How to Prepare for Your Shoot. Part 1 - Skin
Step one to getting great photos is making sure you look your best! Here are a few tips on how to achieve that in the week running up to your shoot.
The tips in this post and video are about what you can do to get your skin looking its best in the week running up to your shoot. These tricks are useful whatever kind of shoot you’re coming in for. Whether its actors headshots, business headshots or portraiture, or just anything where your face is on camera, these tips will show you how to look your best for a photoshoot.
Part 2 will be more focussed on actors’ needs, going through how to prepare for actor headshots in particular, looking at what clothes to bring to your actor headshots session.
Part 3 will be about how to prepare for professional portraits, including some key things to think about, no matter what field you are in.
Here are my tips:
1. Get enough sleep
Probably not a surprise to anyone, but if you’re tired and run down you're probably not going to be at your best! Being properly rested means fresh, rejuvenated skin, clear eyes, and more energy and enthusiasm during the shoot.
One big lie in on the day or the day before is a start, sure, but if you really want it to make a difference, aim to be getting your full 8 hours daily for about a week.
2. Drink more water
Well hydrated skin looks best on camera. It reflects light in a much more flattering way and it gives you a generally healthier appearance! You see the difference more in a photograph than you do in real life because you are able to look at it in a different way as well.
The NHS recommend drinking 6-8 glasses of water per day. Also, make sure your extra drinks are actual water! Necking a whole bottle of a sugary soft drink will probably outweigh the good with the bad!
It’s good to make sure you are drinking lots of water from about a week before your shoot. This will give your body plenty of time to make the most of it and get you looking your best!
3. Eat your fruits and vegetables
All those vitamins and minerals are going to help you skin to glow as well. As with the other points above, do this from at least a week in advance of your session to give your body a chance to take advantage of it.
Now some things to avoid:
1. Lay off the booze
Alcohol dries out your skin and gives you tired red eyes. So it’s a really good idea to avoid it for a few days before your shoot. If you like a drink (guilty!), I would go as far as to recommend paying attention to when you book so it’s not right after a big social event. I.e. the day after your best mate’s (and probably bad influence…) birthday is probably not the right day if you want to get the best photos!
2. Avoid anything you know causes flare-ups in your skin
A common one here is with some foods that people have intolerances to. If this applies to you, you’ll know what they are and how they affect you.
Some flare-ups are unavoidable, but don’t panic, it’s actually really easy to edit out spots and blemishes when editing a photo. Don’t believe me? Watch this video I made about it.
3. Stay out of the sun
Especially if you have a fair complexion or burn easily. I know, it’s so tempting to get out when the sun’s shining, but if you go and get burnt just before your session, you’ll kick yourself.
Conclusions
You might notice that most of these things are what most people would call ‘being healthy’, and you’d be right. Essentially, your photos should show you at your best. And the best way to do that is to give your body what it needs to be the best version of itself.
Each of these things makes a difference, and if you do them all from about a week before your shoot, you can have the confidence that you have prepared properly and look your best.
Featuring in this video is Chanel Fernandes. Find her on insta here - @chanelfernandes
Thanks for reading! Take a look at my other posts for more info on how to prepare for headshots and professional portraits!