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If you want to be a successful fashion photographer, it’s important to learn and understand the basics of photography and the basic principles and techniques of framing, lighting, color theory and composition.
Fashion photography is a genre of photography that is used to capture clothing, accessories, makeup, and hair stylists at work. The purpose of these photographs are to show different styles of clothing for editorial fashion magazines or other media. Fashion photography also has the goal to portray the products in an appealing way so consumers will want them.
Fashion photographers have various responsibilities within this genre. Some photographers are hired by magazines or other media to photograph for an editorial fashion magazine, also referred to as a fashion spread, while others are self-employed and work on their own portfolios for “networking” purposes.
Models will often be hired by a photographer for a specific shoot and may later be contracted by a fashion house or advertising agency that uses the photographs for advertising. Many magazines also commission special issues on certain themes or days of the week that they will include fashion photography from various photographers from all over the world.
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Some photographers are hired for editorial fashion photography work even before they have done any professional photography. The model can be hired to pose in a specific way for the photographer’s portfolio, before being featured in an editorial fashion shoot.
While some models have professional training in all types of fashion, other models are recruited by high fashion agencies to use their name and face as an endorsement to sell their clothing line. Many times, models would be asked by a photographer to gain weight or change their hair style before being photographed for an editorial shoot.
Fashion photography is not always done in the style of portrait photography. Fashion photographs can be shot in a studio or on location. Models will be asked to pose with different types of clothing to showcase the clothing collection for an editorial fashion spread.
A fashion photographer will usually shoot still photographs for an editorial fashion spread, sometimes using models who are purposely dressed up or are wearing famous clothing designers’ pieces. They may also take professional photographs of the models wearing street clothes or dresses that they have made themselves.
The purpose is to capture different outfits to show off what they are selling in their product lines, often including many accessories that can go with their designs which are manufactured by hand at home sewing machines.
The basic principles in this field are:
Natural light, good colors in an image that match closely with real life colors, framing your subject at eye level or higher so that it appears weightless (not puffy), using a focal length such as 24mm or 50mm. As well as making sure you work with good makeup artists who understand what you need from their job.
When it comes to the basics of photography, for example: photographers must “see” with their eyes how natural light can be used in an image, such as using an up light (a more dramatic and lighting effect) or down lighting (no shadows are casted, soft glowing effect).
When utilizing natural light, the photographer must choose which type of natural daylight suits their needs at that given time. Direct sunlight creates a washed out look to your image. So you would want to use open shade or diffused sunlight.
Framing:
The next step is “framing”. A good fashion photographer will choose framing that is flattering to the subject’s face. If this framing takes too much space, it may appear that there is not enough room for clothing or the article. This makes the image appear unbalanced. The subject must appear to be weightless. Because of this, many photographers prefer to use a focal length of 24mm or 50mm on their lense so the illusion of size is enhanced. It is always best to shoot at eye level or higher so that there will be no puffy appearance in your subject’s face or body.
In order to create a good color balance in an image, you can use a direct supplementary color wheel from white to black colors from left to right with colors from nature such as green and blue in between these two colors. There is a set of complementary colors that photographers can choose from to create an image with good color. These colors are opposite each other on the color wheel. To create a vivid color balance, you can use two complementary colors to block each other out and create a more subtle effect, such as red and green next to each other.
In framing out your subject it is important to not do this too tight because it will make the subject look heavier than what they really are. As a general rule of thumb, a good photographer uses an 85mm or 50mm focal length if using a full-frame digital camera, 135mm or 85mm if using a cropped sensor camera, and 70mm or 35-100 mm if using a compact camera.
These focal lengths are used to make the subject look more natural on the picture. A good fashion photographer will make it possible for you to wear an outfit in three different photographs, one close up shot, one shot of the whole outfit and one shot of the whole outfit with your face in it. So that your client can choose which one they like best.
When working with makeup artists, you must have them understand what exactly you are looking for in terms of makeup. If you want a clean look with something fresh you would want to have minimal makeup on your images. If you want a dramatic makeup it is important for the makeup artist to understand that you want your images to be more glamorous and dark.
When taking pictures, the photographer must keep in mind that they must not use over-exposure or exposure compensation or else it will make your image look grainy. As fashion photographers, we are trying to create an image that looks realistic as possible.
Sometimes, fashion photographers can use exposure compensation if they aren’t getting enough light exposure during their shoot. This is understood by many good fashion photographers not to overuse exposure compensation though, because it will make their image look grainy or pixelated.
