You’ve booked yourself in for a photo shoot and you want to look your best. Of course you don’t HAVE to wear make up and many people don’t and look gorgeous. However, if you want to wear make up, here are a few tips to help you to get the best results.

Before I begin, I am not a make up artist and this advice is just things I have picked up from doing many photo shoots on subjects wearing make up and doing a bit of research on make up that works well with studio strobe lighting.

You wouldn’t be the first to think that you can get away with wearing your every day make up – but not everyone can. The first thing to remember is that a studio setting is not the same as natural light and so the camera won’t always “see” what you see in the mirror!

Tina’s Top Tips on make up

1. Lose any products with SPF… you’ll get flashback – don’t know what that means? You’ll look a bit like a ghost!

2. Unless you really like the shiny look, go for matte products and avoid shimmer.

3. Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise. Start your make up on a nice smooth canvas to avoid that dry, flakey appearance.

4. Use a primer. I know it may sound like you are using a lot of products but if you are having a long shoot in front of hot lights, it does get pretty warm; you want your make up to stay put for as long as possible without having to reapply.

5. You don’t need to worry about fine lines on your face – we ALL have them and they make you look…human, but if you are really bothered about them, steer clear of too many powdery products or avoid them altogether, they sink into your lines and make them far more noticeable.

6. This sounds obvious but match your foundation to your skin colour and pay attention to your jaw line and neck! You don’t want to look two toned.

7. Flash photography can make your skin look a bit washed out so don’t be afraid to use a bit of blusher or bronzer to define your cheekbones…just blend out those edges so you look more JLo and less Coco the clown.

8. Mascara and eyeliner are your best friends. Photographers tend to focus on eyes so emphasise those eyes with lashings of mascara and some eyeliner to make your eyes pop.

9. Fill in those eyebrows but go easy. You want them to frame your face but they don’t need to take centre stage

10. Before you reach for that lipstick, give your lips a once over with a soft toothbrush, pop on some lip balm…now you’re ready for some colour. Personally, I would always opt for a matte lipstick as I don’t like the “wet look” lip gloss or glossy lipstick gives on camera.

Finally smile, relax and try to forget that there’s a camera pointing at you – you’re fabulous!

We've probably all heard the phrase “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” The viewer is drawn in to the eyes of a portrait. That is why it is important to remember to pose the eyes (see previous bog – How to avoid looking creepy).

As well as posing eyes, we also have to remember to make sure the eyes look vibrant and alive. The way to do that is to ensure there is a catchlight in each eyes.

What is a catch light?

A catchlight is a small spark of light in the eye which makes the eyes sparkle. So how to you get these catchlights? Well, they are created by a reflection from a bright source of light this could be the sun, a light bulb, a torch or a strobe so all you need to do is make sure you are in a room or outdoors with a light source and there is nothing blocking the path between you and the light. You don't have to look directly at the light source – in fact if the light source is the sun, you definitely don't want to be looking directly at it but the reflection in your eye should be visible.

If you are taking a selfie, this should be one of the things you look out for by perhaps taking a photograph and zooming in on the eyes to check whether you have a catchlight. If not and your eyes look a little dull or dare I say it... dead, reposition your head to ensure you can see a catchlight in your eyes.

If someone else is taking your photograph; it makes life easier as they can position you correctly before taking a photograph.

If that all seems a little picky I'll show you an example of a photograph with and without catchlights and you can see the difference for yourself.

These two photographs are identical except for the removal of the catchlights from my eyes in the photograph on the right. As a result, my eyes look dull and lifeless in this picture. It's a subtle but important difference.

Something I have learned about posing clients is that hands really matter. Not only can badly posed hands ruin a potentially great photographs, not posing hands at all can leave clients feeling uncomfortable and they will often ask the question, “what should I do with my hands?” You see, people feel more at ease posing if they have something to do with their hands; they feel they can be more natural within their pose. If you try it yourself and pose in front of the mirror but leave your hands by your side, it somehow makes you feel more vulnerable. (At least it does for me!) So while you are thinking about your perfect smile and popping out that hip, don’t forget to pose your hands.

There are a few things you can think about to make sure your hands aren’t appearing distracting, awkward or tense.

Firstly, make sure hands aren’t clenched into a fist or rigid like breadsticks. Fingers should be slightly separated and have a soft bend at the knuckle - not straight and rigid but also not so bent that they appear claw –like.

The next thing to consider is hand placement. Make sure your hands are not pressed into your face or body. When you lean your face into your hands, it alters the shape of your face. It can squash your chin up towards your lips or form dimples in the cheek (not in a cute way!) Pressing your fingers into the waist can make you appear tense or nervous – like you’re gripping on for dear life. To fix this problem, gently stroke the face rather than leaning onto your hands. I often ask clients to wiggle their fingers before softly placing their hands back onto their face or body. This avoids the poker straight finger appearance but also encourages soft, delicate hands.

Another common problem is the palm of your hand (who would have thought?) The palm of your hand has a large surface area and tends to be a brighter part of your skin. It is therefore quite distracting, particularly if it is posed near to your face. To help clients achieve more elegant looking hands, I ask them to alter the position of their hands so that the pinky side of their hand is facing the camera. This is a more slender part of the hand and achieves a more attractive less distracting pose.

And there you have it, a few tips to get you started on posing your hands. For more tips have a look at my posing guide: pose like a pro with your hands and arms.