5 areas, advanced preparation, huge advantages! If neglected, the focal point may be sharing something distracting... These five areas will help you unlock your best look, they are: face, hair, hands, skin, and the clothes that you wear.
Hemet Portraits - Family Photography by Ember Rian Portraits
A good way to look at your portrait session is like going back to school. Not just going back to school but preparing for the final exam. I'm sure you have done it once or twice, not study going in unprepared. What usually happens? A not so good grade, if not the worst grade you have ever received. Well, it's the same with portrait photography. Don't be caught waking up last minute running out the door the day of your shoot. Here is some wisdom to help you in advance! We have put together these 5 ideas to help you prepare yourself or to splurge while pampering yourself. Just remember choose what fits in your budget, lifestyle, and beauty regimen and together we'll make you look like a star!
1. FACE
Whiten teeth. Crest, sells teeth whitener that takes less than a week to shine up that brilliant smile with glamorous white teeth for under $50 bucks. If you are do for a cleaning, check out your dentist. Most dental insurance covers preventative maintenance 100 percent, which means you can get those teeth looking great with no deductible. You pay your insurance on a monthly basis, you might as well go all out!
Hemet High School Senior Portraits by Ember Rian Photography
Facial blemishes. When it comes to your face, there are several steps that you can take to improve the quality of your look and avoid those unwanted last minute blemishes. It's important to wash your face. But don't wash too much! Wash when waking up and at night right before you go to bed. Vigorously scrubbing you face with a wash cloth or harsh exfoliate will irritate your skin and may give you those undesired facial structures at the last minute. To prevent acne, use luke warm water and a gentle cleaners. If you find yourself sweating due to a hard workout in the sun or at the gym don't let your sweat dry, instead, always bathe or wash your skin promptly. If it so happens you have that last minute unexpected acne issue, don't worry and don't pick it! We're experts with Photoshop and we will remove it digitally at no extra charge. One of the best things you can do the week prior to your photo shoot is don't eat greasy foods and don't use cosmetics that are oil free. Just look on the label for "non-acnegenic" or "non-comedogenic." After all you don't want to introduce more oil to your skin when you are trying to avoid closing your skin pours.
Exfoliate. If you plan to exfoliate, only do it minimally and allow your skin time to recover from the treatment prior to your Hemet portrait photo shoot. If you are going all out for your portrait session, I highly recommend a facial. Plan it a week prior to your portrait session because facials tend to cause redness, a week should allow your skin to recover beautifully. If you??™re on a budget, enjoy a nice evening with some gooey florescent masque while reading a favorite book in front a nice cozy fire. It??™s a great way to recharge your psyche. Repeat as necessary.
2. HAIR
Hemet High School Portraits by Ember Rian Photography
Roots. Let??™s get to the root of the problem. For images more evenly toned hair is great, three days out touch it up your roots. This is ideal for your portrait session. One thing to remember, don't go drastic, play it safe because you already look beautiful!
Get trimmed. Neat, healthy hair and a touch of vibrancy with a subtle trim can make a world of difference. If you don't believe me, go get it done, and see how many guys notice you...!
Deep conditioning. This is something you may want to do while putting on that gooey florescent masque. Get out your most favorite deep conditioner, wrap your head turban style, if your feeling playful, act like a genie who's got three wishes while your marinating. Or read a book. Your call.
3. HANDS
Get a manicure. If you have an outfit that shoes your toes, toss in a pedicure. Book this the day before your session! If you like to keep it simple, go with a neatly shaped, clear nails or soft, neutral colors. With your toes, any color goes. Just remember to think about the colors you will be wearing. You want them to complement each other.
Shine up that Jewelry. If you wear jewelry go to the store and purchase some jewelry cleaner. You can pick up some at Walgreens or Rite-Aid for less than $7 dollars. If you are on a budget you can clean your jewelry using household items. If you are having your goldsmith professionally clean your jewelry, make sure to take it in a few days prior to your Hemet portrait photo shoot. You may have a loose stone, and the goldsmith may have to reset it!
