official blog of beauty photographer Eric Truax

A simple yet powerful tool often used in beauty photography is the fan, or ‘wind machine’ as it is often referred to in the fashion industry.  But you don’t have to spend big bucks on an expensive machine to get good results.  A regular box or oscillating fan will do the trick.  Preferably something with a stand or a tilt option to allow for more precise control over the direction of the air flow.  The introduction of this ordinary household item into your photo shoot can add interest and an element of surprise and wonder to most any beauty image.  Through the use of the fan the beauty photographer can communicate an ethereal or ‘angelic” quality to what might be otherwise considered an ordinary image.  There a no rules when it comes to using the fan, although make sure you’re ready to shoot as your model may get cool quickly with all that air blowing on her.  I tend to keep the fan low to the ground and pointed up toward the model’s face to bring the hair out and away from the face.  You can also place the fan behind the model for some more interesting effects with the hair.  I will be exploring various placement options for the fan in Part 2 of this series.  Experiment and have fun!  That’s what it’s all about.  Below are some examples of my own beauty shots where I incorporated the use of the fan to create some interesting beauty images that draw their strength from the motion of the hair.  All of these shots are straight from the camera with very little editing or retouching save but one which was combined from four separate shots into one final image.  I used one main image as the base and added snippets of hair from three additional shots to create the final image.  Can you guess which one?