Arkansas Wedding Photographer’s 10 Tips for Better Portraits

10 Tips for Better Portraits

1.  Cut/color your hair at least 2 weeks before your session or wedding.  This allows for more of a natural look, rather than a freshly cut look in your images.  Remember, we still want the images to look like you naturally, not as if you just got done with a stylist.

2.  Drink a lot of water the entire week before your session for better skin.  This tip will keep your skin hydrated for a beautiful glow for your session.  Even your makeup will look better and stay on longer.

3.  Get plenty of sleep the night before.  Eight or Nine hours.

4.  Have your hair and makeup professionally done the day of your session or wedding.  This is one way to let the experts play up your best features while making you still look like yourself.

5.  Dress head to toe.  Full length images will show everything, and shoes speak volumes of you and your style.

6. Have a theme in mind that represents you through your clothing style.  Ask yourself, is your style modern, chic, bohemian, glamorous, sporty or edgy?

7.  After choosing the theme that reflects your personal style meet with us again to discuss the best backdrop for you session. If you’re modern, we may suggest shooting amongst contemporary buildings or offices.  And if your edgy, we might suggest shooting in the Arts District.  Together we’ll pick the perfect backdrop for your personalized and unique session.

8.  Look through magazines and Pinterest for inspiration and brings ideas and images with you to your consultation.  Knowing ahead of time what style, poses and overall feeling you love, helps us better understand how to adapt a vision for just you.

9.  Choosing the time of day is crucial when shooting on location.  The golden hour is 1 hour after sunrise or 1 hour prior to sunset.  That is the best light of the day and will only enhance your portraits with soft, beautiful lighting.  Shooting midday usually is very harsh lighting with high contrast between highlights and shadows, thus producing unpleasant images.  Make a commitment to schedule your session during these key periods of the day.

10.  The most important aspect is to walk way from the session excited to see the end result.  We want you to have a wonderful experience knowing you just had artwork captured of you.