How to photograph nails and manicure correctly?
Most clients come to manicurists through social networks, Instagram, and various sites on the Internet. “Word of mouth” also works when one of the neighbors or employees at work brags about their manicure, and close people want to get to this master. A master can make a name for himself and increase his client base using the Internet. The most popular platform for this is Instagram. Initially, the site was developed as a photo network, the main advantage of which was beautiful photographs. A manicurist can attract clients by showing perfect work. There are a lot of tricks that you should follow to get the perfect photos.
How to photograph nails and manicure correctly:
- When looking through your Instagram feed, it’s easy to notice that almost all the photos are perfect, there are no specks of dust or specks on the nails. In real life, this is impossible to achieve; minor errors are removed in photo editors.
- Often, after using powder or degreaser, the skin dries out, becoming covered with a white film, and the slightest peeling is visible. Therefore, you need to apply a degreaser and a few drops of regular cuticle oil to a napkin.
- The mixture must be thoroughly rubbed into the area of the cuticle, side ridges, sinuses, under the nail in the hyponychium area. Dust often accumulates there too, and it can play a cruel joke if your thumb gets into the frame.
Instagram for posting a portfolio
An Instagram profile is a great way to promote your services, advertise your portfolio, and find new clients.
A few ideas for an attractive Instagram profile:
- Take photos for Instagram in the same style. To develop a unique style, choose one convenient photo editor and process everything in it. Different sections can be decorated in different color tones. But at the same time, avoid the same type. Experiment with hand position, background, accessories;
- For inscriptions, choose a loose, interesting font and stick to it. But the letters should not be too intricate and difficult to read;
- Post high-quality photos on Instagram that clearly show the work done. The skin of your hands should look well-groomed, without wounds, scratches, or hangnails. It’s good when the texture, design, and color of the coating are clearly visible;
- You can display pictures from the “before and after manicure” category.
How to photograph nails in a photo box?
A photobox is a box covered on the sides with fabric, into which hands or objects are immersed. The walls of the photo box are white or light, so the photographs turn out to be as contrasty, bright, and unusual as possible. However, the main disadvantage of the photobox is the inconvenience of hand placement. Basically, such products are intended for photographing inanimate objects, clothing, and jewelry.
How to take photos of nails in a photo box:
- It is very difficult to place a hand in a photo box so that it is surrounded on all sides by a white background and the manicure is clearly visible. Therefore, many famous artists and even bloggers do not use photo boxes.
- It is most convenient to use a photobox on the same side as the master. That is, sitting at opposite ends of the table will not work. It is necessary to place the photo box with the opening facing the client. There are two ways to place your hands inside: hug the photophone, so the two hands will be at a decent distance from each other. Or place them directly inside the tunnel.
- In this case, the number of ways is limited. Therefore, many craftsmen make photo boxes themselves. To do this, take an ordinary cardboard box, which is peeled off on all sides with white paper. On the client's side, two small holes are made at the bottom. This is where the hands are inserted. There will be no wall in the box on the artist’s side, so it will be possible to photograph the manicure beautifully.
Photobox
What background is best to photograph nails against?
For beautiful photographs, first of all, you need to choose a suitable photo background. There are several possible photo backdrop options. You can use photo backgrounds purchased on AliExpress. These can be ordinary drawings of stones, marble, greenery, or abstract ornaments.
What background is it better to photograph nails against?
- As a photo background, you can use ordinary colored cardboard, which is sold in stationery stores. There are large formats that need to be placed in the center of the table, and the client’s hands with manicure done on the photo background.
- The client's clothing will not attract attention. This option is used if it is necessary to photograph two hands at once, and not only the hands, but also the client’s torso are captured in the lens.
- Such a photo backdrop will complement the composition and show your nails in an advantageous light. If you look closely, almost all the artists who publish photos on Instagram have perfect pictures, and there are no unevenness or roughness in the cuticle area. To achieve this effect, it is not enough to use a degreaser after work.
