Salons should always take pictures of clients. You need to continuously add to your portfolio. Great pictures are needed for social media and website pages. Being able to take great photos of your clients will help achieve many things. It will boost client/staff engagement, raise brand awareness, and attract new clients. Learning good salon photography will create a more exciting and energetic environment for your clients and staff members alike.
Many clients visit the salon with the sole purpose of posting pictures on their various platforms. Which can be a great way to find models for your brand and business. So, no matter why you want to take pictures, you should ensure that they are the best pictures possible. With that in mind, here is a list of 14 salon photography tips for amazing hairdressing photography.
1. Make Sure Your Hair Model Looks Their Best
The first tip for creating amazing beauty salon photoshoots is to make sure your client looks their absolute best. This may mean you need to spend extra time perfecting their hair and makeup. You should try new techniques or colors for some added impact.
Look for ways to increase your hair model’s unique look as someone you would want to represent your brand. Small things like doing their nails, makeup, and a trending hair style will go a long way. The point is to ensure they look great from head to toe. Treat the whole experience like you are preparing them for a photoshoot in your favorite magazine and go all out!
2. Know Your Intention for Your Salon Photography
The next tip is to know exactly what you’re trying to promote. Are you doing a photo shoot for the fall? Do you want to present different shades of blonde, reds, or brunettes? Maybe you want to showcase a variety of short haircuts. Maybe even a wide array of non-conventional colors, such as purple, blue, or green. Either way, you should have a clear vision of what you want. It’s important to imagine the pictures before you begin the hair style and makeup on your model.
3. Have a Game Plan for Your Salon Photoshoot
Next, you always want to plan out your hair photoshoot. Whether it’s one person or a variety of people, you need a plan of how you want to execute your vision. This will ensure you’re able to adapt to any unforeseen circumstances. Plan out each step of the day. Have each model come in early to prep them. Make sure they understand the agenda before you begin. You may also need to line up additional stylists to help with services like coloring, cutting, etc. Even if you are shooting just one hair model, it can be a huge undertaking. So, be prepared and make sure that you have planned for every aspect of the photoshoot.
5. DSLR Cameras are Great Investments for Hair Salon Pictures
Although they can be a tad pricey, a good DSLR camera is worth the investment if you will be doing lots of salon photography. These cameras are preferred by many professional photographers because they have superior autofocus systems, have a lengthy battery life, they offer a wide array of lens options, and they include an optical viewfinder that makes for better clarity and a more dynamic range. These cameras are great for nail photography, hairstylist photography, and much more. Check our recommended camera and lens for taking great hair salon pictures.
4. The iPhone Camera Works Great for Salon Photography
While it’s always nice to have a professional camera, an iPhone is very capable of taking professional-level pictures. There are many filters and apps that make it easy to edit your work. The newer iPhones are equipped with many of the same features found on DSLR cameras. In addition, it’s easier to upload your photos to the cloud and then transfer to your social media and website. Here is a good article for taking professional quality photos with your iPhone.
The downside for us when using an iPhone is that you will have many images filling up your phone. It adds extra work in terms of sorting through your picture and then deleting them from your phone. For this reason, we liked having a dedicated camera in our salon to do all our salon photography.
6. Make Sure the Background is a Solid Color
Although it may be tempting to use a more colorful background, using solid backgrounds is one of the best ways to take amazing pictures. This is because it allows the model and the hair styling to stand out and take center stage. You really want your model’s makeup and trendy hair style to pop out. In particular, you should use neutral colors such as light gray, cream white, or black for your backdrop color.
7. Always Use the Same Background for Consistency
Another tip for building your brand with hairdressing photography is to use the same background for each photoshoot. This will create consistency with your work and your brand. Although you may want to introduce some change over the years, it’s wise to start off using the same background. This will ensure that your website and portfolio appears more uniform and professional.
8. Find Models Who Will Post on Their Social Media
When it comes to picking a the hair salon model, it’s always great to choose someone who already loves taking pictures and posting them on their social media platforms. These people are often excited to participate in photoshoots because it gives them more content for their own pages. Ideally, your model will be someone with lots of followers and high engagement. Then is a win for them, and a win for your beauty salon and spa.
9. Make a Habit of Having a Monthly Salon Photoshoot
When it comes to building a brand, consistency is essential. You should be using these photoshoots as a way to boost brand awareness and attracting new clients. You can build constant salon buzz by scheduling monthly shoots. Your raving fans and followers will start to look forward to these photoshoots. Many clients will likely offer to be a part of a session and ask to be scheduled on the calendar. Be sure to keep your following updated on the dates, and include any fun details about the salon photo session.
10. Connect with Local Businesses
Another great method of ensuring your salon photoshoots are amazing is by connecting with local establishments. This is not only a great opportunity for cross-promotion, but it will also provide you with the potential to get extra help at little to no cost to you. For instance, reach out to the following types of businesses listed below. This may allow you to find students or up and coming professionals who are willing to help in exchange for exposure:
- Art schools
- Cosmetology schools
- Photography schools
- Creative members of your local community
- Other local businesses
11. Hire a Professional Photographer
If you or any member of your staff does not have the skills necessary to take professional-level pictures, you may want to hire a professional. As mentioned, local photography schools can be a great way to gain access to a professional at a discounted rate. Ideally, you want to find someone who can commit to a monthly photoshoot or at least a group of photographers that you can rotate. Either way, make sure that you hire someone who can make photoshoots fun. This is not only great when you are dealing with inexperienced models, but fun photographers often take the best photos in general.
12. Take a Lot of Pictures
Whoever is taking the pictures, make sure that they are taking lots of them. You will often need to sift through hundreds of photos in order to find a few that are truly great. Even the best models in the world often have to take a wide variety of photos before the photographer is satisfied. Be sure that whoever is taking the photos is dedicated to taking as many as they need to in order to get the perfect shot.
13. Lighting is Everything with Salon Photography
In addition to having great cameras, stylists, backgrounds, and photographers, you should also invest in great lighting. One of the greatest enemies to producing great salon photography is shadows. Be sure that you have enough lighting in your salon to ensure that everything is well-lit and that none of your models are casting any shadows in the background. Nothing ruins a great salon photograph faster than bad lighting.
14. Choose Your Salon Photography Team Wisely
Sometimes less is more. There is no need to bring your whole staff into a photo shoot. You should choose 2 or 3 team members who excited and up for the task. Only use those who are enthusiastic, creative, coachable, and willing to learn. Assign specific roles to your participants. For example, you may want one person to help with hair, one to do makeup, and one to assist with the equipment. Keep in mind that they need to be great with people, flexible, and are confident enough to try new things and show off their skills.
In Conclusion
Hair salon photography does not have to be difficult. However, this is only provided that you are willing to take the time to plan out each detail beforehand. Taking the time to ensure that you have extra hands available, using the consistent backgrounds, creating an specific and exciting concept, and finding the right photographer. You should use all these elements to create a successful photoshoot.
Keep in mind that becoming great at hair stylist photography is a process. You may feel a little overwhelmed in the first few sessions. But as long as you remain consistent, you will eventually learn what is necessary to pull off a stellar salon photo shoot each and every time.