Vanessa Reece

One question I get asked a lot is how do I come up with ideas for photoshoots.

Some models don’t find this process easy when trying to build a porfolio or test shooting.

I tend to get ideas on the hop and use things around me as props or certain make-up looks to inspire me.

This past Sunday I was cleaning my make-up brushes and sorted out my make-up when I came across two items that inspired the pictures you see on this post.

One item was a bright green eyeshadow called, Jade, by Ben Nye and the other was the cheap-as-chips diamante style bracelet  that for some reason was in my make-up bag.

The two items combined inspired me to shoot a few head shot pictures with the theme of, ‘Envious Greed’.
I applied my make-up (and if anyone is interested I’ll note the colours at the end of the post) – then I simply got a feather boa and wrapped it around my face. I didn’t want to mess with the hairstyle but I wanted it to allude some extra glamour.
I asked my son, who’s learning about basic photography, to take some simple headshots of me.

I then picked two I liked and ran them through Adobe Photoshop. I have a plug-in for it called ‘Imagenomic: Portraiture’ and I literally set that to a function called ‘Glamour’ and played around with the light until I got the look I wanted – which was that of a glossy print ad. I then ran the curve tool which gave the picture more depth.

It took about five minutes.

Next time you are sorting out make-up or outfits think about how you can use them in your modeling work. You’d be surprised how you can use things around you to build a good photoshoot.

If you don’t have Adobe Photoshop you can download a fully functional 30 day trial from www.adobe.com and as a model you would be best to get to know this program because it’s good to use for very basic to more detailed work.

You can also resize your pictures in it which is invaluable. I’m always amazed how many models don’t have a clue how to use photo editing tools. I never see using photoshop as simply retouching either. It’s good to add light to a picture or turn photos to black and white.

There are a ton of Photoshop tutorials online. I learned most of my basic Photoshop skills from free video tutorials and the rest I stumbled upon when using the program.

The second picture here shows me in a slightly different light. Again, I played around in Photoshop with the curve and brightness/contrast tools to get to this final result.

Don’t think you’re selling out by using Photoshop. You can use a little or a lot. Every picture you see in glossy magazines has been edited in some way. You can create some very artistic looks by using Photoshop. I have a mixture of very natural pictures and highly made up ones in my portfolio.

As a pin-up model you can get away with a lot of artistic looks.

Imagine what you can do with what’s around you; a pose, and five minutes in a photo editing program.

For those who like my make-up here is a list of items I used and where I used them.

Remember I used foundation, concealer and my eyeshadow base (Clinique touch base)  first.

Ubran Decay: Eyeshadow (Honey) Used all over the eye first as well as underneath the lower lid.
Ben Nye: Eyeshadow (Jade) Used from the middle of the eye blended to the outer corners and slightly flicked up at the ends. Plus, a little mixed under the eye to blend with the honey colour.
Rimmel London: Black Liquid Liner (eye lids)
Clinique Mascara: High Impact (Black)
False eyelashes. I cut one in half and used them from the middle of the eye out.

Shu Uemura: Blusher (Brick 65)
Clinique: Lipstick (Red Drama) I only used this very lightly. It’s a lot darker when used fully.
Lip liner (just a basic red)
Clinique: Lip gloss (202 Cherry Spritzer)

Further Links:

Check out my six part make-up tutorial for a light evening look here

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/user/vanessareece

More information on plus-size pin-up modeling can be found here:
http://vanessareece.com/professional-plussize-model/