Also when taking pictures, when you are adjusting your aperture and shutter speed it is important to add this to your notes so that you don’t forget what they were set at during shooting. As well as setting your camera to shoot in manual.
When shooting in RAW format there is added freedom for color correction and adjusting. This can be done after the photos have been taken, because during shooting it is hard to adjust the settings and get the same kind of lighting and pose.
THINGS WORTH PUTTING IN MIND WHILE DOING A FASHION SHOOT:
– What can we do to create a good image?
– Do we use natural light in the image?
– Do we use a good lens and lens length? (24mm or 50mm)
– Do we use a good lighting technique in the image that looks natural and does not make the subject look puffy?
What is meant by “portraits”?
A portrait is a painting, drawing, sculpture, or other artistic depiction of a person. This type of art is usually distinguished by showing the face and sometimes the shoulders and chest. If it’s a painting or sculpture then it will also show the clothing and background. A portrait can capture someone’s personality as well as their likeness.
Portraits can be made in any number of media, including ink on paper, pencil on paper or stone or plaster for large statues such as those done by Michelangelo.
A “portrait painting” is a painting that is not of a scene from the Bible. (A “portrait” is someone’s painted image.) A “portrait sculpture” is a statue that is not of an image from the Bible. (A “portrait sculpture” shows someone’s carved image.) A “portrait painting or sculpture” captures someone’s likeness but not their personality (i.e., gesture, posture, body language).
Portraiture was prominent in Roman art during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, continuing an earlier tradition of painted images of ancestors in family shrines. The term comes from the Italian name for this type of art, “(“likeness”).
– Do we frame our model’s face the same way every time?
– Is the makeup artist understanding what it is you are looking for in good makeup? [this has to be relevant each assignment] [is this correct?] [would it be better to have a stage photographer who knows how to use lighting, framing and accessories?] [what should light sources be used? indirect or direct lighting?]
– How can we make the subject appear weightless in the image? (The subject does not appear puffy). – To give a more dramatic effect to your images, what should be done with framing the image, should the image be dark or lighter.
– What is meant by exposure compensation, is it best to use exposure compensation when trying to create more vibrant colors in your images? [this has to be relevant each assignment] [to make it appear more vibrant, the photographer should choose the opposite colors on the color wheel (red and green can be used together but they will look better if they are opposite each other), if more subtle colors are needed then complimentary colors (red and green) can be used together.] [the image should not look grainy or pixelated (very small dots)]
– How do we create lighting that looks natural? When taking pictures while adjusting aperture/shutter speed remember to add notes of what you have adjusted during shooting.
– What is direct lighting? How can it be used to create more dramatic images? Should we use indirect lighting in the picture?
– How does one adjust the white balance (color temperature)? Is it better to use the auto setting? Can you use any setting other than auto at all?
NOTE: There are many different types of photographs. For example, portraits, travel shots, street shots (casual), exhibitions (artistic), fashion shoots (artistic), photo shoots (portraits or fashion).
If you are a fashion photographer and taking photographs of models, the best thing to do is either look for someone who is not “in-between” sizes or make someone look heavier by using more flattering lighting techniques.
A portrait of a person will only be able to contain one subject, unless it is abstract photography.
Abstract Photography
Abstract photography can consist of different subjects within the same photograph. Sometimes an abstract photographer will take one single image containing more than one subject, but that would require two photographs.
Abstract photography is something that many people enjoy viewing for it’s beauty and symbolism. Although it is true that many people do enjoy viewing abstract photography, not everyone is able to understand the meaning behind abstract photography. An abstract photographer will take an image of something that means something to them, then edit it in multiple ways.
The editing process will change the way that others view the photograph. For example, an abstract photographer may take a picture of a rose with thorns showing, edit it so that the rose becomes white, and put it in another image of someone’s bloody hand. This may appear to be very drastic but there are some people who enjoy viewing this kind of work because they are able to relate or learn from this type of work.
“Abstract photography is a form of photography in which the photographer uses abstract, surreal, or conceptual themes in his or her photographic work.”
Fashion photographers will get to use a lot of different lighting techniques because there is such a wide range of things that they could photograph. There are lights that can be used to create beautiful or dramatic images. like using a gel or a High speed sync light, especially in outdoor fashion photography.
Even if you aren’t taking fashion photographs it’s important to know about all the different kinds of lighting or you could be involved with somebody who is and you could learn something from them and think differently and learn something new.
Here is a video of a photographer explaining some different types of lighting that can be used in photography.
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