Editor's Note: New Iaio article with everything you need to know to get started in fashion photography. A succulent article. Get comfortable and happy reading. Photography has been used historically, as a means to inspire and influence people through the message they carry implicitly. This is why, by 1920, the big brands, understanding the impact that photography had on people, decided to use it as a means to boost and direct consumption, through advertising. Since then, photographers have been experimenting and specializing in this new branch of photography, which in that context saw the light and that today, thanks to advances in technology, remains a fertile field and full of opportunities for you to start Experiment and show the fashion world what you're made of. Becoming a recognized fashion photographer is not an easy task, but here I leave you with a guide so that you begin to walk this winding, but not impossible way, with the right foot.
WHAT IS FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY?
Fashion photography is not only a model posing a dazzling dress, but it is a set of elements related to clothing, accessories, jewelry and makeup, with which as a photographer, you will have to work to give them an entity. With the passage of time, fashion photography has evolved and developed its own aesthetic, where clothing and accessories, while remaining the protagonists, are usually accompanied by exotic stories, places and environments prepared by photographers to achieve this entity. The main purpose of fashion photography is to sell products, so being aware of the latest fashion and business trends will be essential. As a professional you must capture the demands of designers, artists and brands to be able to translate them into photographs that combine the commercial with the artistic and thus cause the desired impact. In this type of work, you must demonstrate and exploit to the fullest: your creativity to prepare the scene and all the technical knowledge about portraits , composition , lighting and retouching , which you have been acquiring from the Photographer's Blog. Neglect, you can always read them again to refresh the memory.TYPES OF FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY
As I said before, in fashion photography, not everything is tanned models walking along a catwalk, since it also covers disciplines such as:- Campaign photography : it consists of taking very varied photographs that express the concept and image of the brand. Achieving this concept clearly and throughout the photographic production will be key when it is successful. To do this, you must develop with the client the idea of ??campaign in the most creative way possible, plan how it will be carried out, with what aesthetic and human resources, in what place, and of course, make it happen. These types of projects usually require a production team that manages to cover all areas to be taken into account such as: premises, model selection, necessary lighting, permits and any other type of elements that could arise in the course of the same. Later in the post, I will talk about this topic.
- Product photography and catalog: this type of photography can be either by photographing each of the products individually in a studio or with a light box, or with a more elaborate idea, where it is sought to convey a concept or tell a story highlighting the accessories in question. This type of photography includes: shoes, wallets, jewelry, jewelry, perfumes, hats, scarves, and all those products and accessories that stores offer you, even if you have no idea what they can be used for.
- Design photography: this branch includes both design photography, as well as architecture and decoration photography. As it is already a constant in fashion photography, the communion between aesthetics and advertising is essential. Let's not forget that with the photos, the customer wants to sell products.
- Photography for publishers: they are productions that are made for fashion magazines, supplements and catalogs. Magazines attend to brands and live on them. When they assemble the notes or reports, if the advertising agencies do not send the photographs for them, the publishers usually send a photographer of their template to make them. It is important that magazines and publications know your work, since if they do not have a photographer of their staff available to perform the session, you can be that extra camera they are needing.
- Photography of parades and events: the parades are an excellent opportunity for you to start introducing yourself to the world of fashion photography. Covering the parades and events will allow you to have a portfolio of photographs that you can then present to the different agencies and thus gain popularity. This type of event can kick you off for a career as a professional fashion photographer.
WHO CAN BE YOUR CLIENT?
While it is difficult to enter the world of fashion photography, it is far from being an impossible mission. Nowadays, in the era of Internet and Social Networks, there are more and more opportunities that are waiting for someone who knows how to exploit them. Product of the impact that social networks have on people's lives and how they consume information, fashion photography has taken a leading role for brands that seek to position themselves in them. Almost any business, regardless of its size, uses these networks as a means to publicize its products. Fashion photographers take photos that are used mainly in advertisements, such as illustrations in magazines, posters and brochures, or on the Internet, and given the growing need of companies to exploit these new communication channels, you are facing an unbeatable situation to launch yourself to the market and start offering your services. Here is a small list of potential clients so you can outline your strategy to address them:- The final consumer: the client needs to have professional quality photographic material, called Book, to send to advertising agencies and thus be able to offer their services. In this way, not only can you become known among consumers, but also, among the agencies themselves.
