The Makeup and Photography Madness.

Hey beauties,

Like the popular artist sang ” mo bo lowo won”  and for the benefit of you non- Yoruba speaking people, it simply means ” I have escaped from them”. Yep, I am back fully, no digital demon is going to keep me from my ever loving family.

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OK, so what’s the subject matter for today ? It is indeed a touchy subject that need to be addressed irrespective, the makeup and photography madness, it is touchy in the sense that we have three schools of thought on the subject mecidiyeköy escort matter. On one side we have the client demanding that the makeup artist turn her into a cosmopolitan model using the power of her makeup and camera to transform her into a diva, another school of thought believes that they need to enhance their jobs in order to gain any form of recognition in the industry  and then we have the final school of thought that consists of a scanty number of makeup artists who believe that the more natural and true to life the picture can look, the better.

So where do I belong ? Yep, you guessed right – I totally belong to the school of thought that embraces and supports natural looking pictures. The makeup industry today has a lot of makeup artists turning into photographer, investing heavily on photography gadgets and neglecting their core which involves investing in great brands like the Blackups  , the MACs etc.  So my question always is when I see a far off camera that has lens similar to what satellites use to beam down on the earth – Are you a makeup artist or a photographer ?

The reality is that I am also a trained  photographer and this only  helps me capture my work the way I love and want it. I had to take a class in photography because most times when I asked a  photographer to  help out,what I get is totally different from what I expected. It is usually over edited,  with the pores of the individual in the pictures totally invincible and making them look like a plastic doll.I do not as a matter of principle change Nkechi to Joy, rather I will give you Nkechi 2.0 🙂 , still Nkechi with a little more grace.

What makes this issue worse is the unemployment rate in Nigeria and the  zero barrier to entry into the makeup industry, thankfully that is soon to change with the launch of Makeup Artist Guild of Nigeria M.A.G.N (Click HERE to learn more ).

I recently needed some accessories for my camera and so I headed to my ever trusty camera shop on the Island ,I call him Oga Neke. We had a very insightful conversation while I was there,  he told me about how a large number of his customers were makeup artists, that conversation must have spurred this post really.He further explained that most of them just wanted the most pricey camera without any knowledge of how it works and how it can help them.

Here is the crux of the matter , there is a need to draw the line, owning a camera doesn’t automatically make you a photographer neither thus is magically make your jobs look better, bottom line is you need to be trained in both. The trend among makeup artists is to acquire all the photography gadgets, I have seen  makeup artists with a canon 5D mark 111 camera worth almost a million naira and the question just readily pops up again – what are you, a makeup artist or a photographer ?   

The pressure on makeup artists to present angelic looking jobs on their social media handles  in order to get bookings has caused the increase in highly edited jobs. The problem is always replicating it on client’s face as they have seen it previously.

For those intending to buy cameras, I got a list from Oga Neke while I was with him, this will help you make informed decisions.

 

Cool pix L340 –                                                     N37,000

Canon 60D                                                             N225,000

Canon  700D with lens 18/55                            N155,000

Canon  Rebel T51 with kit lens 18/55           – N160,000

Canon 750D with lens 18/55                             N190,000

Canon 70Dwith lens 18/55                                N 350,000

Canon 80D ( Body alone)                                   N340,000

5D (body Alone)                                                N800,000

5D mark 111 with kit 24/105 lens                   N880,000

Canon 50mm lens (1.8)                                    N44,000

Nikon D32000 with 18/55 lens                      N105,000

Nikon D3300 with 18/55 lens                        N125,000

Nikon D5500 with 18/55                                 N210,000

Reflector Board from                                       N7000

External flash olong

External flash Youno

Memory card

Ring light with complete kit                           N75000

To wrap up , I have heard of an instance where a bride asked a makeup artist to send in her portfolio,  the makeup artist did just that and all she got from the would be client was a sly remark – ” sorry I cant book you because I am not feeling your pictures” Common people the artist is first a makeup artist, the quality of the photograph is for support.

Let me quickly put this out there –  instead of spending so much on photography gadgets, kindly invest in your kit(which is your business), buy quality foundations, powders etc instead of cheap and counterfeit products

Please feel free to drop your comment below  I would love to read from you.

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Till my next post .

Hugs and kisses

Misidreads.

 

 

 

32 Comments

  1. I totally agree with you Yemi. So many people out there appreciates edited jobs my sister. Just few understands the natural looks hence the need for some makeup artists to invest in more expensive gadget. I long to have one too(not so expensive though) but for now, my box is no1. I did a job a whole ago and the friend of my client walked in with her face made up already. She was all over the place talking about how her makeup artist takes nice pictures and turns her into a model. By the time I saw the pictures of Facebook, Omo it was different.

  2. Yemis this post really got to me , cause the craze for photography amongst muas is insane .. Thanks for the list of cameras n prices looking forward to get a small one.

  3. Hmmm so true about the craze. My concern about over-edired is when you are asked to recreate it, what happens? That’s a question of integrity for me. Professional cameras does present
    your jobs decently already .

    Thinking of getting Nikon 60d, any idea of how much that goes for pls?

