Kaizen photography
Hair and beauty photography for stylists, salons and brands
Most of the images across this site were shot by Sal Misseri. The same eye is available for your work: marketing shoots, competition collections, brand campaigns and team portraits — photographed by a working hairdresser on a 101-megapixel Phase One medium format camera, so color, texture and shape read exactly as they do in person.
What we shoot
Four ways to work together
01
Salon and stylist marketing
Portfolio and social content, website imagery and campaign-ready shots that make your real work look as good as it is in person.
02
Competition collections
Concept, styling direction and photography for awards entries — built with the eye of an awards-recognized hairdresser.
03
Brand and campaign work
Product launches, education content and campaigns for hair and beauty brands, with color that reads true.
04
Headshots and team portraits
Consistent, flattering portraits for your team page, bookings and press.
Why a hairdresser
The photographer knows the hair
Hair photographs differently from anything else. Color shifts under the wrong light, texture flattens, and a great cut can disappear in a bad frame. A hairdresser behind the camera lights for true color and movement, directs the hair on set and chooses the image that shows the work — not just the face.
Sal brings decades of competition, editorial and education work to every shoot, from concept and moodboard through direction on set, retouching and delivery.
The camera
Shot on a Phase One IQ3 101MP Trichromatic
Every Kaizen shoot is captured on a Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic — a medium format digital back recording 101 million pixels (11,608 × 8,708) on a sensor roughly two and a half times the size of a full-frame camera's.
True color, the way a colorist sees it
Phase One's Trichromatic sensor uses a redesigned color filter that separates red, green and blue more cleanly, so it records color much closer to what the human eye sees. For hair, that means tone, reflect and toner come out as they really are — not shifted warm or cool by the camera.
Every strand, every transition
101 megapixels and up to 16-bit files with around 15 stops of dynamic range hold individual strands, texture and the soft gradients of balayage and grey blending without banding — from deep shadow to bright blonde in the same frame.
Room to crop, print and campaign
One frame can become a billboard, a large competition print, a tight crop for social and a website hero — without losing detail.
Why so few hair photographers use one
The digital back alone launched at around $45,000, and the system rewards slow, deliberate, precisely lit work, usually tethered to a computer. Most hair and salon photography is shot on full-frame cameras — medium format of this class is rare in the hair world.
Selected work · 01
Branding and editorial
Campaign, brand and editorial imagery — in the studio and on location, including a series shot in Parma, Italy.
Selected work · 02
Competition collections
Collections for industry awards, shot with the eye of an awards-recognized hairdresser — from concept and styling direction to the final select.
How it works
From brief to delivery
Brief and concept
Your goals, audience and usage — then a moodboard and shot list.
Shoot day
At Reverie Salon in River North, on location or at your salon, with hair direction on set.
Retouching and delivery
Selects, retouching that keeps the hair real, and files sized for web, social and print.
Questions
Photography FAQ
What kind of hair photography does Kaizen offer?
Marketing shoots for stylists and salons, competition collections for awards entries, brand and campaign work for hair and beauty companies, and headshots and team portraits — all shot by Sal Misseri, a working hairdresser and educator.
What camera do you shoot with?
Kaizen shoots on a Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic medium format digital back: 101 million pixels, a sensor about two and a half times the size of full frame, up to 16-bit files and around 15 stops of dynamic range. Its Trichromatic color filter records color close to what the eye sees, so hair color, tone and texture are captured accurately — a level of equipment that is rare in hair photography.
Why hire a hairdresser as a photographer?
Hair photographs differently from anything else. A hairdresser behind the camera knows how color, texture and shape should read, lights for true color and movement, and can direct the hair on set so the finished image shows the work at its best.
Do you photograph competition entries?
Yes. Sal photographs competition collections for stylists and salons, including entries prepared for major industry awards such as NAHA, and brings the eye of an awards-recognized hairdresser to concept, styling direction and image selection.
How much does a hair photoshoot cost?
Shoots are quoted per project, based on the number of looks, location, retouching and usage. Email sal@reveriesalon.com or call (312) 955-0083 with your brief for a quote.
Where are shoots held?
At Reverie Salon in River North, Chicago, on location, or at your salon. Travel is quoted with the project.
Book a shoot
Quoted per project
Send your brief to sal@reveriesalon.com or call (312) 955-0083. Travel to your salon or location is quoted with the project.