What I've Been Up To...

I've been quite disconnected from my blog and social media lately. A lot of things happened, I've been busy but I've also been pensive, planning, thinking…You see, when I decided to follow a creative path I went down this road of self discovery, not knowing where it's going to take me, and it's been quite interesting so far. Aside from photo projects, I've been working on a bunch of other things, that I'll list and talk about below.

1. My office and Studio. 

It's been a while since I've had my studio. I've pretty much reorganized my whole house around it, and I kept changing furniture and optimizing since. My most recent endeavour was renovating my office. It's still a work in progress, but I realize I never posted photos of my studio so it's about time I gave you guys a tour.

Something I'm really proud of is my makeup station and especially my custom-made makeup mirror.
 

2. Makeup

Oh boy, where do I start with this? I did mention before that makeup is my new hobby, but it really took a whole new dimension lately. It basically all started this summer when a photographer friend, knowing that I had some makeup knowledge, asked me for help with a project. It all worked out great, so this fall she came to me with several other projects, and even referred me to another photographer, and I started working with him as well. Initially it was easier stuff and natural makeup looks, but then she trusted my newb skills with more complicated creations. I even ended up doing a body paint. I've been posting more about this on my Instagram.

So ya, that kept me busy, looking for tutorials, products and practicing. I can say I've been through a very unexpected and ad-hoc makeup school. YouTube "University" rocks!

Makeup was definitely not part of my business plan, but going down the creativity path meant going down a road of self-discovery. And in doing makeup I've found something that I lost long time ago, that freedom of creativity and expression that I had when I used to draw and paint as a kid. Photography is different. You either capture what is, or if you try to create something new, you need to plan, organize, shoot and then edit. It's a process. Makeup is much more instant. The face is my canvas and I am once again the painter. I definitely want to pursue the makeup path further. I am a photographer, I have a studio, I love beauty retouching…I'll see where this will take me. I can't wait to create some beautiful stuff! And when I say I can't wait, I'm talking about the delivery guy…I did a bit of a dent in my credit card ordering makeup products this Black Friday, but I'm sure it's going to be worth it!!!!

3. Retouching

So this makeup conversation brought me to retouching. That's my old love: Photoshop <3<3<3. If I wish for something this Christmas is for 50 hours days so I can do everything I have in plan. I'm working on a retouching section on my website so I can start actively offering my retouching services. 

So stay tuned. I have a lot of cool stuff planned.

Hugs, 



Basic Makeup Tips & Must-Haves for Portrait Photography

Makeup has been hobby that I had lately ('cuz, you know, i felt I needed a hobby from my photography "hobby"). And by lately i mean it's been going on for a while...I've been doing the makeup for many of my photoshoots, and even collaborated with other photographers as a makeup artist. 

Makeup tips are something i get asked quite a lot, either by my clients/models and especially by my fellow photographers, so i think a blog post on this topic would be a great idea. So If you are thinking of getting a few makeup essentials for basic portraiture, or wondering what product you might need to look best in your next headshot, here are a few essentials from my makeup bag and few really awesome tips, that will help you push your portrait game to the next level, whether you are the photographer or the model.

Tora Photography - Product Photography Montreal - Makeup Products Layout

A few reasonably-priced essentials from my makeup kit:

Primer:
This is a very useful product for close-up portrait photography. It fills in lines and pores and leaves skin more smooth and beautiful. Use it on the bare skin, before applying foundation. I use REVLON Photoready Prime + Antishine™ Balm. You can find it in drugstores. It's around $15. I'm quite happy with it. 

Foundation:
Foundation is a tricky thing. If you're a photographer or a makeup artist just building your kit, you'll need a bunch of shades, to be able to match different skin tones. When I was in photo school I was asking my models to bring their own foundation and powder. You can also buy a few shades, several tones apart, and mix them up.
If you're preparing for your next headshot, and you don't want to get a professional make-up done, make sure you are using the right shade for your skin tone. It's basic, but it's very important. Depends on the lighting, but tone differences might become very visible. 

Powder & translucent powder: 
Powder is good for removing the shine. If you are a photographer, consider getting a translucent powder. This is a real must-have for me. I generally use this one on men. It removes shine without adding colour. I use Marcelle Translucent Face Powder, again an inexpensive solution (around $15).

Blush:
Use a natural colour. Blush looks good if it's applied well. Use these guidelines (click on the image to view in full): 

Brushes:
This is a whole other blog post, but for starters you will basically need a big brush for powder and a smaller one for blush. Generally, eyeshadow comes with those small spongy brushes, which are easy to use, but you'll need extra ones. 

Eyeshadows:
For a startup portrait kit, consider buying a nude eyeshadow palette. It's extremely versatile for day to evening looks. For an inexpensive solution, i recommend The Nudes or The Blushed Nudes palettes from Maybelline; for a drugstore brand, not bad at all.  Also, you can save money if buy an extensive palette with many shades. The biggest one I have is the Color My Life palette from Sephora, with 36 eyeshadows and 6 lip glosses.

Lip gloss:
It's basic, natural and goes with everything.  