  4. I couldn’t agree more with you Yemisi, I’ve been thoroughly disappointed by a very popular instagram MUA who made a friend of mine up, the real life was a far variation from the pictures we saw. I think it’s the pressure put on them by Social Media.

  5. Well said ma, well done.. I also own a small camera (Finepix S8630) n bcos of this expensive camera craze, I dumped it n thought it wasn’t working for me.. Would just pick up now n make good use of it

  6. Awesome post as usual Yemisi. The social media craze is getting crazier in fact. But a balance on the two ends is important. While you should first get your makeup technique right by investing in the right products etc, you should also get a good camera to capture what you have done properly, to help build your portfolio.
    However even photography experts started with basic cameras and they will always tell you that it is about the technique of capturing rather than the camera. So we need to learn the basics of that too.
    There is no point carrying around a 5D around that is permanently in auto mode. That’s just pointless.

    Well about the satellite looking lenses? Let’s say we just love plenty “effizy” without substance in this part of the world lol!

  7. I know makeup artists that have lost jobs because of their photos on the gram. It wasn’t up to the client’s taste and due to how competitive the industry is, it’s forced muas to invest in things they don’t really need just to say they have it when the client asks for it. I’ve even lost a client because I didn’t take her photos. The truth is, as at that time, i didn’t really know how to work my camera and I wasn’t about to start deceiving myself.
    As for the matter of editing, hmmm. I’ve come to understand that overedited photos appeal to a certain audience, same way obviously drawn boxy brows appeal to some. Those are the type of people that love to be deceived. I’m all for my photos looking as close to real life as possible and I’ve come to understand that not everyone would appreciate that.

  8. Dear yemi, lovely post, i just kept smiling while i read, buh u see, majority are moved by what they see, some clients even send u pics and tell u dat they wanna look like this or that as if u be magician. …lol. well we can only be the best we can be, thanks for the list of cameras

  9. Gosh! I love this post up here.the craze for a professional camera is so high,i was forced to go get one expensive one too….left me so broke.but damn can the pressure just take a chill pill on makeup artists already.
    I’m so frustrated.clients r such a pain in the butt sometyms.
    Thank u yemisi for posting out my thoughts

  10. ….you totally spoke my mind….my sister got married of recent…her friends booked her a surprise makeup artist just bcos dey felt am not good enough to do the big day plus wedding vendors don’t repost my works(I dnt even tag den) and bcos I dnt have more than a Nikon D3100 camera, booked smone who had more gadget….
    Bamm….the pictures came out DAT day, looking all perfect…. She was preggy so d makeup artist worked on her face well by caking it perfectly….to my surprise, not up to 5 mins after she danced out, her makeup washed away beautifully…..he husband and camera man had to call me to come help her touch up….
    My point is… People only care about the immediate picture and not how the makeup looks hours after especially for a bride….

    Cont…

  11. Cont.

    Her friend’s wedding was same thing…came out well in their camera but was horrible at the event..for DAT same wedding, I was booked to do all her friends makeup… I did my pregnant sisters makeup, and after running round to attend to guests, IT DD NOT MOVE…, just her tzone was oily….
    Camera alone do not define my work… I will prefer to show you my client’s face hrs after I beat her face…..

  12. Like seriously u hit the nail on the headbut most times is not the artist fault but the client wanting the efizzy pictures o,i was using the small cannon camera b4 now I can’t even take out again cos some client will just look down on uu so on the hunt for a bigger camera but not get over edited work but to survive in the industry

  13. Thank you so much for this post. Am of the school that support natural looking pics but the society wants something really fake. I recently had the opportunity to make up some “Abuja big girls” they came into my state – Calabar for an event. They made so much fuse about big brows and all. I did what i know best – which is working with her face shape and did a nice work on them . By the next day she called me that I should come and reach her my own style of brows that she likes it. Point is we should sometimes stick to what we are known for.

  14. Thank you very much for this post!! I’m of the third school of thought that supports natural looking pictures. The photography craze is becoming something else. That’s why I prefer to watch videos of a makeup artist’s work than pictures. Something I scroll to look for phone pictures of their work cos the whole photoshop thing is deceiving. Even if you want to use photoshop, don’t over do it and make the person look plastic. And it’s so annoying that some clients are judging a makeup artist’s work based on photography skills. Buying a professional camera is a lot of money and I feel before a makeup artist makes such investment, their kit and skills need to be sorted out first.

  15. This is such a beautiful post misy. I get appalled by a lot of ‘well known’ muas job because of this Photoshop thing. In fact, I don’t look at pictures again; I just watch videos and I’ll be damned if I don’t get surprised most of the time.
    A bride came for consultation and she liked a lip look by one of our popular muas. I tried all my colours, mixing, matching, cleaning and reapplying but it was all to naught!
    I eventually went to watch the video and I was so surprised that the lip colour was a far cry from the photo shopped pic
    In fact, someone told me I must Photoshop extremely before she’ll take me serious and I’ve lost a lot of jobs because of that!
    Nigerian Makeup artists, let’s take it easy! Clients, kindly make it easy for us to enhance your beauty not to turn you to another person!

  16. I am a victim too, I get that all. But when I manage to convince the client and she allows work on her , she will know say u are good but pls get recent cAmera . Nigeria likes fake life and love editing too much.

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