Tips for Fashion Photography

Fashion photography is a genre of photography, which is devoted to displaying clothes & other fashion items. It is mainly for Advertisements or Fashion Magazines. Fashion Photography has developed its own aesthetic in which clothes & fashion enhances the presence of exotic location & accessories

1. For Fashion Photography, you must understand the Fashion
2. Fashion Photography is a challenging discipline that combines the normal elements of photography – exposure, composition & lighting with the life and energy of the model & their clothing
3. Conceptualize & Create an interesting composition & than reinforce it. You must define your work style statement. Understanding of self is important before understanding the client
4. Identify your potential targets/clients to work with, who resonate with your work styling. Do some research about your client & then approach
5. Plan & prepare the location, props & clothes ahead of time & for a truly effective shoot, you must state & communicate the agenda, objective & the posing direction. Fashion photography should convey an essence of confidence, self-assurance & authority.
6. Fashion photography is all about clothes & beauty, so show all the basic elements of the scene & the model to reflect the best compliment
7. In Fashion Photography, use make-up, hair styling, skin tone, pastel colors
8. Posing can be trick so master it, to create interest in your image, go for inspired suggestion, watch out for the latest fashion magazine/journals
9. Make use of extra lighting when shooting in low lights or into the sun. You can also use soft lights/reflectors/ceilings/walls to bounce the light.
10. Experiment with angles to create an array of effect & explore what really works better
11. Fashion Photography is all about location, so make sure to choose best outdoor location in urban setting alternatively look out for spring/summer and natural fashions find a rural environment like a field, meadow, beach, woodland or river bank
12. Props are fantastic for telling your narratives. You can make use of mirrors however, be careful with your lighting systems & your subject position to avoid reflection & shadows
13. Influence the subject by moving around the scene & exploring which angle really works well to fill – expose the garment
14. Engage with model & use eye contact, make them feel comfortable & relaxed all the time of shoot to get the right emotions. Get them involved
15. Take a helping hand of team to do the set up
16. Learn Fashion Re-touching/Re-shaping & Transformation
17. For fashion photography you need a huge kit as you need to deliver Crisp, High Resolution quality work. You need to have Talent Make up Artist, Wardrobe, Hair Stylist, Art Director, Location Scouter Assistants etc. to support the shoot
18. Effective lens for fashion photography is 18-55, 17-40 & 16-50 type with fast aperture or 50mm with fixed focal length prime lens. You can use range of f/1.8 to f/4
19. ISO at 200 at best but not beyond 400 in any case
20. Shutter speed range can be between 1/50^th to 1/250^th
21. Not to use filter in Fashion Photography
22. Use vibrant & bold colors of clothing while using plain background
23. In fashion photography use Auto Focus mode as it gives better results compare to Manual mode
24. For Indoor fashion photography make use of 500 watt halogen lights with barn doors & two reflectors to spread light evenly throughout your studio. With lights you can play tricks by using front lit, back lit, side lit, face lit, floor lit, ceiling lit etc.
25. Outdoor Fashion Photography is more demanding than the studio Photography as you don’t have much control on light source
26. Avoid harsh lights, edges & shadows on your subject. The principle of having the sun at your back, really works
27. Carry sufficient snacks & light food items with you, while going for outdoor shoot
28. Don’t be afraid of anything, ask questions, seek clarification & ideas of our team, if required
29. Use Adobe Photoshop for post editing of images it is very essential for airbrushing. Optimizing lighting, level of colors, cropping of image & manipulations
30. Enjoy Fashion Photography, get involved, arose the feeling of subject & make them look beautiful & feel good. It is all about experience, go for it enjoy fun, laughter & stories around Fashion Photography