Beauty is the most technical thing I shoot
A portrait forgives a lot. A beauty image forgives nothing. The frame is a face, or part of a face, at a magnification where every choice is visible: the catchlight shape, the direction of the shadow under the cheekbone, how the lip line is retouched. It is close to still life. I find that discipline satisfying and I have spent years on it.
Utah is now home to a real skincare and cosmetics industry, and most of it is buying beauty photography from Los Angeles or from stock. There is no reason for that. The lighting is the same in a Salt Lake studio as in a Culver City one, and I am forty minutes from Lehi.
Two kinds of beauty work
For brands
Campaign and e-commerce beauty imagery for skincare, cosmetics, hair care and wellness brands. Clean beauty on grey or white, editorial beauty with more attitude, before-and-after documentation that is honest and consistently lit (which matters for the regulatory side of skincare claims). Model casting through Salt Lake agencies, hair and makeup from a small team I have worked with for years. I shoot tethered so your creative director approves frames in the room.
For individuals
A beauty portrait session is a portrait shot at beauty distance: head and shoulders, precise light, hair and makeup by a professional, retouched with the same care as a campaign image. People book these for milestone birthdays, for professional profiles in industries where appearance is the job, and sometimes simply because they want one photograph where they look exactly as good as they do on their best day. In black and white these are extraordinary; skin becomes texture and the eyes carry everything.
On retouching
I retouch every beauty image myself, by hand, in Photoshop. No frequency separation smear, no AI skin smoothing, no plug-in "beauty" filter. Blemishes and temporary marks are removed. Pores, fine lines and the shape of a face are not. The goal is the person on a very good day, not a different person. Brands increasingly want this because audiences can smell over-retouching and it damages trust; individuals want it because they would like to recognise themselves.
If a brand needs heavier work for a specific creative reason, I can do it. I will just ask why first.
Hair
Hair is its own specialty within beauty. It needs backlight, a very clean edge, and a stylist who can hold a shape for the ten minutes a setup takes. I have shot for stylists building portfolios and for salons in Salt Lake City and Park City. If you are a colourist or stylist who needs images that show your work rather than the model's face, that is a specific brief and I know how to light it.
Where I shoot beauty
Studio in Salt Lake City, with controlled light. Beauty is not a location genre; the outdoors are for editorial and portraits. For brands elsewhere along the Wasatch Front I can bring a compact studio setup to your office or a rented space.
Rates
Brand beauty work is quoted per project with licensing itemised, as described on the campaign page. Individual beauty portrait sessions include hair and makeup and a set of hand-retouched images. Ranges on the pricing page.
Questions I get asked
No. Every beauty image is retouched by hand in Photoshop. Skin keeps its texture. It takes longer and it looks like a photograph rather than a render.
Yes. I work with Salt Lake City model agencies for casting and have a small hair-and-makeup team I trust with beauty work. Both are itemised on the estimate.
Yes. The key is identical lighting, distance and settings across both sessions, which I document so the comparison holds up.
Yes. Most people who book individual beauty sessions are not models. Hair and makeup are included and I direct every frame.
