Proud Photography Blog

Make-up Artists will prepare your subject or model so that they look the best they can on camera.  There are many people around that call themselves make up artists but truly well trained artists are harder to find in you don’t live in a big city.  A combination of training and experience will tell you if a make up artists is any good as well as a strong portfolio.

When sourcing a Make-up Artist you can do this a few ways.  You will need to find someone who lives near you or is close enough to travel – you can try the phone business directory but you can also look online to find local photographers.  Then get in touch with them and see how much their services cost, or if they can work on a free of charge basis in return for prints.

Many make up artists would like the chance to do their work and get some images for free.

If you are choosing a make-up artist for a client then there’s no need to ask the artist to work for free as the fee would be charged to the client.  Here are some things to look for:

-    A strong portfolio.  Look for a variety of images of all kinds of shoots.
-    Can you see both dramatic make up and natural looks?
-    Is the blending well done?
-    Are there any little inconsistencies in the make up? Like clumpy mascara? Smudged eye shadow?
-    Does the foundation match the models face?
-    Are there any creased bits of make up (for example under the eye)?
-    Have all imperfections like shadows and spots been concealed?
-    Is the make up appropriate for the shot?
-    Has the make-up artist avoided obvious problems, like using shiny make up?  Shiny make up bases should only be used in high fashion other wise it makes the model look like they have a greasy face
-    Does the make-up artist have a proper understanding of make-up such as contouring?  In photography, contouring is very important – bring-out out the cheekbones for example and highlighting around the nose.  Has the model done this correctly?
-    Does the make up itself look appropriate?  Have they followed a strong eye with neutral lip or strong lip with neutral eye look?
-    Can the artist handle high fashion looks well? Can they draw lines straight – does it look like an artist’s work?

A make-up artist will in general be happy to do a test for you to show them what they can do.  Make sure that once you have chosen the artists; make sure that they know what brief.  There’s is so much make up that they can take so if you give them a guide of what they will need and what the model will look like, so they can choose appropriate shades.