- Small and medium-sized local stores : that do not have the budget to entrust an advertising campaign to a specialized agency and that require a professional to make their products known.
- Independent fashion professionals: that, like small stores, to offer their designs, they need to have a catalog to upload to the Internet or send to their customers.
- Advertising agencies: they require very varied photographs, where large work teams that deal with lighting, artistic elements, etc. participate. It is a very specific type of photography, where the circuits where you should move, are usually very closed, so it may be difficult to enter, at least until you gain more experience or be more recognized.
- Event organizers: they may require your services to take pictures in parades and events, and then present them at the advertising agencies, which are usually the recipients of these works.
- Magazines and publications: as I mentioned earlier, they attend to brands and live on them, so they constantly require photographic material to assemble their reports and notes.
SERVICES YOU CAN OFFER YOUR CLIENT
- Production: it is necessary to analyze with the client where and how the production is going to take place, in order to define the concept of the project. To the extent that you manage to capture what the customer expects from it, the better prepared you will be to satisfy it.
- Location: the place where fashion production is going to take place is essential for its result. It is not the same to organize an outdoor session, than one that requires a photo studio. Also, do not worry if you do not have your own study yet, there will be time for that. Meanwhile you can rent a fully equipped professional.
- Lighting: if for photography itself, light is essential, for fashion photography it is much more. You must demonstrate your skills in lighting management and make the most of your technical knowledge.
- Digital retouching: like it or not, in fashion photography the photo retouching is a common currency. If you are not familiar with the handling of photo editing software and retouching techniques, I suggest you try to incorporate someone who is.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO START EXERCISING FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY?
Know the sector and the competitors: Fashion photography is a very competitive sector, where only the most creative can be recognized, turning themselves into a brand. A good way to understand the medium in which you are about to start is to search on the Internet. “Fashion in Madrid” “fashion photography in Valencia”, etc. they can be some of the search chains that you can use to give you an idea of ??how the sector is composed in the place where you live, who are the references, what stores are there, the events that take place, and thus, take a real dimension of what your customers, models and main competitors can become. Previous knowledge: As I mentioned before, fashion photography will test all the knowledge and techniques that you have incorporated so far, and will strip those in which you still need to specialize a little more. As I mentioned earlier, there are 4 major fields in which you must specialize if you aspire to go far in this sector, with all that they imply:- Light management indoors and outdoors.
- Composition techniques
- Digital photo retouching.
- Pictures.
- SLR camera with a good level of noise tolerance.
- A wide-ranging lens that allows you to cover many possibilities in principle such as an 18-70, a telephoto lens and a 50mm for luminous portraits (f1.8 or less) .
- An external Flash .
- Tripod and markers that allow both stability and flexibility.
- Replacement batteries
HOW TO TAKE YOUR FIRST STEPS?
As in all branches of photography, the best way to learn it is by taking photos. To do this, you can:- Attend events and parades : they are an excellent opportunity to start inserting yourself in this discipline, making contacts and making yourself known.
- Make exchanges: you can offer your services for free to small stores without a budget that need a photographer to carry out their campaigns. You put the camera and they put on the clothes.
- Take advantage of your friends and relatives: you can ask for some favors from your loved ones in exchange for making them feel models for a day.
- TFCD (Time for CD): the term refers to photographic sessions where the photographer and the model make an exchange where both benefit. The photographer thus obtains a model, in exchange for delivering part of the photos taken during the session. It is a very good way to gain experience without spending a single Euro.
WHERE TO GET INSPIRATION?
Fashion also influences the photography of this. There are times when you look for photographs with flatter flash lighting, in other periods you are looking for a more pin-up aesthetic, in black and white, more dynamic, with more or less touch-ups, more loaded or more minimalist. Being attentive to new trends will help you stay on top of the wind. Creativity can be enhanced by consuming information about fashion. Here are some places where you can start to get inspired:- Fashion Magazines: In any magazine kiosk you will find countless fashion magazines that you can buy to analyze trends, the most used plans, locations, compositional elements, etc. Vogue is the benchmark in this area.
- Fashion photography books: One of the best places to find inspiration of any kind is a good bookstore, and fashion photography is no exception. If you run into any in your way, see if they have The Editor's Eye of Vogue that deals with the role of the editors in choosing the photographs that will then be published.
