How to photograph nails so the work actually shows

The set looks perfect in the chair and flat in the photo. That gap is almost always light and hand position, not the camera — and both are fixed in about thirty seconds once you know what to change.

The hand

1. 1Relaxed, slightly curled fingers — never flat and splayed. A flat hand shows the backs of the fingers; a curled one shows the nails.
2. 2Fingertips angled toward the camera, wrist a little lower than the knuckles.
3. 3Thumb tucked or included on purpose, never half in shot.
4. 4Nails at the same height as the lens, not looked down on from above.
5. 5Hand supported — on a cushion, a rolled towel, the edge of the desk. Unsupported hands shake and shake ruins the detail you are selling.

The light

Your lamp is the problem. A UV lamp and a warm ceiling bulb together make everything yellow, and no filter fixes two colours of light at once. Turn the ceiling light off, sit the hand beside a window, and shoot in daylight where you can.

For chrome, glitter and anything reflective, hard light shows the shine but blows out the detail. Soften it: a white sheet of paper between the window and the hand, or a piece of baking paper over a lamp. The finish still reads and the colour stays true.

Ring lights are the usual culprit behind that hollow white circle sitting on every nail. If you use one, move it off to the side rather than shooting straight through it.

Three shots, under a minute

• The set, straight on, whole hand, in focus at the free edge.
• One close-up of the detail you are proud of — the cuticle line, the art, the shine.
• The hand doing something ordinary: holding a cup, on a bag. This is the one that gets saved, because it shows how the nails look in a life rather than on a desk.

Before you post

Crop straight, lift the shadows a touch, correct the white balance so the skin looks like skin. Do not smooth hands and do not push the saturation — the colour in the photo is the colour a client will ask for, and one that does not exist is a disappointed client in three weeks.

Keep the photo against that client's record with the products you used. It is the fastest way to answer "can I have what I had in March", and it is where a year of content comes from without a single new photoshoot.