Mirror portrait photography

Mirror portrait photography is more common than might seem; wedding photographers and advertising photographers sometimes take these kind of photographs and they can be very effective

Wedding photographers often take photographs of the bride styling her hair when she’s looking in the mirror on the morning of her wedding, for example.
But someone else can be styling her hair instead, a freelance hair stylist or a friend who can style hair, and they can also be in the picture.

Advertising photography

Mirror portraits are sometimes taken in advertising photography, especially if the ad. is for a hair and beauty salon. The client sits in front of a mirror and the advertising photographer takes a picture of her reflection in the mirror.
Sometimes a hair stylist is with her in the photograph, and the stylist can be absorbed in styling her hair, looking in the mirror to indirectly look at the camera or turning her head to look directly at the camera.

Problems to avoid

The main problems to avoid are: including yourself - the photographer - in the picture and including the flare or light from the flashgun in the picture. To avoid including yourself in the photograph position yourself at a slight angle to the mirror, and double-check that you aren’t in it by looking through the camera viewfinder before taking your photo.
To avoid flare or light from the flashgun, aim your flashgun at the ceiling of the room so that the light is bounced down on the scene rather than being aimed directly at it. This technique is called `bounce flash’.