Mascara:
Drugstore brands are generally OK. A classic one is this one from Maybelline.  

Tips:

- For headshots, keep makeup natural. It also depends on your daily look. If you generally wear a lot of makeup, you can wear more makeup in your headshot. But normally. a subtle makeup goes a long way in a professional headshot. 

- Make sure you keep your make-up brushes clean. I have a shampoo for brushes and i put medicinal alcohol in a spray bottle, which I use all the time. I wash my brushes as often as I can, and especially before applying makeup on someone else.  

- Contouring: If you really want to push your portrait game to the next level, you should learn contouring. This is one of my favourite parts from makeup. It's amazing what you can do with good contouring. The idea behind it is to accentuate shadows and highlights that form naturally on the face, in order to sculpt. Here's a really cool contouring tutorial (but you can find countless other ones all over the web). I use the Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette, but there are other more accessible alternatives, as well. However, the contouring kit is a product I suggest investing in.  Also, I don't recommend using bronzer for contouring, it's much too orange. Also, for photography I suggest keeping in mind the type of lighting you use. Studio flashes will wash out colours, so you might need to go more extreme with the contouring.

- Use luminizer. I bought the Sephora Collection MicroSmooth Baked Luminizer to test it out, and it's absolutely amazing. You know that shimmery shine along the cheekbones you see in professional makeup photos? That's what it is. 

All these being said, I will wrap things up here. For more makeup ideas and tutorials, check out my Pinterest Makeup board.

But I'm still learning, so I would love to hear some of your comments. What other makeup essentials do you recommend?

Hugs,

Tora

10 Places to Find Inspiration (And Feed Your Creative Mojo)

I've been in a less inspired mood lately…a sort of creative block almost. I know it's normal and it happens to every creative brain out there, but it's still extremely frustrating. It happened to me before, it will happen again, the thing is to work through it… And I'll tell you a few of the things I do, or the websites I visit to stay inspired and to jumpstart the creative side of my brain when I'm in such a block. 

1. Pinterest - Good old Pinterest…I've spent so much time on it that it's almost a classic. I love it, it's great for ideas and inspiration and for putting together mood boards and styles for photoshoots. I didn't really focus my social media activities on Pinterest, but it's great for that too. Oh yeah, and tutorials too…I sometimes use it alternatively with Google. 

2. Creative Live - Well, you see, one of the ways I stay inspired is through learning new things and doing tutorials. Creative Live is a website that offers online classes and workshops for aspiring creatives. They have two ways in which you can watch the classes: Live streaming, for free, on demand access, for a price. And they really have cool classes too, but they are long, full day workshops. But what I do if I find a class that I'm interested in, I let it play in the background while I do other things such as editing or preparing my gear for a photoshoot or cleaning my studio. 

3. Behance - Behance is a social platform for showcasing creative portfolios. There's a lot of sites like that for photographers, like 500px, Flickr, etc., but Behance is a community for all types of creatives, from photographers, to graphic designers, retouchers etc. I love it because I love visual creativity. I love graphic design, I love fonts, I love photo manipulation and retouching, and of course, I love photography, but I like to get inspired from other creative forms. I didn't spend much time on Behance lately, but it's been one of my inspiration sites for a while.

4. YouTube - On the same idea as with Creative Live, my content consumption on YouTube generally revolves around tutorials, talks, lectures, inspirational stuff that people like to talk about. Before Creative Live (oh ya, and Lynda for a brief moment), I used to listen to YouTube tutorials and inspirational stuff all the time. I still do. If you run into me doing groceries and listen to what's playing in my headphones, you'll probably hear some Gary Vaynerchuk keynote or some Ted Talk. I also do a lot of tutorials…go YouTube University. 

5. Magazines - I have a subscription to Next Issue, and I like to browse magazines mainly to look at photos, keep up with visual content trends and get inspired. I have the app on my iPad and it's a cool way to stay inspired while in transit or travelling. There's also this other magazine I've been buying: Renegade Collective. It's a lifestyle magazine from Australia, and its content is a mix of inspirational stories, business advice and creative tips. I always keep a few copies on my coffee table. 

6. Networking - One of the advantages about being a freelancer is that you get to work from home, but it can be quite isolating. For some people it might not be that much of a problem, but for me (an extrovert and a social butterfly) it really is. I need social interaction with like minded people to stay inspired and motivated. That's why I've been going to networking events, such as Creative Mornings or the Instameet etc. It's cool, I got to meet really interesting people in the process, listened to great inspirational talks, even got a free Zipline ride at Instameet. Waddya know? Networking can really be fun. Where I find a lot of these events? Word of mouth, or Facebook. 

7. Instagram and Facebook - You know, you follow other creatives, you see cool stuff they share…but it's a tricky thing, endless pit. I start off reading a post from Von Wong and two hours later i'm on the cat side of the Internet. You know how it is.  

8.  BAnQ (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec) - Yes, the library. It's a vast free resource of great content. When I first started discovering photography I used to spend hours in their photography section.  

9. Creative Market - Graphic design content. Cool freebies too. 

10. Last but absolutely not least:

life around me…