Laura Dark Photography wrote:

I just want to know from someone who gets paid by Fashion and Beauty Clients, like MAC, Este Lauder, Vogue Beauty, etc. when they are put into contract and being paid to produce a "beauty shot" what do they produce. 

If either myself or someone else is "schooled" about what a beauty shot is then so be it. 

When I am informed thats its a beauty shot it is the discription of a close crop. Just as you originally mentioned.

ROSHAR wrote:
When I am informed thats its a beauty shot it is the description of a close crop. Just as you originally mentioned.

ROSHAR speaks with tenure... his clients include Covergirl, Paul Mitchell, L'Oreal, MUFE, VOGUE (Russia) etc...  and is based in LA and NYC...

That said, whenever I begin to believe I actually have my head around this my mind's eye drifts back to Richard Avedon's compelling rendering of Kate Moss... editorial beauty?



enough said...

all the best on your journey...

Laura Dark Photography wrote:
Another thread brought up an interesting conundrum.  Over the past 15 years I have read, been taught, and have taught that a beauty shot is a headshot from the shoulders up that focuses on the product and/or styling on a model.  In other words, what you would see in a ad for MAC or Este Lauder.  When I suggested that a "beauty shot" was just that, I was told by another person (not a photographer) that a beauty shot did NOT have to be limited to the upper body of the model.

I'm confused.  Really?  How do you show a product on the face of a model without focusing on the face of the model?

Here are references for what I am saying so no one thinks I pulled this out of my ass:

(A beauty shot is a headshot similar to a makeup or hair advertisement, with emphasis on the model’s facial features.) - From the Book "Professional Commercial Photography" - By Lou Jacobs Jr.

Here are beauty shots: 

http://www.jedroot.com/photogr/mt/thompson-beauty.php

http://www.gavinoneill.com/engine/SID/1000133.htm

And some threads on beauty shots:

https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … 810&page=1

https://www.modelmayhem.com/po.php?thre … 024&page=1

Oh and I realize that sometimes a fuller body shot accompanies a beauty shot to show a accessorie piece cut off by the closeup, but we aren't not talking about EDITORIAL, we are discussing BEAUTY SHOT. 

Beauty is a genre not a framing.

I think it's hard to shoot within the genre without that framing, but the framing isn't part of the definition.

Francisco Casals wrote:
Sorry for necro on this thread but I think other people may find the information useful.  A beauty shot usually focus on make up and hair, that hasn't changed.  However, when you present a concept (avant garde for example) or want to tell a narrative through photography, the use of other elements (head pieces, jewelry, clothes) is accepted and it is still a beauty shot because it enhances the image.  The beauty shot focuses on the upper part of the model (3/4 shots) in juxtaposition with close ups to her make up and hair.

- Francisco Casals
  Creative Director
  http://www.cargocollective.com/fcasals

Having tried to define so as to use the term properly, it seems to be all over the bloody place. Your definition is correct, as others seem to be as well. The only consistency, I could come up with, is that it concentrates on making the models face beautiful (talk about redundancy), primarily a close crop. Accentuates makeup, or lack thereof.

The term is only slightly clearer than "Edgy".