First decide what you would like to achieve by doing a photo shoot, ask yourself what your market will be, who would like to use the pictures and what for, publication in trade or consumer magazines, advertising in local press, display posters in a salon, model portfolio, team motivational exercises any or all of these things can be successful but you need to think about it and decide what best suits your objective.
Decide on the kind of images that you would like, look through trade journals and magazines for ideas, try to keep it uncomplicated, focus on the look and not the hair, fashion or background of the picture.
Getting the right look for your pictures is crucial for the success of your shoot so choose your examples carefully, they must have the image content but also they must have the right face and shape, and similar bone structure if you want to include hair or fashion shots.
Make-up is a very important part of your shoot decide what look your going for but as a general rule don’t over complicate the make-up or it will distract from your finished look.
Clothes and styling again decide what you want but try to keep it uncomplicated and not to distracting from the model, sometimes very simple clothing dresses and tops work best, your models do not have to spend a fortune, look in magazines and ask your model to bring a selection of thier own clothes or make sure you have friends that are prepared to loan you some clothes for pictures.
Planning and preparation, storyboard your shoot but be prepared to go with the flow, and it is always a good idea to have a few try out days first, with family or friends before doing a full shoot, if you can and try and get a few different looks, don’t vary the make up for each shot, take a range of shots, try different angles and lighting setups, document the ones that work best in print.
On thedDay of any shoot make sure you have all your equipment ready, ask your models not to bring any more people than necessary to a shoot, one stylist per model is adequate and a friend or parent if your model is under age, it’s important to keep your focus and on your planned objectives and not have any distractions.
If you are paying for studio time remember time is money, timing is crucial on a shoot so try to measure how much time your model will need for hair, make up and clothing variations, build in some time for a refreshment break, communicate with your model, never show the model the images during a shoot, between you and your model you should be able to see the best way to show thier style and capture the look to its best advantage.
Don’t panic and take your time, be confident and ask your model to amend any loose hair and make slight modifications as you go along, get it right in the camera do not think you can fix everything in Photoshop later on.
Get a model release signed, never touch the model but direct them by motioning with your hands, and protect yourself by making sure you are never alone with a model, also if the model is underage communicate with the parent and get approval and permission for the range of different shots, they will be buying the prints not the model.
Have a music player in the studio and ask you model to bring some of thier own music along, have refreshments like bottled water, and a seperate place for the model to change, even if shooting nudes always leave while the model prepares, ask your model to choose clothing without strong design or patterns so as not to detract from thier face.
It is most important that the model must feel comfortable for a good shoot, with good communication between the photographer and the model, and if you think that something definitely will not work, be polite and ask for a change of clothing, another advantage of taking pictures in a studio.
Get your model to bring along 3 or 4 outfits that fit thier personality, ask them to avoid patterns or strips as solid neutral colours look best, bring along reasonably plain colourful clothes that won't date and it is best not to wear clothes with big logos or brands on.
Use some props like glasses, hats, bags and the likes, these can be used as an accent colour, where an accent colour is used in quite small quantities to lift or to add punch to a colour scheme, the accent colour should be in a complementary colour to what they have already got on.
Make-up can vary from one shoot to the next, but there are some basic rules and tips that can really make a difference to a photo.
When it comes to thier make-up as a whole, the base of any make-up is one of the most important parts of the look, it is very important they get both, the tone and shade for thier skin correct, otherwise it will show up on camera.
Whether you want to achieve a natural look or something more glamorous, the eyes are always the focus in any picture, eye make-up can get lost under strong lights. It is important they use shadows and liners with strong pigments. and put a little more on than they normally would, as you will loose a lot of definition under the lights.
Make-up will loose up to 40% of its tone and colour through the lens and that's almost half, so you can imagine just how strong you need it to be to transfer onto print.
Avoid using anything with to much shimmer, as this will reflect the lights badly. If you are going for a heavy eye make-up, ask them to create the eyes first and apply foundation/base afterwards, as this way, you can wipe away any shadow that drops onto the skin and maintain a clean fresh look on the skin.
Do not overdo make-up on the cheeks as your model may end up looking flushed if you are not careful, try and keep the cheek and lip colour in sync as much as possible.
Do go easy with glosses as they can reflect the light badly, remember that it is not just the face that needs making-up. if they are going to use fake-tan, be sure to use the same colour on all exposed areas of skin, also be careful of strapmarks also try to ensure that thier hands and toes are in nice shape. no chipped nails or polish, and try to keep them matching.
It is very important to experiment and get to know your model better. the more you experiment, the more confident you will become, the one thing to remember is have fun with a shoot. if you make miskes, it's no problem start all over.