How I take makeup photos for my blog

Hey Beauties!

I never seem to have enough time to do some longer posts for my blog. Life is just busy lately. I finally decided that I need to write this post, which I'm not even sure, if it will help anyone. My "technique" for taking makeup photos for my blog is so basic and so simple that I don't even know if it's worth mentioning it. But I did get some questions as to how I take makeup photos, so here it goes.

Warning: I took some photos with my old digital camera, so some may be worse quality than others.


Firstly, I own a very basic compact camera and my photos are not even close to being perfect. I will say that I prefer the rough look of the makeup, rather then Photoshoping my photos to death. I think it just looks more real. Usually, I don't even use brightness on my makeup photos, because I don't want to change the color of the skin. That being said, my camera sometimes makes my photos a bit too blue, or a bit too orange. I will try to correct these mistakes in the future. I will also admit that I sometimes patch up a pimple or something like that, because I am not perfect and never will be. I also crop the photos to frame just what I want to have on the photo.

I take my photos in front of a huge balcony window in my room. My room is sadly, on the east side, that means I don't get a lot of natural light in the afternoon. Taking photos in the morning, makes them too orange, as for taking them in the afternoon makes them to blue. So just experiment and you'll see in which light you look best. I am all for natural light, when it comes to makeup.

I have a small table, which I put in front of the window. That's where I usually do my makeup and put on anything I need for taking photos.



On my camera I use macro settings for makeup. It works best for me, because I want the focus on the face, not the rest of the body and hair. I also think it looks the most flattering on my face shape. So, for taking makeup photos my camera is always set on macro. Then I can also choose the lightning - like sunny, cloudy and so on. Sometimes I also change the ISO, but not often and never higher then 400. 

The necessary tool is mirror. I have a small self-standing mirror, which I use to see what I'm taking photos of. I hold my camera in front of me with the left hand and in the right hand I hold the mirror. I hold the mirror in an angle, which allows me to see what is in the focus of the camera. That's all the magic to it. I find that to be the easiest way of taking makeup photos of yourself. Especially, if you don't know you're angles, like models. I need the mirror to position myself so that I can look my best. After doing this a lot, it becomes quicker and easier. You know which angles suits you and how every part of the face looks best. 


I like the shot of my lips being sideways, because it makes them look full and plump. I also like them to be diagonal and not straight, because it just gives the photo more dimension. 




As for the eyes I turn my head on the side and a little diagonal, so that my eyes look wide awake. I always pull my brows up high, because that's the only way I get the whole eye makeup on the photo. I have somewhat hooded eyes and a lot of my makeup will not be seen, if not pulling up the brow. 









Now if you want to make things easier, you can use any sort of tripod. Holding the camera and mirror can get really heavy and physically hard. Tripod frees your hands and makes photos a lot more still. You can put the camera on a tripod, turn it so your face looks good in shot (with the help of mirror) and then just have one finger on the camera to take photos. It gets really easy this way and you get those photos that look very similar or in the same position, so you can put them together in row, when you're trying to make a makeup tutorial.  


I know this is so physically challenging sometimes and so basic that you can have a lot better results with some other techniques. But I just wanted to share, how I do it. Even though, I've made a lot of makeup posts, I still take 200 photos of one makeup look and then try to decide which are good. It takes a lot of work, but it's a system that I am happy with, for now.

I hope this helped at least one person and that you maybe got some ideas as to how you'll take your makeup photos of yourself ;).

Do you have any tips on taking your own photos of makeup looks? Share them with me :).

34 comments

  1. As a beginner blogger, I found this post very helpful, so thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tvoje "selfi" fotke so vedno popolne :) In se strinjam, ogledalo je a must. Super nasveti :)

    Jao, da bi jaz imela pravi fotoaparat, I'm just too poor *bows head in shame*. Tudi jaz slikam pred oknom, da imam naravno svetlobo in "selfi" fotk ne fotoshopam, kar se pa itak vidi, zato so temnejše od drugih, res izjemoma dam brightness, če je zelo temna ali pa color balance, če je prerumena/zelena/modra. Je pa problem ker moj Galaxy ima zelo močen kontrast in mi naredi kožo slabšo kot je v resnici, vsaj kar se peg tiče, ampak kar pustim to, dokler ne bom imela normalnega fotoaparata bo tako ostalo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hvala:) Ja jaz zdaj tudi poskušam z color balance, ker včasih je res preveč modra fotka. Meni so tvoje fotografije odlične in še kar ne morem verjeti, da so iz telefona. Moj telefon vse povleče na ful roza in kar svoje barve dodaja, ne bi nikoli mogla fotografirati z njim. No saj včasih je res treba investirati v kaj več. Jaz si pa kar želim še kakšen boljši fotoaparat, čeprav se mi zdi, da je za zdaj ta dovolj. Mogoče bi morala bolj obvladati Photoshop:).

      Delete
  3. ful všeč ! Priznam, da sploh nisem pomislila al pa sem pozabla na makro nastavitve ! In tvoje fotke so res lepe :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hvala:) Ja jaz pa kar vedno makro, ker dobim ravno obraz not na dolžini rok, pa tudi ostalega ni potem treba preveč ven rezat. Pa še moj fotoaparat me dela čudno z navadnimi nastavitvami, kot bi imel fish eye - čudno! :)

      Delete
  4. Great! I do the same :) I think its the only way to take a pic of ourself if there is no one around to take pic for us :)

    bbrillliantt.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed:)) I thought I was one of the rare people who has daily workout with their camera, while taking photos :D.

