Most girls by the time they become high school seniors have established their own unique style and look when it comes to applying makeup, and that’s great! We all want and need our individuality. However, when it comes to portraiture a little really does go a long way. So let’s talk about this for a moment. Makeup does two important things. First, it draws attention to the woman’s eyes. Second, it adds vibrance and color to a woman’s face. The lips and cheeks will always photograph better with a little color added and the eyes are always going to standout better with a little mascara. Notice I keep using the word little. That’s because photography tends to accentuate detail and color in a portrait and it’s even more pronounced now with digital. What may actually look natural in real life can appear over-done in a portrait. While eye-liner can draw attention to the eyes in real life, it can actually make the eyes look smaller in a photograph, and that’s the last thing we want to do because we want to not only draw the viewer’s attention to the eyes, but into the eyes. The eyes are the windows to our individuality and our essence. We want to do everything we can to make the eyes look big and bring out their natural color. I spend quite a bit of time and effort on lighting and retouching to do just that. So remember, it’s important to have a good foundation, albeit it with no demarcation lines between the neck and cheek, and a little cheek blush and eye shadow for that added color, but be very careful and keep in mind that less truly is more in a portrait. I actually add a little extra eye-liner, blush, and mascara in nearly every retouch I do. I can control exactly how much I need to add, but trying to take away is whole different story that can take quite a bit of time and will never quite look the same as if it had been done right in camera. So by all means, keep your own unique style, but be conservative, and instead let me accentuate your inner beauty and individuality with my lighting and retouching.
