Can you tell someone's had a spray tan in photography?
Question Asked: 6/07/2017
Wedding Date: 9/08/2018
Most Helpful Response
(12) · Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, servicing all of South East Queensland.
Posted: 26/06/2026
Answered by: 9 Experts
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Generally yes you can tell a fake tan and it can be particulary evident in skin folds. Its more in vogue for pale pure skin and personally I find this far more flatteing than tanned skin. That aside some colour can look good. It really comes down to ones complexion. We offer a free pre wedding shoot so this is a good time to try make up and a spray on tan. Be careful with make up as I find too much can spoil your photos. Hope this helps.
Can I suggest something? Please, please please, i beg you foryour photographers sake: go easy on the fake tan. Otherwise She is going to spend hours and hours on your photos trying to get your skin tone correct. Go to a quality tanning salon, who know what they are doing, dont use the girl you went to school with who is doing tans on the side. Less is more!! Have a beautiful day. xxj
Yes...It does depend on if its not too dark/orange to the brides skin colour, and done properly!
Yes!! Go easy! We have photographed a handful of orange brides... and even funnier... orange Grooms!!!
Yes if it is a bad one it can make you look very orange. A photogrpaher can adjust that in post-produciton but it creates a lot more worek that they may charge extra fot. A more serious problem is that some have allergic reactions to a spray tan which can cause your skin to come out in welts which definatley dont look good in the photos. If you do decide to have a spray tan do a trial ruin well beofre the wedding in case of any reactions.
(26) · Cairns, Palm Cove & Port Douglas
Posted: 9/07/2017
Ohhhhhh yes, it's a photograhers nemesis. Generally it makes you look orange. It's both awkward and time consuming in edit, esp when you are next to someone without a spray tan. Some are better than others, but I would recomend avoiding it if you can. I have seen some nightmares in my time. Think Ross from Friends! ;)
(18) · Melbourne & Surroundings/ Mornington Peninsula/Yarra Valley
Posted: 9/07/2017
Hi
it depends a lot on where and who did your spray tan. Some places do very natural looking spray tans and so it looks natural in the photos, however there are spray tans that can come out orange. It depends as well on the colour base they use for the spray tan. There is a free. Base that comes out really nice and brown and you can select the depth of tan you want. Photographers can also manipulate your skin tone to look natural, so it's not a big issue if your tan doesn't come out as you would like. If you haven't already selected a photographer I would love to meet with you to chat about what I can offer you in relation to photography.
hope this helped
Not if it's done well and a couple days before the big day!
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Yes, we can often tell, but the giveaway is rarely the tan itself: it's usually a mismatch. The most common one we see is a beautifully tanned body with a face that's a different shade, or a bride sitting next to a groom and bridesmaids who haven't tanned, so the difference jumps out in every group shot. Orange is the worst case, but even a good tan can read unevenly on camera under harsh Queensland sun, because direct light exaggerates anything streaky around the wrists, ankles, knees and elbows.
The fix from our side is real but it has limits. We grade and retouch every image in-house ourselves, so we're the ones balancing your skin tones, and we'd much rather do that than try to rescue something that's gone wrong. We can warm or cool skin and even out patchiness, but if your tan and your partner's natural skin are worlds apart in a tight embrace, separating the two cleanly is genuinely difficult and time consuming.
So if you love a tan, go for it, just go a shade lighter than you think and book a proper salon. Do a trial run a couple of weeks out so you can see how it photographs and check for any reaction, then book the real one about two days before so it settles and the initial colour mellows. Exfoliate well first, moisturise the dry spots, and ask them to go lighter on your face than your body so everything matches. Done well and kept subtle, it photographs lovely and you'll never know it was there.