How to photograph a manicure for a portfolio

While doing a beautiful manicure is an art in and of itself, taking a picture of it demands additional abilities. Having excellent pictures of your work is crucial, regardless of whether you’re a professional nail artist or just someone who enjoys doing their own nails. A strong portfolio helps you draw in new business and opportunities in addition to showcasing your abilities.

But photographing manicures can be difficult. Every little detail counts, including the background, lighting, and angles. A poorly taken photo may not do your work justice, but the right one can bring out the details of your design.

We’ll go over some useful advice and methods in this post to help you take professional-looking photos of your manicures. You can begin creating a portfolio that accurately showcases your abilities and creativity with a few simple tweaks.

Aspect	Tips
Lighting	Use natural light or soft artificial light to avoid harsh shadows and show true colors.
Background	Choose a clean, simple background to make the manicure stand out.
Focus	Ensure the nails are in sharp focus, highlighting details of the design.
Angles	Capture multiple angles to showcase different aspects of the manicure.
Editing	Use minimal editing to keep the photo realistic, adjusting only brightness and contrast if needed.

Portfolio: what beginners should know

An artist or manicure parlor will benefit from having a portfolio:

1. Demonstrate the level of work, attract attention. A portfolio is a business card;
2. Get new clients;
3. The style of photos can appeal to the interests of different target audiences;
4. Promote an account on a social network.

As a result, a portfolio’s photo quality and style are crucial.

To put together a portfolio, you’ll need:

• a smartphone or camera;
• models for shooting;
• good lighting;
• a good background, accessories;
• photo editing programs;
• knowledge that you will receive after reading.

Additionally, choose where to put the portfolio: on your own website, on social media, or on a specialized platform like Portfoliobox. It is best to post it on every platform you have at your disposal. Instagram is used the most.

What the portfolio looks like

In addition to being of excellent quality, the portfolio photos should only have one style. You must demonstrate your proficiency with multiple techniques and your ability to work with nails of various shapes and lengths. Allow all of your manicure techniques to come through. Your work can be arranged using headings like "French," "Manicure on short nails," and "Art painting."

Posing

Tense or splayed fingers, a perfectly straight palm, and hand on hand "a la octopus" are the least photogenic positions. Avoid applying excessive pressure to the tabletop. Additionally, because your nails will take on the shape of a trapezoid, we do not advise taking photos of them at the tip.

1. First, ask the model to relax her hands;
2. Keep your fingers together, relaxed, do not strain them. The main thing is naturalness, no strange positions, "predator" poses. In a relaxed state, veins and wrinkles are less visible on the skin;
3. Gently straighten your fingers to your taste. If it does not work, arrange the hand beautifully in a free state, let the client take a small object. This technique is always a win-win.

A few suggestions for poses:

• a handful of beads in the palm of your hand, you can hold them with one hand and "sort through" them with the other;
• one palm on the other;
• take a small object, it can be a cup, a beautiful accessory, a souvenir;
• gracefully turn the hand over and raise your fingers up.

Leave a comment with your suggestions for posing! )

Take multiple pictures from various perspectives, then select the best ones. Avoid using the same angle for every photo you take because it will make the album look monotonous.

Background

When selecting a backdrop, aim for balance:

• bright manicure – light, unobtrusive background;
• pastel-colored varnishes – add accessories.

Never overcrowd the backdrop. It only takes one or two things: a piece of fruit, a bottle of perfume, a notepad, a flower, and a bow.

As a backdrop, any ordinary manicure table will do, though a matte one is preferred. In addition, there should be no dust and your workspace should be immaculate.

Paper, cardboard, or fabric can be placed on top. Ready-made sheets come in a variety of textures, including silk, metal, velor, and shiny. Making your own brand sheet with them is simple: just apply the master’s name, last name, and logo to the textured sheet.

The appearance of a brand sheet

You can use anything as a backing, even a sweater or a pillow with a lovely pillowcase.

Four concepts for background creation:

• Take a piece of fabric, it can be tulle, chiffon, suede or regular material. The coloring should match the pattern on the nails. The fabric is lightly grasped with the hand, the client"s fingers are beautifully arranged;
• Use gifts of nature as a background. Take pictures against the background of fresh flowers, fruits, berries, branches;
• Choose accessories to match the style of your manicure. Pearl beads, lace, feathers are suitable for a delicate, airy nail art. A bottle of perfume, a brooch, a dark rose will beautifully highlight the evening option. And gold jewelry will favorably emphasize tanned skin.
• A handbag as a background.

Keep in mind that your manicure is the main focal point and should draw attention to it rather than other objects when selecting a background.

Lighting

A bright table lamp or a window with its curtains drawn during the day provide the perfect lighting. In the first instance, you should stay out of the sun as it will degrade the image quality. A standard sheet of Whatman paper or foil can be used as a light reflector and placed in front of the window. The shooting table should be positioned between the sheet and the window.

Most frequently, a table lamp is used. When there are two of them and they are positioned on both sides, that is ideal. One will suffice. The lightbulb should always be extremely bright and emit cold light—not yellow—and it should rotate smoothly in all directions.

It is best to position the lamp on the side above the palm.

Other names for a photo box are a lightbox, photocube, or lightcube. A photo box can assist in lighting the scene in the picture. It’s a light-colored box that you put your hand inside. frequently featuring a backlight.

