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How to Snap Pro-Quality Smartphone Images for Social Media

Taking high quality hair and beauty images is an absolute must in the beauty industry engagement craving, pin-worthy world. Luckily, you don’t need a top notch camera, your smartphone will do the trick just fine. Want to get really fancy? Fire up your smartphone and tap your way to professional, branded photos with the tips below:

1. Natural and Diva Ring Lighting

Take advantage of the your salon’s sources of natural light, such as a window, then add in a Diva Ring Light. This is the ultimate tool to take salon images from so-so to so-pro.

The professional-quality fluorescent Diva Ring Light provides soft, nearly shadowless illumination. The secret is in how the light is shaped. It is able to cast a soft dome of light on your model complementing the hair color, makeup and skin making this light ideal for portrait style shots. The illuminating qualities helps to eliminate skin imperfections & makes your model’s face appear to have a fresh clean look. It also comes equipped with a dimming and diffusion feature that helps control your light source. For more information check out their website here https://www.divaringlight.com/

Tip: When shooting indoors, shoot near a natural light source, window, if possible.

Tip: Take the picture with your back to natural light source.

Tip: Forget the flash – flash creates shadows, distorts color and casts an unflattering yellow light over your model or product.

2. Background and Style

Background matters. Transform ordinary pictures into standout shots with the use of a simple background. The model is the focal point, but you want to select a nice background too. Select a clean painted wall for the model to stand in front of, or go outside and take the shot.

Background ideas:

– Find a colored wall to shoot in front of (we love white or gray)

If going outside look for a clear, colorful, or bright background:

– Find a brick, stone, tile, or rock wall to shoot in front of

– A blooming wall of flowers is the holy grail of backdrops

– Shoot hair or beauty products placed on wood, marble slabs, colored tile, whatever fits your brand

3. Take a Variety of Shots

Practice makes perfect, and variety helps. If you take three shots to five shots of the same hair model you’re bound to get “the shot” that makes it to your social media page. Try camera angles from the side, the back and at an angle. Choose the best one of the series.

4. Resolution

Smartphone cameras are improving, but the second you start zooming, you lose picture quality. Don’t zoom as it will turn your image grainy or blurry or pixelated. It sounds very simple, but instead of zooming move closer.

5. Framing and Composition

Before taking your photo “set up” both the frame and composition of the shot. This is easy utilizing the grid on your smartphone.

To switch the grid on:

iPhone: Go to “Settings,” choose “Photos & Camera,” and switch “Grid” on.

Samsung Galaxy: Launch the camera app, go to “Settings,” scroll down and switch the “grid lines” option to “on.”

To produce well-balanced photos we recommend applying the rule of thirds. The grid will display 9 boxes on top of your proposed photo. The center 4 intersections lines and center box on your grid are guides for placing focal points in your photo.

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally.

6. Editing Tools

Once you’ve chosen your “it” shot, turn to a mobile photo-editing app or tool to crop, straighten, or enhance your photos with filters. Add salon logo to your image and voila! You are ready to post. Watch out world!