Ask the Experts: Showcasing Your Work

click image to zoomDeb Gavin What are the most important elements on how to showcase color in a photo shoot?

“Remember color is what you compare it to. Things showcase well when you have something ‘next’ to them.  For example, you make a beautiful level 10 cool blonde and to enhance the shade you add panels of a cool slate. Not too busy, but enhancing the color to create a focus,” says Deb Gavin, international artistic director Keratin Complex Color Therapy. “You want to keep your sections of color work bold enough so that you don't lose them.  Fine slices of color won't show up in print. If you’re looking to enhance a color and you just want a shadow, they work, but if you are looking to see them they would get lost. Colors ‘show’ really well also when they are almost too vibrant in real life. The camera loves it!

“One the most important lessons I have learned is in the finish aspect. No product or minimal product is best. Hairspray and gels can dull your look, and once you have too much product the only thing to do is start over. Certain things can be cleaned up in post production but the best images are always the ones that are clean and true before that. You want to shoot your work thinking about how it would look blown up to poster size.”

click image to zoomPatrick McIvor How can a stylist or colorist use social media to best showcase their work and creativity?

“Today, as a hair stylist, you don't have to get the guests you get, you can get the guests you want by incorporating social media to showcase the work you love to do and the products you love to use,” says Patrick McIvor, artistic and techniCulture Director for Goldwell and KMS California.

“Want a new clientele? Use makeovers to makeover your business.  Instead of wishing, start showing the work you love to do on Facebook and Pinterest.  Too many times stylists complain they wish they had a younger clientele, more fun and more stylish clientele, and so on. Why wish? Today, you can reach your target market for free by advertising the looks you love to do on the right people. Want younger clients?  Makeover a recent college graduate looking for a job. Who knows, maybe your new look will help them land one—what a story that could be!

“Hip wait staff, personal trainers, musicians…you know where to look. Document every makeover you do and create a Pinterest board with the images. Not only will your makeover board motivate new guests to find you via social networking, it will stimulate others as they Repin your amazing work, inspiring people all over the world! Each Repin is affirmation that your work is remarkable and contributing to others’ creativity. So, what do you want more of in your clientele? Successful businesswomen, sexy housewives, more color clients? The future is in your hands.”

click image to zoomJoe Anthony Pena How is being a platform artist a good way to show off your work as a stylist/colorist?

“Being a platform artist for Farouk Systems is the ultimate way to express my work. The stage brings me an audience that allows me to show the emotional side of my creations. It also gives me the opportunity to break down the technical side of a cut, the reason for placement of a color, and the balance of the artistic style that separates me from the rest.” —Joe Anthony Pena, member of Farouk Global Artistic Team Council