Using general artificial lighting will result in photos that are much lower quality than desired. One more crucial thing to remember is to never use a flash.

Secrets of the perfect glare

What does a nail glare mean? This is the light from the bulb reflecting off the shiny nail plate surface. A natural glare is highly appealing, and people will definitely notice the picture.

To bring about this result:

• The nail coating should be glossy, it will not be possible to achieve a glare on a matte one;
• Try to perfectly align the nail plate;
• Photo your nails before removing the sticky layer;
• We need a round lamp with a very bright light bulb;
• Put the lamp on the side, as close to the nails as possible, as if putting it on hand. To make beautiful glare in the photo, you need a lot of light.

You can use Adobe Photoshop to add a glare. The simplest method is to use a specific filter. We select "Render" from the "filter" menu, followed by "Blik." Set the glare type and brightness. There will be a cross, which we celebrate at the top of the image.

On the nails nearest to the lamp, there is the biggest and brightest glare. The less glare on the nail, the farther it is from the light source.

Shooting on the camera

Three crucial camera settings have an impact on the picture quality:

• diaphragm;
• excerpt;
• photosensitivity.

The stream of light falling on the camera matrix is caused by the diaphragm. The diaphragm camera’s display shows the following: f/number. The aperture is more open and there is less depth of field when the number after the letter F is smaller. By doing this, you can make your nails stand out in a picture with a hazy background. Increase the aperture number if you wish to avoid having a blurry background.

The shutter speed is the speed at which light enters the sensor. When taking a picture of an object in motion, a long shutter speed is required to prevent blurry images. However, in this instance, since we are taking a picture of a hand that is stationary, a short shutter speed is preferable.

The ISO sensitivity determines how much noise is present in a picture. There will be less noise and a higher-quality photo the lower the value of this parameter is. A high ISO is typically required when taking pictures in dimly lit areas.

Usually, altering one of these variables also alters the others.

Photographing nails is a great use for the automatic "macro" mode; typically, this is a button shaped like a flower. In this way, even the smallest detail in the picture can be captured, capturing the texture of the coating. It also produces a gentle background blur.

The camera’s lens automatically focuses on the necessary object, which is a benefit.

Features of shooting on a phone

The smartphone automatically takes high-quality pictures in good lighting. However, there can occasionally be a "failure" that results in unneeded yellowness or darkness and a lack of sharpness.

When using a phone camera for photography, follow the guidelines.:

1. Instead of the standard camera, you can download other applications with more interesting color rendition. For Android, popular programs include Open Camera, HD Camera, Retrica, A Better Camera, and for iPhone – ProCamera, VSCO, Halide;
2. The nails in the resulting picture should be in the center. To do this, use the crop mode. It looks like a size grid with a centering button. Touch this button so that the camera better focuses on the desired area;
3. Shoot the matte gel polish coating from above, and glossy and shiny ones – at an angle to catch the glare;
4. Do not use digital zoom, as this will reduce the image quality;
5. It is better to refuse standard built-in filters if you want a high-quality and aesthetic photo. You can always add effects later, if needed, during processing.

When taking pictures of a manicure for a portfolio, make sure to get crisp, well-lit shots that bring out the colors and details of the nail art. To prevent harsh shadows, use ring lights or natural light, and pick a background that isn’t too busy to draw attention away from the manicure. To get the most flattering shots, experiment with different angles while maintaining a steady camera. Recall that the objective is to present your work in the best possible light, emphasizing its creativity and quality.

Processing

Manicure photo processing can help you get rid of the following drawbacks:

• make a faded frame brighter;
• remove unnecessary yellowness;
• remove defects and correct skin tone.

All of the aforementioned flaws can be fixed by using the Adobe Photoshop program. The "Image-Correction" tab allows you to adjust the image’s brightness and contrast, and the "Spot Healing Brush" tool eliminates extraneous objects and skin imperfections. The application is known as Adobe Photoshop Express on mobile devices.

For Android, there are dedicated photo-editing apps:

• Snapseed – the application can be called "mobile Photoshop", it allows you to change brightness, contrast, light balance, increase sharpness, add text and even remove unnecessary dust;
• AirBrush – is used to whiten the desired areas, such as skin, and there are also many different filters;
• PhotoDirector – has a lot of features: working with color, cropping, applying filters, blurring the background;
• LightX – in addition to standard processing, it changes the background and color of individual areas of the photo.

Additionally, there are iPhone applications:

• Darkroom-Photo Editor – a simple editor with a set of tools, it is possible to create your own filter;
• Enlight – has many filters, convenient tools for photo correction.

Instagram allows you to edit photos as well. The application includes a number of effective filters that enhance brightness, add color saturation, and let you highlight specific shades.

When processing images, make every effort to maintain the coating’s color and texture.

Getting excellent pictures of your manicure is crucial to developing a compelling portfolio that highlights your abilities and originality. You can draw attention to the details in your work and create a distinctive look for your designs by considering lighting, background, and angle considerations.

Remember to try out various hand positions and compositions to see what suits your style the best. Natural environments or straightforward props can provide an extra touch without competing with the manicure itself.

Your images will better convey the beauty of your work with a little practice and attention to detail, which will help you attract more customers and expand your clientele.

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