Continuing Education – Beauty Photography 101

A little bit of ongoing learning and staying up on what’s going on in rapidly evolving event photography is almost mandatory these days. So, I jumped at the invitation to NACE’s “Beyond Selfies Photography Seminar and Workshop.” Good thing, there were so many stylish colleagues there, as well.

My savvy escort for the evening was Christopher Agostino , the sales and catering manager for Pier 5. Chris is wearing a Ralph Lauren blazer and polo from Facconable, both from Nordstrom. I ran downtown myself in a Banana republic summer V, over which I threw my new Club Monaco blazer that I’d nabbed at their Tysons Corner store.

We had a chance to focus on how to deal with harsh outdoor lighting that often affects photo-taking at summer parties. My subjects here? Bridgette Hall of Wedding Wire and Melissa Benson, co-owner of 11 Course Catering. While I loved their style, I had to concentrate on what they used makeup-wise that made them glow in natural lighting. Melissa – on the left – relies on All Natural beauty products by Beauty Counter, and a beige and bronze-toned Smashbox photo-filter palette that easily adjusts to outdoor lighting. Bridgette – on the right – uses outdoor makeup essentials like Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF-20 and a Kylie Jenner lip plumper to stay selfie-pout ready.

Had a great time and learned a lot, but it’s Preakness weekend and time to put those photo tips to work!

The ultimate test came this week, when I was doing a Preakness fashion promo for Harbor East’s Sassanova boutique with owner Angela Tandy. After a mix-up in the morning over our shooting location, we made a mad dash to the very live finish to get our models Jessica Potee, Savannah Defontes, and Sarah Tzomides looking camera-ready – yet outdoorsy and glowing – in a hurry. I pulled out products from my arsenal – like that Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer and powder with plump nude lips from Kylie Jenner collection that I mentioned earlier – and they worked like a charm. Don’t you think?
Happy Preakness, Baltimore!