How to shoot beauty at the beach – get a great model-actress like Hayley Pendergrass and get a great makeup artist like Thirati K! Problem solved.

Seriously, it’s hard to take a bad photo of Hayley. We went out to Long Beach with a vague idea for a short film and to shoot some beauty and fashion stills. So we got our stuff and headed out to Long Beach.

Hope for an overcast day

We got lucky with it being overcast, which helped out for the beauty shots. If it’s a bright sunny day, you’ll need to silk the sun to get softer lighting needed for beauty. Usually a 2/3 or a full stop silk is what you want. For fashion, a harder light source like direct sun can be fine and a lot of times desired but for beauty it’s generally not.

The truth is, the secret to how to shoot beauty photography at the beach is to not do it. A studio or other location is usually best for beauty since you can completely control the lighting and you don’t have to deal with wind and sand and having the model sweating because of the heat. You certainly can do it, but softening the light is key.

Also be prepared to possibly have to photoshop out things in the background. Beauty shots are usually tight, but if you shoot a little wider you might get people and things in the background that you didn’t notice while shooting.

The timing of the clouds couldn’t have been better with it being overcast for the beauty shots and then later when we wanted to shoot some fashion, the sun came out just enough to help us out with that.

Thirati’s makeup perfectly complimented the mood and tone we were going for; a light moody, melancholy feel. And the wardrobe was perfect. We used what we came across on the beach and used it for the improvised film we shot. It completely changed the idea we had in our heads but it worked out much better than if we had planned everything out. I was very happy with the film and the still photos. All-in-all a very fun and productive day.

Read more about making of the film, Beauty and the Beach.

Director and Photographer Greg McDonald

Greg has made many beauty videos, shot still photography projects and fashion films for clients. He writes, directs, shoots and edits narrative films.

Check out more of his work on his writing-directing website.

For more info on Gate5’s beauty video production services, read our blog Top Beauty Videographer.

About Gate5, a Los Angeles video production company

Gate5 is a creative video agency and full service video production company producing high quality and results driven video content for businesses and advertising agencies.

We conceptualize, write scripts, direct, cast, film and edit viral videos, branded films, product and promotional videos, web and TV commercials, episodic content and live video streaming production.

Check out more of our work and video samples