Planning the Shoot: Lighting, Makeup, Hair and Poses

Lighting
To create the soft focus images that I really loved on my model, I will place her infront of a large rectangular soft box so the background will be bright and gentle on the outlines of her hair and face. I will take photos front on in front of a white background to help lighten the image with reflection. To add to that, to remove any shadows where I don't want them I will have a helper to position the reflector where I need it. I will use 50mm and 80mm lenses to create the close ups and shoulder-up images we need.

For the harsher, sharper images I will place the model in front of either a grey or black background (I will aim to use both to get a mixture of atmospheres and see which is the best outcome) and will use a reflector to remove any unwanted darkness and lighten to models face even more. I will use a beauty dish on the light instead of a soft box to create a bright and more direct source of light, but also to show her her natural beauty with the dish. I think for this set up with use both the lenses again to get various shots of her from every angle.

Makeup Look 1 (for setup 1)

For the first look, I want a perfected and flawless base with subtle highlight across the face. I will define the face slightly with contour to bring out my models natural beauty. The eyebrows will be filled in natural to add structure the the face and I want to add a simple sheen of bronze onto the eyelid with lots of mascara (no clumps though!) to emphasis my models eyes. The lips with either have a nude lipgloss or just vaseline to make the lips look healthy and moisturised.

Poses and Hair for Makeup and Setup 1

My model has shorter hair than these images, but I will still style it in a similar way. I want to loosely curl her hair to create 'beachy' waves or a messy look to add to the minimlistic makeup. I want these black and white photos to be strong, beautiful images of her natural beauty so the harsher light will be focused on her face from different angles (front on and side on as the brief requires) but I would like to include the shoulders to switch up the poses.

Makeup Look 2 (for setup 2)

As I am planning on creating both looks in the same session, I will add to the minimal natural look the model has on already. I will deepen the eye with darker browns and smoke out the lash lines. I will make the contour strong and add a red lip. I may also darker the brow if it is needed to tie the look together.

Poses and Hair for Makeup and Setup 2

For the softer lighting set up, I had a stronger makeup look and want to reflect this in bolder poses. I will ask my model to use her hands and shoulders more and hopefully the soft light will make the images less intense and create a eye-catching contrast between the styling and lighting. Her hair will also be tied up and away from her face in a messy bun to keep the focus on the more extreme makeup and bolder poses.

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