Photo Tips – Looking Good For Your Shoot

As a wedding photographer, clients often ask me what they can do to prepare for their engagement shoot to make sure they look their best and I thought instead of answering this question over and over again I’d just write up a short blog post on how to look good for the camera!

There is one complaint I get from clients that drives me absolutely bonkers – it goes something like this:

“I don’t know, I don’t like this photo.”
“What don’t you like about it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is it the composition?”
“No, I love that.”
“Is it the colour/processing?”
“No, that looks awesome.”
“Is it the pose?”
“No, we look cute.”
“Okay what are you seeing that I’m not seeing?”
“Well I forgot to iron my shirt.”

Errrrrr…….what?!

You booked this shoot 9 months in advance, and between the time you booked and now you didn’t bother to iron your shirt?! One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients is about the way they look in a photo – but it’s always about something they had complete and utter control over, that I have little to no control over!

So what do we learn from this?

1) Iron your clothes before your session. If you have concerns about them getting wrinkles, do not put them on until you arrive at your session.

2) Try your wardrobe on in advance to make sure it is not too small/tight, too big/loose, or too lowcut if you want to remain modest.

3) Choose clothes that are free of logos and trademarks. Photoshopping them out takes extra time and therefore most photographers charge extra for it.

4) Do not dye/cut your hair the night before at home with a kit you’ve never used before! Dye/cut your hair in advance so you have time to change it if you decide you hate it. The night before your shoot is not a good time to test out a wild new look.

5) While we are on the topic of hair dye – retouch your roots before the shoot!

6) Go for a manicure to ensure your hands look good and your nails are clean – don’t forget to get your engagement ring polished

7) Shave! Don’t let stubble ruin your photos!

8) Go easy on the hair and makeup. (Guys, we’re talking to you too. Don’t over gel your hair!) We can almost always darken makeup to make it look for dramatic but peeling off the layers of rouge in post is a little trickier and more time consuming and therefore often has a cost associated with it.

9) Smile, laugh, enjoy yourself. You wouldn’t believe how many people come back and say they wished they had smiled more.

10) Relax! Once you’ve taken care of all the cosmetic/personal grooming details you can hop into the passenger seat and let us drive. Just take a deep breathe, shake out the nerves and be in the moment here and now. Let your photographer worry about making sure you look your absolute best and have faith that they know what they are doing!

If you follow these 10 simple tips ahead of your engagement session you can rest assured that you’ve done just about all you can to look amazing for your shoot!