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Glamour Photos

By Donna T.
Part two of a two part series.
Subscribers can catch up with Part One

Today is the day, you have sent the kids to Disney land, and the wife is on her way to Sweden to a spa, you have your props, background and camera all set.

Now let's get that makeup ready girlfriend. Preparation is the key so shake out your favorite wig and take it to your stylist for a new style. Ask them to tease it up to a size half again as big as it is now . While they are working on your hair have your eyebrows waxed, it really is not too painful and you will look much better.

Paint With Strength

The most important thing to know about glamour photography is that the human eye can distinguish between thousands of colors while film can only distinguish between hundreds if that many. This means you need to paint hard with strong colors. Remember that the strobe light will wash out soft colors so a mauve lipstick just will not do for photographs.

For a great glamour photograph you will want darker shades of lipstick, blush, eye shadow, and eyeliner. You should have a set of false eyelashes, a dark lip pencil, and some clear lip gloss. I will not tell you how to do your makeup because that is another subject but I can tell you to apply it much thicker than you ever would for daytime wear.

When you are doing glamour shots you will want to avoid doing tight head shots as this will show tiny flaws that are best hidden by distance. The older I get the more I move the camera back: it is either that or plastic surgery.

If you want to get good at the glamour look and are not too homophobic " you can trust me on this one, it will not wear off on you" my best advice is to go see a drag show and look closely at the queens. If you can talk to one for a few minutes she can give you some great tips and tricks, although it might cost you a drink.

Another way to lock in that glamour look is to have a makeup artist do a makeover for you, but ask to see their work and make sure you like what you see before you part with your money. I have seen the best and the worst, the best are amazing and so are the worst, just at the opposite ends of the scale.

Use Theatrical Makeup

On your own you will do best using a makeup made for film, stage, and theater. This means greasy and using a lot of powder, but in the the photograph you will see a nice smooth finished look. I like Ben Nye or Max Factor for my foundation and my powder is Ben Nye Fair or Clinique transparency2. There are lots of others out there; some too expensive and some that just do not cover well.

A liquid foundation does not work for photography because it lacks the consistency to cover evenly. A pan stick or paste type foundation applied with a sponge is always better. Your powder should go on heavy with a powder puff pressed into the foundation never rubbed on. Then brush the powder into the foundation for a smooth finished look.

As a photographer I can assure you that most men have smaller lips than most women do and it is a give away every time. This can be corrected by using a dark lip pencil and drawing your lips slightly larger than they really are and filling in just to the line with your lipstick. Add a touch of clear lip-gloss to the bottom lip and you will have a well-balanced face for your photograph.

With all that said you should be ready to create some great glamour photographs but if you get stuck you can E-mail me at DONNATCD@aol.com and I will try to help.

By the way I will be hosting a seminar called Perfect Pictures at the 1999 Cal-Dreamin convention in April- May and I would love to see you there.

Donna T.

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