Portfolio: what beginners should know
A portfolio will help a manicure salon or nail artist:
- Demonstrate the level of work, attract attention. A portfolio is a business card;
- Get new clients;
- The style of photographs can appeal to the interests of different target audiences;
- Promote an account on a social network.
Therefore, the quality and style of photographs in your portfolio are very important.
To create a portfolio you will need:
- smartphone or camera;
- models for shooting;
- good lighting;
- good background, accessories;
- photo processing programs;
- the knowledge you will gain after reading.
Also decide where to place your portfolio: on social networks, on your own website or a specialized service, such as Portfoliobox. It is better to place it on all platforms available to you. Most often they use Instagram.
How to take pictures of nails on your phone?
It is important to position your fingers and hands correctly. Therefore, manicurists position each finger separately, fixing its position.
How to take pictures of nails on your phone:
- Sometimes this is very difficult to do. The phalanges of the fingers are uneven and can move to the right or left, causing curvature of the nail. Therefore, in the photograph it may appear that the nail is filed crookedly. Although in fact this is an individual feature of the client.
- It is necessary to adjust the position of the fingers so that they look advantageous, interesting and do not seem crooked. It is best if the wrists are not on top of the nails and fingers, but under them. It is necessary to position the client's hands so that the wrist is on the table, the fingers are bent and as relaxed as possible.
- It is thanks to maximum relaxation that photographs turn out natural and do not emphasize defects. If the fingers are bent, the skin on them is further smoothed, and wrinkles are not so clearly visible, attracting attention, distracting from the nails. The main task during a photo shoot is to successfully set the light and catch the angle. Unnecessary details should not distract a potential client when viewing photos.
Manicure photo
How to photograph nails for Instagram?
Even if you take good photographs, you can’t do without editing. It's best to do this on your phone to save time. One of the popular programs for processing photos on your phone is Snapseed. This is a program that resembles the photo editor Photoshop. The main task is to adjust brightness, contrast, and color balance.
How to take photos of nails for Instagram:
- Under artificial lighting in the manicurist’s office, the hands become overexposed, or vice versa, the white background becomes too bright, darkening the skin of the hands. Therefore, you need to even out the color, lighten the skin of your hands or background. To do this, use the “white balance” function.
- After this, you can lighten the skin of your hands, making it brighter and richer. A greater number of folds and wrinkles that form on the hands are removed if the fingers are straight. It is necessary to divert the attention of a potential client from the skin of the hands and its imperfections to the manicure.
- It is necessary that the user is not distracted by anything. An obligatory step is cropping the photographs, that is, cropping them into a square shape. After all, Instagram photos are square. A prerequisite during editing is the application of inscriptions or a watermark. This is necessary so that photos of your work are not stolen by novice artists. You can get inspired by compositions and choose interesting angles on Pinterest or Insta. Subscribe to interesting sources that you like.
- An application that manicurists often use when posting photos on Instagram is AirBrush. You need to go into the application, upload a photo from the gallery, and use the “Acne” function. When you press on the dust or specks that remain on your nails after a manicure, they will disappear. It is best not to do such manipulations in the cuticle area, because blurring occurs. Using this editor you can remove wrinkles and creases on your hands. It is recommended to lighten the area around the cuticle to make the manicure more expressive. This is especially important if pastel colors are used.
Treatment
Using manicure photo processing, you can eliminate the following shortcomings:
- make a faded frame brighter;
- remove unnecessary yellowness;
- remove imperfections and correct skin tone.
You can use Adobe Photoshop, which will correct all the above shortcomings. In the “Image-Correction” tab, the brightness and contrast of the picture are changed, and the “Spot Healing Brush” tool removes skin defects and unnecessary objects. The mobile version of the program is called Adobe Photoshop Express.
