If you are a young fashion photographer trying to work in the fashion industry, you might be a little lost and a lot frustrated, but here are some fashion photography tips to make you your work easier.

Concept

When you want to organize shooting for an editorial or look book you might be a little stuck not knowing how to start preparations. Well, the first thing you should think of is the concept of your shooting and turning inspirations into a concept.

Take a look at the clothes and the models you have chosen for that shooting (it’s ideal if you can choose the model/s yourself) and figure out what would be the best environment, light and style for it.

If you are doing a shooting for a fashion brand, you should do a detailed research of that brand (what is their style, sensibility, the target group, editorials they had before, colors, history, inspiration…) and focus on their style and vision of the collection you are shooting.

If you are telling a story with your images what is important is to find the right location for shooting. It’s a huge difference between shooting for spring/summer and fall/winter.

If the shooting is just for your portfolio be as creative as you can, be different, unique and follow your own vision.

Preparation – Fashion Photography Tips

Light

One of the most important things in photography is the light, so a studio would be a good place to perform fashion shooting because you can control the light. But, if you are shooting outside, I would recommend to do it on a sunny day in the morning, as early as possible, because that is when you can get an ideal natural light which is the best for your images unless you want really dark photos.

Hair and makeup

Hair and makeup are also really important because it makes your work look even more professional, but only if it’s done right.

It mustn’t stand out of the concept and it has to be modern, new and fresh. It’s really important for you to always be aware of actual trends and changes in fashion.

My advice is to cooperate with professional hairstylists and makeup artists because they can really help you to materialize your vision.

Composition

Experiment with the composition. Try to do something differently than other photographers, play with it.

Shooting

Posing

This can be a really tricky thing for beginners. If you are hiring a professional model she can help you with that and pose without you telling her (or him) how, but you can’t rely on that, you always have to be prepared.

Magazines, online fashion magazines, fashion blogs and the latest catalogs can be really helpful for some  fashion photography tips, if you are not sure what poses would look good.

• It’s even trickier with amateur models. They can be stiff; “frozen” and they almost always feel the need to look directly into the camera which is not always necessary (and sometimes can look creepy).

The easiest way to explain to them where to look is to tell them to follow their nose (and hope that they won’t actually look directly into their noses). This can also create the sense of mystery.

But don’t get me wrong, looking into the camera is not the bad thing. Eye contact directly into the camera can sometimes be really powerful, but that depends on the model.

• Facial expression is really important because it can change the whole mood of the image. Believe it or not, shoulder plays the crucial role in framing the face, so try different positions of the shoulders to figure out what is the best.

• Pay attention to the mouth. Figure out do you want the model to smile, to slightly open the mouth or to close them completely. This is really important because it changes the whole mood of an image.

• Also important: the position of the chin. The chin pushed forward and then down is really popular now in fashion photography, for some reason, but be careful with that because it can sometimes look creepy.

• You can also play with the emotions. Get your model to act. She (or he) can laugh, cry, be angry or even hysterical (depending on what you want).

Move

In order to get the right angle you just have to move all around the subject (in this case the model), sit on the ground or climb up the tree if that is going to give you the perfect angle. Experiment with angles, see what works the best.

You can also get the model moving (jumping, running, walking…).

Rhythm

Experienced models already have set of poses they like to use and as soon as they hear the shutter go off they change the pose. Make sure you can keep up with that. But sometimes you have to slow down a bit so the best thing is to stay in control and establish your own rhythm.

Editing

Review your work and select the best images. Even if you have taken several hundred of images, you will only need about two for each look, so just selecting them might take a couple of hours.

The first thing to do when you start editing is to “iron„ everything from clothes to skin. If the clothes got wrinkled during the shooting and the skin of the model has some imperfections, fix that first.

Then you can focus on the figure of the model, colors, light, and anything else you want to change. Hoping you found these fashion photography tips of some use. 

Chelsea Lothrop is a New England-based photographer specializing in equine, pet, and portraiture photography. Her love for animals is complemented with a unique ability to capture the bond between people and their beloved pets. When she’s not behind the camera or on a horse, Chelsea can be found writing tutorials on her photography blog.