Bobbi Brown Beauty Photography Workshop

One of the worst ideas I ever had was to try and save money by not taking any classes for a whole year, even though I am living near some of the world's top artists.   It was a kind of torture that I don't care to ever repeat!  I'm a big believer in continuing education - no matter what field you're in - and one class I'd been waiting over a year for is the Bobbi Brown The Studio Makeup Photography Workshop.  For every stunning image in a magazine or portfolio, there is a team of people behind it - planning and executing every aspect. This workshop brought makeup artists and photographers together to talk about common vocabulary, roles and responsibilities during planning and on-set, handling delicate situations, conceptualizing a shoot and assembling a team, and loads and loads of technical nitty gritty stuff.  Participants also got to network with each other and form groups that carried out actual photo shoots on day two.

 

We started out at Bobbi Brown The Studio, a gorgeous loft-like place in Montclair, NJ that is part intimate retail setting and part classroom dedicated to the study of makeup. This is also the place that those in the Professional Makeup Artist program such as myself go to buy products.  We were met by The Studio manager Kim Richards (love her!) and one of our instructors, Bobbi's brand ambassador and professional team member Gregg Hubbard.

We then took off to the site of our workshop at nearby Unique Photo, which hosts lots of similar workshops and had the perfect space for both the makeup artists and photographers to learn and collaborate.

There we met our co-instructor and photographer extraordinaire Claire Rosen  of North 7 Studio.  Not only do Claire and Gregg have GORGEOUS portfolios, they are both excellent and taking what they know (which is a lot!) and sharing it with others.

Claire and Gregg proceeded to pack our brains with all kinds of information - from different types of lighting to different types of concealing.  "You don't take a photo, you make a photo."  They talked to us about different ways to tap into our own creativity and how to channel it,  map it out, and translate it through planning. 

The photogs and makeup artists later split up to talk more in-depth about their craft.  Gregg rolled out his kit ("You guys have to be able to do this in seven minutes or less!") and let us snoop around in all his stuff - which we loved.

He demonstrated one example of a classic Bobbi Brown-style face: pretty, flushed, polished.  We were free to ask his advice on any aspects of his work and he showed us how he handles various application details such as false lash fittings and liner options. The thing about Gregg and Claire is that they are both so generous with what they are offering.  There was not a sense of "we are here to impart our knowledge unto you" but more a sense of them inspiring us, teaching us, encouraging and building us up, helping us take ourselves to the next level.  I would like to thank everyone involved who helped put this workshop together and to the participants who were such a great group of folks.  I hope to be seeing many of you again soon!