HOW TO ELEVATE

YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY GAME

The Keune Hairstylist Awards are all about giving hair stylists a global stage. Everyone is welcome to compete. Your talent is key and deserves to be seen. Good photography of your creation helps you to stand out in the competition.

Therefore we’ve collected some tips, along with some accessory recommendations, that will take your snapshot game from amateur to expert. Here’s how to nail the shot:

STEP 1
START WITH A CLEAN SLATE

Before you shoot a single picture, clean your lens and remove all sorts of smudges. If your smartphone case is shiny, it would be a good idea to remove it for the shoot to avoid lens flare.

STEP 2
READY, SET, GO

Make sure you use the right settings of your smartphone before you start shooting:

HIGHEST QUALITY
Shoot in the highest image quality available and decide if you want to photograph in JPEG or RAW. A little explanation: RAW photos collect more image data than JPEG files. JPEG is the standard format for most smartphone photos and is perfectly fine for most (online) purposes.
FRAMING & COMPOSING
Your smartphone camera can assist you in framing and composing your best shot. Turn on the Grid and Level so you can place your model evenly in the center.
EXPOSURE
Tap the subject of your image, then pull up or down to increase or decrease the amount of exposure. To lock your settings, tap your subject and hold. Alternatively, you can manually set the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed (try to not go slower than 1/125 to reduce the risk of camera shake) and use Exposure Compensation +/- to increase or decrease brightness. Then lock the exposure.
WHITE BALANCE
You can adjust the white balance to your lighting conditions, or choose AWB (auto white balance). AWB usually does a pretty good job of “guessing” the right balance when you place the AWB button on the white background.
ISO
ISO is about the light sensitivity of the sensor of your mobile camera. Some apps will choose the ISO automatically or you can adjust it yourself. Try to keep it below 800 or you can end up with grainy images.
IMAGE STABILIZATION
Steady yourself and turn on Image Stabilization or use a tripod to put your own spin on your photos.
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STEP 3
FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE

Keep challenging your creativity by shooting different angles of your model. Look for a new viewpoint to highlight a certain detail of your look.

STEP 4
FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED

While you should capture your shots as close to the final result as possible, they will always need some post-processing. Knowing your way around photo editing software will benefit you in the competition. Use the app to make basic adjustments such as brightness, contrast, sharpness, highlights and white balance. Just don’t overdo it here. The goal is to make the model stand out and look as good as possible, but the image should still be an accurate representation of what the model really looks like.  

THE BEST FREE PHOTO EDITING APPS

  • Snapseed
  • VSCO
  • Adobe Photoshop Express
  • Adobe Lightroom