try out a new, wild outfit or hairstyle you've been wanting to try. Instead, try out the look a few weeks before your session. Give it a test run, and see if it really feels like you. You don't want to get your senior portrait collection back and feel like you are looking at a stranger.

5. No make-up? No problem! - We are still going to help remove blemishes, smooth skin, whiten teeth, and the whole shebang. If you are the kind of person who likes to stay natural, don't let anyone talk you into something that isn't you. (See tip #4) :)

6. Hire a portrait photographer who is experienced in retouching.

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