Salon Today - September 2008 - (Page 29)

>CONCEPT What Ruiz and Anlauf intend to do with their photos—compete in NAHA—may be very different from what you have in mind for yours. Photographer Tom Carson, who distinguishes himself from fashion photographers by conﬁning his work to hair, says that in order to have a successful shoot, you must know who your audience will be. “Are you trying to appeal to potential clientele? To other hairdressers? Will you send out a trend release press kit to all the newsstand hair publications?” says Carson, who uses his website, www.carsonimage.com, to showcase his photography. How commercial your styles will be should depend upon whom you want viewing them, says Charlie Price, owner of Click Salon in Denver. “Don’t do your avant-garde hair show looks for your salon brochure,” says Price, NAHA’s 2002 and 2008 Hairstylist of the Year. “On the ﬂip side, if you’re using the shoot to meet a fashion designer, don’t take a photo of your sister-in-law’s new cut.” Know not only whom you’re addressing but also what you’re trying to say. “Your photos should represent a collection,” Anlauf says. “There should be something that connects the images in the hair. When put together, the images should tell a story.” When you’re shooting for a marketing brochure or ad campaign, your primary goal should be to produce photos of beautiful, enviable, hair. Then the theme can be as loose as: These are looks that we do at our salon. Frank Shortino is known throughout the trade press for his participation in copious amounts of photo shoots. His team at Shortino’s Salon and Spa in York, Pennsylvania, creates trend photos, while Shortino prefers doing makeovers. “I know we can take an average plain Jane and make her look like an unbelievable Jane,” Shortino says. “That’s what people like. They don’t want to see us take a professional model and make her look better.” Ultimately, your theme should frame the hair story, not swallow it. “Don’t get too much into the concept, or you’ll overwhelm the hair,” says Barston. “A photo shoot takes months of planning and conceptualizing. It also takes practice. Every time I’m on a set, I learn something. Every time.” — Maureen Anlauf >LOCATION Critical to the concept is the decision of whether to hold your shoot in a studio or venture into the wild. For most, the decision of indoors vs. outdoors is a no-brainer—wind, rain, humidity, temperature and spotty clouds vastly diminish the level of control you’ll have on the set. “You’ll never see a NAHA entry shot outdoors,” says Ruiz and, according to Carson, consumer magazines tend to prefer collections presented in a studio setting. Furthermore, with today’s digital photography you can decide later to add a background, although that will add some expense. However, trade magazines tend to like location shoots, Carson says. It can be effective to showcase urban hair in the city, for instance, or farm-girl hair in a ﬁeld. Ruiz calls that a “lifestyle shoot.” >STYLING TEAM For a shoot aimed at developing photos that market the salon, typically a select handful of staff stylists participate from early in the conceptual development through completion on shooting day. This can be a good opportunity to reward your veterans as well as to give new people an opportunity to assist in an environ- ment completely different from the salon. Some owners hold a competition to determine who will participate, while others methodically select the salon’s top producers. A third option is to establish a “pay to play” framework that requires those interested to chip-in ﬁnancially; other owners may take along the people with the highest retail numbers. When Price offers his high-producing stylists the opportunity to do shoots as an additional creative outlet, he’s never turned down. “If a stylist doesn’t want to do a photo shoot, that’s a red ﬂag because it should be the most fun thing there is to do,” he says. Every team needs a leader, agree the experts, and Price feels it shouldn’t be just anyone. “The owner must be very involved in the shoot,” he says. Ruiz typically serves as the artistic director in his shoots. “I become the Tim Gunn of the shoot, providing inspiration through a general topic, movie, song—it can be anything or a combination,” he says. “Then I let them create what they want.” > www.salontoday.com September 2008 | 29 http://www.carsonimage.com http://www.salontoday.com

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Salon Today - September 2008 Contents Editor's Note Reception Fashion Sense Spa Menu Roundtable Decor Medusa Salon Camera Ready Maximum Exposure Hollywood Connection Products Owner to Owner

Salon Today - September 2008

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