There are special photo processing applications for Android:
- Snapseed — the application can be called “mobile Photoshop”, it allows you to change brightness, contrast, light balance, increase sharpness, add text and even remove unnecessary specks of dust;
- AirBrush - used to whiten desired areas, for example, skin, and there are also many different filters;
- PhotoDirector — has a lot of possibilities: working with color, cropping, applying filters, blurring the background;
- LightX — in addition to standard processing, it changes the background and color of individual areas of the image.
There are also applications for iPhone:
- Darkroom-Photo Editor is a simple editor with a set of tools, it is possible to create your own filter;
- Enlight — has many filters, convenient tools for photo correction.
You can also edit photos on Instagram. The application has several good filters that make the picture brighter, add color saturation, and allow you to emphasize a certain shade.
When processing photographs, try to preserve the color and texture of the coating as much as possible.
How do you photograph nails with highlights?
Sometimes photographs of nails with a standard coating without designs and decorations look quite boring and dull. The main task is to focus on the quality of the coating, perfect highlights, rich color and beautiful shape. It’s a good idea to use additional decor for such photos. This could be jewelry, rings. Often, manicurists put stickers on models’ hands, put on jewelry and jewelry to attract attention and make the photo rich, bright, and interesting.
How to photograph nails with highlights:
- You need to choose the right light. If the main task is to photograph round highlights, a standard fluorescent lamp, which also has a round shape, is used for this purpose. It is necessary to direct the lamp from top to bottom on the nails and photograph the resulting highlights.
- For a manicure in light pastel colors, you can use plants. These can be either fresh flowers with green leaves or sprigs of dry cotton. Interesting dried flowers will do. The most popular option is to use fashion magazines as a photo background.
- They are often used by bloggers and manicurists to decorate their work. Photos look best in daylight. If possible, you can go outside with the client and take a photo of your hands. Not a single lighting device or a large number of ring lamps can replace daylight.
Glare
Errors
The most common beginner mistakes:
- Abuse of processing, filters. They are designed for easy adjustments, not redoing the entire frame.
- Oily skin. The cuticle needs to be moisturized with oil. But in the photograph the greasy shine does not look presentable.
- The camera distance is too far or too close. The first option can confuse viewers: is this a shot of a manicure or a table with a hand accidentally included in the frame? We recommend holding the camera 50 cm from the subject, or a little closer.
- Mixing natural daylight and lamps is simply a crime. Choose one.
- The glare is too big. Let them be light and unobtrusive, not covering the entire nail plate.
- Inappropriate background. Maybe your background is too colorful or glossy. Do the accessories look awkward? Take them away, and with time and experience the ability to work with additional attributes will come.
- The lens is dirty. You need to wipe your camera lens or the back camera of your phone. Because of this, the quality of the pictures may suffer.
Write your opinion or question in the comments!
How to photograph nails with a ring lamp?
A ring lamp is mainly used when there is no need to create round highlights. For round highlights, use a standard round lamp. The ring light is ideal for photo matte designs where a lot of color is not needed.
How to take pictures of nails with a ring lamp:
- It is best to use this type of lighting when creating a photograph with foil, shimmer and a lot of reflective particles. If you use a regular round lamp, there can be a lot of light, and there will be highlights on the nails, especially in places where decorative elements are located: foil, Yuki flakes or mica.
- The ring lamp can be positioned from top to bottom. There is a lamp on top, and the client’s nails under it. You can do it differently by placing a ring lamp above the client's head so that the light falls from top to bottom, and vertically.
- This can be achieved by using special tripods with adjustable lamp position. A pretty good option is to place the lamp to the left or right of the client’s hand. It all depends on what kind of highlight you want to get and the characteristics of the manicure.
You can’t take pictures like that
Read on the topic:
- Nail psoriasis or fungus: how to distinguish?
- Is nail onycholysis a fungus?
- Lamisil: cream for nail fungus
- Treatment of nail fungus with baking soda
- Teymurov's paste for nail fungus: instructions for use
At the initial stage, when the master does not have much money, there is no opportunity to purchase photo backgrounds; they can be made independently. To do this, you need to select a suitable picture on the Internet and print it on a color printer or photo paper.
