The main purpose of fashion photography is to capture various clothing items. These types of photos are usually ordered by specialized magazines, such as Elle, Vogue, Vanity Fair and brands.
Many beginning photographers mistakenly believe that this genre is too difficult for them. However, you should not give up the dream. Check out these 10 fashion photography tips that together with patience and a good portfolio will help you make a successful career. Read more here to get started!
1. Create a Mood Board
If you take the first steps in business, you should check all the preparations before shooting. Use the mood board to rehearse the entire process of shooting, including the composition and technique of each shot.
You can use this approach at any level of high fashion photography. It is not required to have all shots corresponding to your mood board. In fact, the mood board simply helps all participants in the fashion shoot understand what you need as result.
Take care of clothing, props, lighting, and location in advance. Carefully read the editorial photography tips so you know for sure what you need to successfully organize fashion shoots.
2. Choose the Proper Location
To create a story in the frame, you need to choose the location correctly. Take into account several aspects when looking for a place for shooting your fashion portrait.
First of all, pay attention to the clothes which you are going to photograph. The resort collection must be captured in a sunny summer setting. This way you can demonstrate how these clothes should be worn.
Opt for urban locations if you need to focus on a provocative, tough and edgy style of clothing. A photo studio might be the best choice.
A fashion photographer can organize almost any background within the studio. You can photograph a variety of clothes there. Although shooting in photo studios can hit your budget, you get more opportunities to benefit from properly configured lighting, created ideal conditions and the use of professional equipment.
3. Hire a Model
This is one of the most important fashion photography tips since the success of shooting depends on the choice of model. You can hire a model by contacting one of the modeling agencies.
Keep in mind that you should opt for a model who understands and shares your approach to fashion photography. Thus, it will be easier for you to realize all your ideas.
If you want to save money at this stage, you can choose models that are just filling their portfolio and are ready to work for a lower price. This is a great trick for beginners on a budget.
4. Natural but High-End Photo Editing
The world of high fashion photography is very demanding on image quality. You need to not only be able to capture the model in the best way but you should also have decent photo editing skills.
It often happens that after shooting you see a few imperfections that need to be corrected to get breathtaking photos. For a beginner, this can be quite a time-consuming process.
If you are not confident in your abilities, then address high end retouching services for help. They will retouch your shots for about $10 per image at the highest level and save your energy and time.
5. Gather a Professional Team
If you want to succeed as a fashion photographer, then you need to have a reliable team. Remember that professionals can handle even the most difficult shootings and get outstanding results.
You need to establish strong cooperation to get a final product of the highest quality. Your team should consist of a wardrobe stylist, hairdresser, makeup artist, stage designer and other specialists who will help realize your creative potential.
If you are going to perform a complex fashion shoot, a professional team will help you get great photos.
6. Use Presets
To develop your fashion photography business successfully, you need to organize your photo editing workflow. Photo improvement should be fast and of high quality. To speed up the process, you can use professional presets.
Look carefully on the Internet and you will surely find suitable filters. You can apply matte, vintage, vibrant, edgy, clean and other effects to your fashion portrait shots.
Download these Top 10 Free Fashion Lightroom Presets to test filters on your fashion photos right now. Your photos will acquire a stunning look and draw the viewers’ attention.
7. Prepare the Poses
Posing plays a key role in this genre. Sometimes, it’s very difficult to explain to the model which pose you want to see. To make your shooting process easier, you should look for a few examples of poses that you would like to include in the shoot.
Save them to your phone or print. When the day of shooting comes, you will be able to show images to your models. It will be faster than explaining everything in words.
8. Use Props
Sometimes it happens that a simple fashion portrait does not attract enough attention. If you just capture the model and clothes, it may seem rather boring and not interesting.
I recommend using props while shooting. In this way, you add some variety and fun to your workflow. If you choose the right props, you can achieve amazing results.
They will help you add interest to fashion photography, contextualize the scene, tell a certain story, focus and enhance your style and concept.
9. Experiment with Camera Angles
Remember that there isn’t the only right angle for successful fashion images. It all depends on what the fashion photographer wants to capture and what idea to implement.
Eye-level shots, low viewpoint and low angles, high-angle shots and low viewpoint with an upward angle are some of the commonly used ones. However, this is far from all.
To give the image awesome effects, you have to crawl on the floor, take pictures at an angle, bend, etc. Test different angle options to know which image they provide. Guide your model to get the right pose that will fit the chosen angle.
10. Stay Organized
As a photographer, you are responsible for organizing the entire fashion shoot. You should pay attention to hairstyle, makeup, clothes, etc. In addition, a pleasant relaxed atmosphere will contribute to excellent results.
Feel confident, direct the whole process and all participants of the photoshoot. If you become nervous, anxious or feel excessive pressure, this will affect all members of your team. Therefore, you should try and stay calm.
Don’t forget that customers will primarily associate the received images with your name. Therefore, it is very important that you control every step of the shooting. To succeed in high fashion photography, you must notice and correct any imperfections. If you see folds on clothes, then you should fix it.
Ask to correct the hairstyle if it looks inaccurate. Do everything possible so that your ideas are embodied with maximum success. Your customers don’t need your excuses, they want great results.