Behind the Scenes: Courtney Dailey’s Beauty Photography

With her Tamron SP 24-70mm VC and SP 70-200mm VC lenses, the Los Angeles photographer shows women in a bold, confident light.

Article by Jenn Gidman

Images by Courtney Dailey

Before she became a professional photographer, Courtney Dailey was a makeup artist, drawing upon the bold, dramatic colors in her cosmetics palette to make her models look beautiful and confident. Today, Courtney draws upon the knowledge she gleaned from her former profession to create commercial beauty images that are just as vibrant and dramatic.

"Color is such an important part of telling a story," she says. "I'm trying to show women in a way that's fun and confident, and I do that with strong colors. The women in my images aren't saying, 'Look at me, I'm pretty'; they're holding their heads high and saying, 'I know I'm pretty.'"

Courtney uses the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC and SP 70-200mm VC lenses to create her signature photos, which have appeared everywhere from cosmetics campaigns to the pages of Elle and Allure magazines. "Both lenses give me images that are so sharp, with brilliant colors," she says. "Which lens I use depends how much space I have to back up. I tend to get into people's personal space a little bit, so I love the 24-70 because it lets me show the models the way I want them to be seen and crop in-camera. With the 70-200, I'll usually shoot at F/2.8 and get that really gorgeous, shallow-depth-of-field. And when the model is moving or I'm moving, the Vibration Compensation (VC) feature on both of these lenses helps keep my images really sharp."

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder-and it's often surprising to hear how Courtney captured what the viewer is beholding. Read on for her behind-the-scenes narrative and suggestions of how to show these exquisite models in the best light.

Create a fun, comfortable atmosphere.
People are often under the impression that doing a beauty shoot is snooty or stuffy, but people who have worked with me understand that my shoots are very homey and fun. It's like being in a music video!

I want my models to feel relaxed, which is part of the reason I love that I have a makeup background. During that hour and a half when they're getting their hair and makeup done, I talk with them and get to know them, so by the time I put my lens up to their faces, they know me and feel at ease. I could go into another room while they're getting ready, but then it would be really awkward for me to just come out right before we start the session and say "Time to shoot!"

Make a connection with the viewer by carefully selecting your angles.
How I approach a model will often depend on her facial features (luckily, most of the women I photograph have incredibly perfect features!), but there are angles that are typically more beneficial for beauty. I generally try not to shoot from a lower angle, unless I'm photographing a child model-it's just not flattering in most cases.

Instead, I prefer to photograph slightly above the model or at direct eye level with her, so most of my images are straight on. That's the way we talk to each other as humans and connect. You need to make that connection with your audience in the same way through your images.

Find a lighting formula that suits your style, but don't be afraid of strong light.
We all have our preferences when it comes to lighting-it's such a big overall part of your branding. When I started out, I was doing what everyone else was doing with their lighting. Then, very quickly, I started developing my own style.

I'm predominantly a strobe shooter. I like treating light like it's a giant swath of sunshine: Wherever I want the "sun" to be, that's where I put my light. I use a lot of very minimalist modifiers, a lot of grids, a few parabolic umbrellas if I want the overall image to be well-lit. I also use a beauty dish and a lot of ringflash, because I love the way skin looks with that kind of light.

I'm not a softbox shooter at all. I look at work by other photographers who use softboxes and it looks so beautiful, but when I try to shoot in softer light, the resulting images don't look or feel like "me." I love hard light. I love the way it shapes the face, the way it makes the eyes look so much more dynamic. That means that even outdoors, I'm not afraid of putting a model in direct sunlight. Where I live in California, the sun is higher here for longer during the day, so I don't want to limit myself. Being able to shoot in full sunlight gives me a lot more hours to play with.

I was photographing the cover image for a Vietnam magazine and wanted really golden, tropical light. I took the picture at 2pm, in full sun-I simply had the model close her eyes and then open them at the count of three so she wasn't squinting. I used a 1-stop diffusion filter to soften it up a little bit, but it came out just as I envisioned it.

Strike that ideal balance between bold and natural.
I love how bold colors can really bring out a woman's beauty and confidence, but I try to bring those colors together in the best aesthetic way. I like to call them "complementary contrasts," where I know viewers will be drawn to looking at the image, but they'll still be at ease looking at it-the colors can't be too loud.

For one of the models I recently photographed, my team and I knew we were going to have her hold a flower in front of one side of her face for a pop of color. I got some flowers and brought them to the studio. I knew I wanted the model's makeup to include the color purple, so my makeup artist gave her a bold purple brow and eye shadow design. It came together beautifully with the purple center of the flower.

Another model I photographed was 14 years old (she's now modeling in Paris). As soon as I saw her, I knew I could go bold with her, too, but I still wanted to show her natural beauty. She went into hair and makeup and came out wearing bright-pink lipstick and makeup that really highlighted the color of her eyes-but you can still see the freckles on her face. It was important to me to make sure those freckles showed. They add so much character and make faces look "real."

Let the retouching process reflect your personal style.
When I first started out, I did all my own retouching. Then I got to a point where I just didn't have time to do it all on my own. Now I have a team that does it for me, but once I get the images back from them, I go in and add what I call my "special sauce." I like to adjust my colors and other elements to make them pop. When you're a beauty photographer, the models' skin is also so important. Many retouchers will go in and blur the pores or the wispy little hairs on the models' faces. I generally like to leave those in. My main goal is for the image to really feel like it's mine so that my body of work is cohesive.

Work with what you have to make photographic magic.
I always tell photographer at my presentations that they can't let not having the right environment stop them from taking the picture they want to. Sometimes you have to make things work and sell the story to make it real-and the story behind the scenes is often nothing like what you're portraying in the image.

For example, Glamour South Africa wanted a picture of a beautiful girl in the sun for its upcoming summer season. First of all, I have to get a permit to shoot on the beach. Second, we typically get what's called "June Gloom" here-every morning starts out overcast, so it's risky to even get a permit when you're not sure how the weather will turn out. So instead of heading to the shore for this image, I shot it in my front yard, with an aqua backdrop and direct sun hitting her right shoulder. Later on I superimposed the photo of the ocean onto this image.

One of my favorite behind-the-scenes stories to tell, though, was an image I created for a cosmetics company campaign. I had shot a similar image of a girl in a pool that they wanted me to reenact as part of the campaign. I went to my local grocery store and bought a $5 inflatable pool that was about 8 inches deep-the model's torso just barely fit inside.

We took the image at the art director's home in Santa Monica. It was an overcast, chilly morning, so I brought a strobe and took the picture with three hard lights shining down on her. My assistant and I hung out at the sides of the pool and moved our feet in the water so we could get those ripples and beautiful reflections of light.

In other words, don't worry about what part of the country you live in or whether or not you're doing a shoot at a high-end, big-city studio. Sometimes it's not in the budget or in the cards weather-wise to go to a certain location. Open your mind about what you want your final image to look like and build around that.

To see more of Courtney Dailey's work, go to www.courtneydailey.com or www.photobeautycoach.com.