Holding shoots for beauty photography is a staple to survive the cosmetic industry, wherein people rely on eye-catching visuals to engage with brands and products.
Typically, with most brands, the first point of contact with consumers and companies are the images they put out to advertise their products. Whether it’s in the social media ads, flyers, or with the packaging, it’s your overall look that customers use to judge your credibility.
Outdated looks are commonly received with hesitance regardless of whether your brand is real and if your product or service is actually good. This is why investing in commercial beauty photography is essential for businesses to attract consumers.
So, What is Beauty Photography?
In a nutshell, beauty photography involves taking images of subjects up close for editorial, commercial, or personal purposes. The idea behind this type of photography is to showcase the charm and features of the model and translate them into an elegant photo.
Complementary to that, commercial beauty photography simply takes the same idea and positions the photos in a way that would also highlight which product or service the model is advertising in the image.
You may notice this type of photography in various stores you see in malls or in digital media. You can see it being used in skincare advertisements where brands highlight how their products can contribute to your routine to achieve the popular “glass skin” look.
Ultimately, like any branch of commercial product photography, the goal is to shoot images that can visually entice your audience and appeal to their emotions to convince them to engage with your brand.
Our Kolours Beauty Photography Shoot
In the case of our project with Kolours, Stellar Studios was tasked to recreate the brand’s packaging by highlighting their bold new hair colors as the face of their products. The idea was for Kolours’ packaging to stand out among a sea of competitors they share shelves with at their consigned shops.
With our team of professionals namely:
- Photographer: Rebecca van Ommen
- Assistants: Vernard Buce, Joshua Visbal, Jenn Pajo, Gladys Dorado, Elmer Llosa, and Gian Martinez
- Hair Stylist: Junie Sierra from The Bloc BGC
- Account Manager: Anca Bautista
- Creative Lead: Lec Flores and Elvin Julian
We were able to effectively collaborate and accomplish Kolours’ photoshoot seamlessly.
The photos we took for them showcased the vibrance of their color selection, showing shiny and bouncy hair with each image we shot. We wanted to highlight the subtle classiness of their color selection matching different types of faces with different types of hairstyles.
The end of the project was a complete success, as we were able to execute the brief that Kolours wanted for the photos in their new packaging design. With much expertise, our professionals carefully applied the key values of commercial beauty photography during the shoot to craft images that best reflect the brand.
Elements of a Successful Commercial Beauty Photography Shoot
Now that you know what commercial beauty photoshoots are and how they’re used in marketing strategies, here are some important factors that can influence your shoot:
Lighting is Always Crucial
Photography jobs typically give so much importance to lighting as this element can make or break your project. And with something as detailed as commercial beauty photography, you have to know how which lighting principles will enhance skin texture, create the proper mood and atmosphere, and which ones can highlight specific features you want to showcase.
With setups like this, you can use natural, studio, or artificial lighting for your shoot.
- Natural lighting usually works best with outdoor shoots and to get a more organic-looking vibe to your photos.
- Studio lighting is a popular choice for beauty photographs since it allows you to have complete control of the lighting setup. So, if you want to change the cosmetic feature you will highlight in your photos, you can easily do so with studio lights.
- Artificial lighting is normally used when natural or studio lighting is unavailable or if want to portray a specific vibe or look with your photos.
Don’t be afraid to test out lighting styles before you start your project. It’s from extra preps like this that you can ensure your official photoshoot goes smoothly.
With our Kolours shoot, we utilized our studio lights for our models so that we can properly feature the various hair colors we wanted to showcase.
Our goal was to achieve that subtle hair shine with each hair color we feature without overpowering highlights and reflections on the photo.
Giving Importance to the Role of Hair and Makeup
It goes without saying that most photoshoots give value to hair and makeup. However, this is especially important with beauty photoshoots where you usually highlight certain cosmetics that your brand is promoting.
You would need a team of professionals to work with your photographer to ensure that the theme of the shoot captures the essence of the product that you are showcasing. Hair and makeup (HMU) not only creates a flawless and glamorous look, but also enhances the specific style you’re showing.
For example, if you’re advertising skincare products like facial creams, you want to have hair and makeup that show a more natural “woke up like this” flawless look. Contrary to that, if you’re advertising a bold new shade of lipstick, you want your hair and makeup to look bolder and more elegant with your overall photo looking poised.
While details like this may be small to onlookers, it actually influences the tone of the photo you’re showing. If you choose bolder hair and makeup themes for an ad that shows skincare products, it might confuse your viewers with the message you want them to understand.
In our Kolours beauty photoshoot, our HMU team was able to create a look that showcases the beauty of the model without deviating from the actual subject of the image: the hair.
They were able to achieve hair that stayed voluminous, bouncy, and shaped all throughout the shoot even when the model would move from left to right. The final looks from the shoot successfully showed each unique hair color that Kolours is promoting.
Adding Your Finishing Touches with Post-Processing
After every photoshoot, you want to curate your images and enhance them to have a finalized complete look. Post-processing your photographs include adjusting the color, contrast, saturation, and removing any blemishes or imperfections they may have.
While having the perfect combination of lighting, hair, and makeup is crucial, adjusting the final photo will make sure that your image is put together and cleanly portrays your message. This step will significantly impact your image’s final quality and will be the visuals your audience will see in the ads you will be putting out.
As for our Kolours shoot, we were able to adjust our images to emphasize the brand’s product and make it look seamless to match the models’ features. Our post-processing adjustments made sure that our photos had a dramatic hair effect that showcases Kolours’ vibrant hair colors.
We also added an extra step during our post-processing by making mock-ups of the packaging where the new photos will be added to. This is so that the client can visualize how the images would look like when you complete the graphics of the packaging––combining their logo and texts.
Achieving Stunning Beauty Images with Stellar Studios
Knowing about the ins and outs of beauty photography shoots is vital for any cosmetic business wanting to thrive in the industry. Investing in photography sessions will make sure that you stand out among the vast number of competitors available in the market.
Here at Stellar Studios, our end-to-end photography services will ensure that you have high-quality photos every time! Our team of professional creatives can translate your brand into images that appeal to your target audience, taking care of you and your product from pre- to post-production.
You can check out our portfolio on our website to know more about our previous projects, and you can contact us to find out how we can help your business!