- Internet : in the network there is usually an infinity of material and information available for those who are willing to look for it. It is enough to put in some search engine the word fashion , so that we can return countless websites and photographs so that we can analyze them and not even talk about social networks such as Flickr, 500px, Pinterest, etc.
- Analyze previous campaigns: Knowing what has not been done before will allow you to approach a job in a different way and will make it possible to exploit it to the fullest. Nobody wants to see a repeated campaign.
- Reference photographers : There are photographers who are constantly imitated by the majority, here I leave you some of the most influential in their time.
- Edward Steichen
- Horst P. Horst
- Cecil Beaton
- Irving Penn
- Martin Munkácsi
- Louise Dahl-Wolfe
- Richard Avedon
- Helmut Newton
- Herb Ritts
- Terry Richardson
- Annie Leibovitz
- Patrick Demarchelier
- Steven Meisel
- Mario Testino
- David LaChapelle.
HOW TO TAKE THE PROFESSIONAL LEAP?
At first, you may manage only to perform certain jobs. But as your reputation increases and you manage to become new and more important clients, not only will your income increase but also your responsibilities will increase. When this happens, I recommend that you set up a work team, in order to cover all the needs that your customers may have, in the best possible way. Having a work team will allow you to concentrate on what you do best, take pictures. When facing a job as a team, the possibilities of services to be offered multiply, allowing to cover many more areas that would be impossible for a single person, increasing profits and increasing creativity. Not only can you take and deliver the photographs, but you will also be in a position to take care of:- Define the idea and the message.
- Define the style and aesthetics.
- Select sites and locations.
- Prepare the castings, choose the models and prepare them.
- Carry out all photographic production.
- The creation and delivery of the catalog.
- The diffusion in the different media.
AND NOW, 11 TIPS TO GET STARTED IN FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY:
- Observe the work of others: take your time to analyze the work of other photographers, how they convey the concepts, how they work with the light, what elements they include in the scene, what type of frames they use, etc. This type of photography has a very particular style, so observing the work of others will help you develop your own.
- The concept works well: what makes one campaign stand out above the others is the message that the photographs manage to convey. The location, the attitude of the model, the disposition of the elements of the scene, the composition of the frame, are important but can go unnoticed if the story is not transmitted. Be simple.
- Exploit the exteriors: as at first you may not have the necessary infrastructure, I recommend that you fully exploit the possibilities offered by the exteriors with their scenarios and the varied lighting conditions offered by the environment.
- Rediscover locations: a good way to do it is to go through all the places you travel daily, but this time paying more attention to detail. An old cafe or an exotic corner can be the framework for your next job.
- Take care of the deal with the model: the most important thing is to gain the confidence of the model. Let it move freely, ask for what you need and you will achieve incredible looks and poses. At the beginning, you may not know very well what to ask for, but do not worry since that is gained through experience. Meanwhile, let it unfold with ease, while you gain confidence and ask for what you need.
- Prepare for retouching: as I told you before, beyond whether or not you agree to retouch the photos, knowing how to do it and being good at it will be key. If you are not yet familiar with this discipline, I recommend that you start thinking seriously about specializing in it.
- Organize your work: plan a work, how it will be carried out and what elements you need to do it, it will avoid more of a headache and will make a better impression on your clients. Improvising at the time of a session can lead to disaster.
- Transform criticism into improvements: a criticism can quickly become an opportunity for improvement, if you are open to receiving them. Ask people What did you not like about this picture? He predisposes you better to give a more honest opinion, and he will predispose you better to accept it. Be humble.
- Never forget the purpose: always keep in mind that the goal of fashion photography is to sell products. Beyond the concept and trends, make sure clothing, accessories and makeup combine and look good. It is useless to have the most beautiful model, the best lighting, a great place and a well defined concept, if the products do not look good.
- Manage enthusiasm: every new challenge generates great expectation when projecting how you will face it. Try not to consume all your energy planning how you intend to insert yourself in this new world and leave some enthusiasm, which will be very necessary, to make it happen.
- Stay on the move: the world of fashion photography is very dynamic and constantly changing, so keeping you updated and aware of the latest trends will be key. You will not become known in this branch if you wait in the armchair of your house for Armani to call you for his next campaign. "When inspiration attacks you, may it find you working."
