Let’s face it, one of the best things you can do for your business in order to help it grow is to have a presence on Instagram. That can be super intimidating if you are a novice in the photography department. Well, that is what this post is all about! We are here to help you with a few tips and tricks to improve your photography! With a little practice, help from the right accessories and pro tips, you will be building a beautiful Instagram feed in no time!
Lenses and accessories:
There are so many different lenses and accessories on the market that can turn your phone into a amazing tool for taking photos of your lash work. These lens kits can be found on amazon and are so accessible. Gone are the days of needing an expensive professional camera to take beautiful photos.
Macro Lens:
Macro lenses are used for VERY close-up photography. They are ideal in the lash industry because they can capture so much detail! They can capture a perfect volume fan, a well placed attachment, the various stages of lash growth and so much more. On a side note, these lenses are also great for lash trainers because they capture so much detail.
While macro lenses are fun and can add an artistic flair here and there to your Insta feed, our overall goal is to attract more lash clients, so the bulk of your pictures should be taken with a more wide angle lens to give your clients a look at the type of lashes they could have!
No Lens Needed:
When clients are looking at your Instagram, typically what they want to see is the overall look of lashes. Also, before and afters are great, especially since lash extensions add so much beauty! Our goal is to attract more customers, so we need to take pictures that show the whole eye or the entire face of the client, rather than close ups of lash fans or attachment (although, those are good once in a while too). What your potential clients want to see is an idea of how they will look if they were to get eyelash extensions. This is one of the reasons before and afters are so great!
To capture the overall look and design of lashes, you don’t always need a special lens. The key is to avoid using the zoom feature on your phone. Instead, hold the phone as close to your client as you can to take a picture of their eyes. This will give you a sharper, more defined photo than zooming in.
Lighting:
Lighting is one of the most important elements of taking beautiful photos of your clients. Having a wide, even source of light makes all the difference, even if you are just using your phone. Here are a few lighting options
Glamcor: The glamor light is one of the best lights on the market. It has so many added features that are meant to help with photography. These lights offer, warm, neutral, and cool lighting settings so you can select the one that fits best. some of the more advanced Glamcor lights even have a flexible arm that can hold your cell phone and take pictures while you work. These can be a bit pricey, so we will go over a few more budget friendly options as well.
Ring Lights: One of my favorite things about the ring light is that it is budget friendly and offers many of the same things that the Glamor does. They don’t offer as many setting changes, but they have a soft light that is very flattering and doesn’t cause shadows. You may have noticed that many fashion bloggers and makeup influencers use these lights. This is because they work so well.
Selfie Lights: Last, but not least we are going to talk about the most budget friendly and easily accessible option; the selfie light. This small, clip-on devise has a range of brightness options. These work particularly well for eyelash extensions because they fill in those small shadows and help to make the photo more bright and flattering.
Photography basics and composition Photo Grids and Composition: Have you ever heard the term focal point? This is where the eye goes first when looking at your pictures. A lot of times beginner photographers are tempted to make the focal point the center of the picture, but this isn’t always the best place for a focal point, in fact our subconscious prefers for it to be to the side. This is why when taking pictures, one should follow the rule of the thirds.
The Rule of the Thirds:
Professional photographers often use the rule of the thirds because it is much more pleasing to the eye than making the center of the photo the focal point. How does it work? When taking a photo, image the scene is separated into nine equal parts, as if there are two horizontal and two vertical lines separating the parts. Your goal is the place the focus of your photo along the lines where they intersect, as seen in the photo below.
Filling the Frame and Cropping:
When we are taking photos of our work, we don’t always have the luxury of having a beautiful backdrop. Sometimes a client can be wearing a very distracting color of clothing or the background itself can be distracting. In these cases you can crop tight around your main point of focus in order to create a clean, attractive photo.
Filling the frame is another way to do this. You can either leave some space around the focal area in order to finish the process in an editing app but cropping and rotating, or you can choose to shoot exactly the way you want your finished photo to appear.
Creating Depth:
Adding details in the foreground, middle ground, and background will add depth and interest to your image and draw the eye through the photo. How do we create depth in a lash photo? Capture the image from an angle that has the eye closest to us (foreground) and the background far away by tapping the phone screen and focusing on the eye that is nearer.
This will automatically create depth by slightly blurring what is in the distance.
Angles:
Angles are very important when it comes to taking flattering photos of your work. Always be intentional about the angle that you choose when taking photos. Ask yourself, “what am I trying to capture in this photo?” Weather the answer to that question is beautiful curl, the overall look of the lashes, adjust your angle to capture just that!
Photo Editing:
To edit or not to edit? This can be a hot topic in the lash industry. We never want to edit our work, for example, filling in the inner corners or a gap that was missed. This is because editing these things wouldn’t be true to your work. We want to give clients an accurate idea of what to expect for themselves if they were to get eyelash extensions. We recommend softening the skin and anything distracting in the photo that takes away from your work.
We hope this tips help you create a beautiful Instagram! Let us know what you think in the comments and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for more tips and tricks!