6 Tips To Nailing The Perfect Instagram Hair Shot

Instagram is a popular and important channel for hairdressers. Mastering the perfect before and after shot for your Instagram page can do wonders for your business and drastically contribute to increasing client loyalty and attracting new clients to your salon.

As Instagram is such a visual platform,  it fits in perfectly with the hairdressing industry and should be utilised to maximise your exposure and help build brand awareness.

If you are struggling to take the perfect Instagram shot or just want some extra tips and tricks, we have compiled 6 Tips To Nailing The Perfect Instagram Hair shot for you.

1. Include the client in the experience

The best of photos can be achieved right after you have just finished your Mycolour or styling service. This can be done at ease if you always factor in time to get before and after shots of your clients.

The best way to do this is to engage with clients and get them excited about how amazing their hair looks by saying things like “Wow, that colour/style looks amazing on you, do you mind if I take a picture for our social media?” Most clients will be thrilled and happy to get clicked. It’s the ‘feel good’ factor!

P.S. Just make sure you ask them for permission if you are using images of their face. Some clients might also ask you to send or tag them in the photo so they can share it too. Free advertising!

Image source – Pinterest

2. Lighting is key

Natural lighting is the key to good photography. If your salon has large glass windows or doors with natural light, try and take your photos close by. Just make sure the natural light is coming from behind you as this will make the hair colour and photo pop. And it doesn’t get better if you can catch the golden hours!

If your salon is in a shopping centre or you are unable to utilise natural lighting, we would recommend investing in a ring light. This can either be a small ring light clipped to your photo or a freestanding ring light set up in your salon. Basically, do it the influencer way!

3. Be mindful of the background

Remember less is more. For best results, try to keep your background white or a solid colour, as this will allow the whole focus to be on the hair and not the clutter in the background. And of course, white reflects light evenly and a plain background makes the image a lot easier to edit!

Consistency is also key; we recommend taking the before and after shots on the same background as this will provide the highest impact when placing the photos together. This will also ensure you took both photos in the same lighting, removing any extraneous factors.

Image source – Pinterest

4. Take multiple photos from different angles

Who ever only takes one picture these days? We recommend taking multiple pictures from different angles to make sure you are showcasing the best photos you can. Taking multiple photos will allow you choice and avoid you having to use a less than perfect shot.

Just remember to take multiple photos of both the before and after hair shots as it looks best if you use the same angles when matching up the images. For example, using both the back of the head hair shots, or both the side of the head shots for comparison.

And you can always go for the fun boomerangs and slow-motion hair flips (clients love to do those too!)

5. Avoid using filters

Although Instagram filters have become a part of our everyday lives now, if you use the right lighting, we recommend avoiding the use of filters altogether. Social media filters and apps will tend to change the way the hair looks; in particular, the hair colour and why would you want to do that after you have spent so long achieving your killer colour in the first place!

A lot of clients will also look on your social media feed for colour inspo and not using a filter will allow you to replicate the formula more easily. It will also provide your clients with a realistic expectation of the type of colour that can be achieved at your salon.

6. Practice

Our final take home tip is practice! You know the saying “practice makes perfect” and we can all vouch for that. Achieving the perfect before and after hair shot will take a few attempts before you get into the swing of things and become a photography master.

So, the only thing left is to grab out your camera and give it a go! We would love to see and share your incredible work on our own social media pages, just remember to always tag us @rprhaircare or use the #rprhaircare #rprmycolour hashtags so we can find and share your outstanding Instagram-worthy hair colour creations.

But most of all have fun!