How to shoot Hair styles and what gear is best for them.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Phillips-McLaren on February 19, 2008 at 8:45pm

Hi Chris

Welcome to the edge!

I used to shoot a lot of hair for various named hairdressers.

The great thing about photography is that we all do our own thing and shoot our own way (at least we should do).

There is know point in running out and spending money on lots of new gear. Take what ever gear you have and do what you do, enjoy the shoot and don't worry about about whether you have the right gear or not. There is no right gear for shooting hair, see what you can do with the gear you have.

I've shot hair in front of a window with just the daylight coming thru the window, I've used shit loads of strobes, ring flash etc, etc, etc. there were no shots better than others - just different.

It's the hair dressers job to make the hair look good - all you have to do is capture it. Just don't make it look flat, hair has loads of texture - so capture the texture and the shine, after that it's just a matter of taste, you'll probably find that the hair stylist will want to chip in their tu-pence worth also - in my experience most hairdressers fancy themselves as photographers.

I.E. Tony Moscolo (aka Toni and Guy), Thomas Mckiver (Internationally renowned session stylist), David Oldham (ex Vidal Sassoon hair dresser) and half of Vidal Sassoon's art directors.

Hope this helps

Ian

p.s. beware of the hairdresser wanting to be a photographer syndrom/disease, they all have it. Keep your camera firmly in your hand at all times and the strap tied round your wrist just to be on the safe side. : )

Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Chris on February 19, 2008 at 9:25pm

Thanks a lot for the that, I know exactly what you mean, there isn't really a wright way of doing things, just do it justice with whatever you have. It helps to boost your confidence. I understand that my question was more about -is there a set way of shooting hair" , but what you said is just the thing I should bear in mind.
Thank you

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