All About the Hair


Photographing hair is all about precision—from the hairstylist, from the lighting and from the retoucher. After collaborating on a personal project with longtime friend and hairstylist/makeup artist Johnny Gonzalez, I set out to do my own portfolio of hair. I set up three shoots over three days and cast for a variety of models—brunettes, blondes, redheads, girls with freckles, girls with richly dyed hair and more. 

The shoot resulted in an entirely new body of work that I am quite proud of (12 to 14 images, including the ones shown in the slideshow above). I controlled each light to carefully place a highlight or draw the attention of the eye. I worked with a professional retoucher, Rafael Alexander, to take the shot to the 
next level. Separate shots of the hair (usually extensions) were taken at different angles and these would act 
as pieces that we could infuse into the final image in Photoshop to increase volume and perfect the style. 

Hear Lindsay Adler talk all about  “Fashion and Beauty Photography Essentials” at WPPI in Las Vegas on  Friday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. and on “Fashion Techniques to Wow Your  Portrait and Wedding Clients” on Wednesday, March 4 at 8:30 a.m.