Sarahléna Manise, Miss Namur contestant: “Behind the rain, there’s always sunshine”
Portraits Bullied at school, she went through eating disorders before regaining her confidence. Aged 18, a nursing student and Miss Namur contestant,…
A successful session is largely decided before the first click of the shutter. We have gathered advice from professionals met in info-lux reports: a photographer, a make-up artist, a hairdresser and models.
Five decisions to make before the session
Photographer Michel Fouarge lists five:
- What the images will be used for. A LinkedIn portrait, a magazine cover and a poster campaign each need different framing, a different format and different usage rights.
- How many final images. It is this number, not the length of the session, that determines the real workload, retouching included.
- Who else you need. Make-up, hair, styling: on a fashion or beauty series, these roles shape the result as much as the lighting.
- The location. Studio, outdoors or your own premises: settle it early, because it determines what kit gets brought.
- Usage rights. By default, a commissioned image is not licensed “forever and everywhere”: duration, territory and media are agreed at the quote stage.
Studio or outdoors? The studio controls the light and makes images repeatable from one shot to the next; outdoors, natural light and the location become characters in their own right.
Make-up: think about distance and test the skin
For a photographed show, make-up artist Adeline Laubach works from the point of view of the audience and the lens: “the textures and contrasts had to come across beyond the zooms and the photos”. An unusual product gets tested first: her black special-effects paste was tried “on me and on her”, to make sure it would withstand heat and movement, “but above all that her skin wouldn’t react”.
Hair: checking that everything holds
Before the show of the “talents de l’ombre” (behind-the-scenes talents), hairdresser Océane Van Damme went through the worries one by one: “Will the wings hold? Will a braid fall out? Will everything stay in place during the show?” Model Youness Nouader had the same fear: that his hairstyle wouldn’t hold during the show.
The model: practise and inhabit a role
- Practising in heels. To learn to walk the catwalk, Wendy, a Top Model Belgium finalist, practised “every day, 30 minutes” in court shoes with heels of more than 8 cm.
- Learning by watching. Nova, a model and art director, learned the trade “on my own, by watching, working and above all experimenting”.
- Finding the character’s walk. For his role as Ombre, Youness Nouader changed the way he walks: “I had to walk with determination, with a confident gaze, proud to be on stage”.
The rules: age of majority and consent
On info-shooting, every published photo shoot is backed by a release signed by the model, who is an adult and can ask for their photos to be removed at any time. Whether it is TFP (an exchange: the model poses, the photographer hands over the photos) or a paid session, it is best to agree in writing how the images will be used. Our charter sets out these rules.
On info-lux.com (in French): Michel Fouarge, photographer in Luxembourg · Adeline Laubach · Océane Van Damme · Wendy, Top Model Belgium finalist · Nova · Youness Nouader.
Sources: feature by Michel Fouarge (August 2026); written answers from Adeline Laubach, Océane Van Damme, Nova and Youness Nouader (September 2026); Wendy’s profile (May 2026), on info-lux.com.