      Delete
  5. Hah, jaz čisto isto delam slike makeup-a... ogledalo v eni roki, fotoaparat v drugi, makro nastavitve in gremo. :D Tudi za očesni makeup naredim isto, da nagnem glavo in dvignem obrvi. :) Ampak se pa vseeno kar namučim s slikami ko je treba cel obraz slikat - nimam nikjer dobrega mesta, da bi hkrati imela naravno svetlobo direktno v obraz in še lepo ozadje.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jaz se mučim skozi cel proces. Me že roke bolijo, pa glava in vse možno, ampak ni druge :). Ja to je potem res nerodno. Saj mogoče pa lahko greš ven, ampak ne na direktno sonce. :)

      Delete
  6. Thank you! This post was very helpful for me! Now I can improve my makeup technique. I didn't realize I could use mirror to take pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I'm glad I could help you:). Yes, the mirror is very practical, so you really see what you're doing:).

      Delete
  7. Se strinjam, naravna svetloba je must za fotkanje makeupa. Jaz se npr. v sobi ne slikam, ker ugotavljam, da so fotke preveč modre. Vedno se fotkam dopoldne na balkonu, ker mi tam svetloba najbolj ustreza in dobim najboljše fotke makeupa. Na začetku sem tudi uporabljala ogledalo, ampak se se tako navadila, da zdaj že vse brez njega delam (nekako mi roka gre že avtomatsko v položaj, odvisno, kaj fotkam. :P). Makro pa uporabljam samo za swatche, ker mi moj fotoaparat ne dela dobrih fotk MU-ja s to nastavitvijo, ne vem, kaj mu je. Tvoje fotke makeupa pa so itak popolne.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Svetloba na tvojih fotkah izgleda vedno zelo lepo balansirana. Moja včasih potegne na oražno že samo zaradi mojih las:). Si že bolj navajena, jaz še kar večkrat uporabim ogledalo, ker malo pozabim moje "kote":). Moj fotoaparat pa dobro ne fotografira, ko imam navadno nastavitev, ker izgleda kot da mi dela fish eye. Čudne so te zadeve.
      Hvala:))

      Delete
  8. Zelo uporabno:) Jaz se zelo veselim,ko treba slikat izdelke,ko pa pride cas za slikanje makeupa pa izgubim voljo:/ jaz se tudi slikam pred oknom,ampak na koncu vse cudno izgleda,isto tudi nastavim vse in izgleda super,poslikam,pogledam in nato vse izpade drugace in barve so prav cudne-.- upajmo,da bozicek prinese dober fotoaparat:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barve so odvisne od tega kakšna ura v dnevu je. Pa tudi res, da na fotoaparatih izgleda vse popolnoma drugače kot v živo. Je pač tako. Najbolje je imeti optimalno nevtralno dnevno svetlobo in potem seveda kakšen boljši fotoaparat, ki ima tudi kakšne nastavitve svetlobe:). No upajmo, da božiček prinese;).

      Delete
  9. Super post, ti imaš itak vedno ful lepe fotke makeupa, res lepe!<3 Mene vedno živcirajo, nikoli ni fajn svetloba pa ni važno kak naštimam fotoaparat, al je presvetlo al je premodro al pa neki se že najde..:) Zato pa običajno tudi fotke obraza popravim, da vsaj nekak izgledajo, sploh kakšen odtenek šminke, ki na fotkah izpade čisto drugačen odtenek kot v realnosti :) Pa da ne omenjam, da na mojem računalniku vse barve izgledajo rahlo bolj blede kot na kakšnem drugem, raje sploh ne pomislim, kako kakšna slika nekje drugje izpade, ful rumena ali pa kaj takega :P ah ja, težki problemi ane:))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jaz imam tudi probleme z odtenki in na sploh intenziteto makeupa, ki nikoli ni na fotkah taka kot v realnosti. Zasloni na sploh vsi različno kažejo barve, to je naša tehnologija :/. Ja pa so res problemi. Lahko bi naredili kamero samo za beauty bloggerje z nastavitvami in vse :D.

      Delete
  10. Oh, super objava! :)

    Zelo si nam pomagala :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am basicly doing the same thing! The mirror works great, but lighting can be tricky.
    http://beautylovesbooks.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally agree. As for the lightnings it is totally up to the nature. It can be really difficult, especially in the winter:).

      Delete
  12. Nihče si niti ne predstavlja koliko je dela z slikanjem make upa. In vsaka čast.. Zelo dobre slike! Si zdaj znam bolj predstavljat kako to poteka ko nimaš zrcalnorefleksni fotoaparat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To je res. Ni malo dela, pa še prištevanje časa za mazanje in podobno, hitro nanese 2, 3 ure:). Hvala:)). Ja treba se je znajt nekako;).

      Delete
  13. Thank you so much for posting this I am going to try this for my site! it looks so professional. Check out my site too if you can I would love it! xoxo thank you for the tip.
    -Ashley from arrayofstyle.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad it helped:)
      Maybe you can give me the link from your blog, because some of your posts on Google+, I can't open. :)

      Delete
  14. Your pics turn out to be very impressive!!
    Check out my blog: http://khattameethaa.blogspot.in/ and U can give me some tips on that.

    ReplyDelete
  15. cool! both are cool
    hahahahha
    your camera and you:)

    www.lidyahen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Great post - some very useful tips :) I recently bought a tripod to try to make these sorts of shots easier. I am definitely going to try your tip of using a hand held mirror behind the camera to see the shot :) xx

    Brenda BusyBee

    ReplyDelete