Him too. If you are bringing your other half, make sure his ring and jewelry is prepared as well. Don't be a lone wolf, stand brilliant together!
4. SKIN
Smooth skin. Whenever there is skin irritations involved always give you at least two days to recover. You can wax or shave, just to remember to get those underarms and legs. If you are doing something a little sexier, using a swim suit or lingerie, go for the bikini area as well.
Let it glow. As you already know, our Photoshop skills will hide a multitude of yours sins. Don't worry we got this. For those of you who love the natural look, embrace your inner pale. If not, get your faux on. Visit a tanning salon two days prior to your Hemet portrait photography shoot or simply get your favorite tanning spray solutions and let it glow! When you feel like you are all that, your images will reflect it.
5. CLOTHES
Bring 5 to 6 outfits. Clothing is the one of the most important thing you can bring to add value to you images. Bring an assortment of styles and colors. They should reflect who you are. Think of the clothing that you have only worn once or a handful of times because it's unpractical in your day-to-day use. Or perhaps you have that go to blouse that you wear when going out somewhere nice.
Make one Dark. It's always best to bring one set of dark clothing. Let it be black, navy, or even or charcoal, you preference is best
but keep one set dark. Make one Light. It doesn't have to be white; it can be creamy, nude, or light pink. Make is soft, gauzy, layered, and even sheered. Your choices are endless; just enjoy yourself as we capture looking your best
Make if funky, make it fun! Show who you are. This is your personal style. If you tend to be conservative go with a different adjective. Try structured, soft, elegant, or even formal.
Going Sexy. This is your call. You set your limits! You can understate sexy with a open back formal dress or go more overt sexy with an empowering lingerie or pinup style. It's your images, you chose.
Think shape, think necklines. Go for more than your typical t-shirt neckline. There are many types to choose from. Collar bones are always nice to photograph, so boat neck, scoop neck, square neck, deep V, and off the shoulder work well in portraits. Feel free to bring what you think will make you shine. Having multiple styles will allow variety to your portrait session. More styles the better!
Avoid Prints. Textures can be delicious in a well-played out portrait with a solid background. However, prints need to be avoided at all costs. You don't want your image to age quickly with any given trend right? Besides one of the first thing you will notice about patterns and prints is your focus point will shift to the pattern and away from you. You are the subject not the dress! Let??™s get all those eyes on how beautiful you look. Stay with the solids, or least minimize the textures.
Form Fit Clothing. Clothing always looks better shaped to your body form. Plus it hides wrinkles and undesired shadows that can add pounds in your portraits images. I'm sure you heard the camera adds 10 pounds, they weren't lying. As we photograph you, form fitting clothing allows us to use the camera to our advantage shaping your body by pushing your waste back, head forwards and moving arms away from the camera that will enhance your overall appearance. When we are done, you will be saying, WOW!
6. BONUS
Bring food and water. One of the most important things you can do for your portrait photography session is arrive not just ready to make beautiful images but be prepared to keep yourself hydrated and full. Empty stomachs lead less smiles. Bring snacks that don't stain and lots of water.
Following these five steps will guarantee you a variety of great portraits to choose from when we see you for your viewing consultation. During a typical portrait session we can get as many as 100 images to filter through as you decide which best represents you. At Ember Rian we don't sell any of our portraits. We simply guide you through our packages and help you decide. We start by selecting your favorite images. He guide your through our selection of professional materials and sizes that you get to choose. In one to two weeks, your beautifully rendered portraits will have arrived. You can now share your beautiful wall gallery of yourself and/or family portraits by Ember Rian Photography.
Let us know if we forgot anything! We would love to hear from you. If you are interested in portraits we specialize in High School Senior Portraits, Family Portraits, Glamour, Weddings and more.
