Rex Photography

I want to start shooting fashion photography. Any tips about lighting?

Public Comments

1. learn how to use it and off camera flash start at strobist.com or do some courses a
2. First go out to the web and look at what fashion photographers are doing with light .. One Model Place and Model Mayhem are a good start. Are you doing runway or fashion adverts? The lighting will be different depending upon what the agencies art director wants. Look at some past publications and then replicate the lighting as close as you can. Most of my shooting is for glamour so the lighting tends to be more dramatic. I use only one light and sometime add a reflector for fill. Once you have enough experience and have developed a style, put together a book of your best work and go for it.
3. Good question. I think a good source is to look at the latest fashion magazines' editorial pages (in the middle of the magazine) as well as the big departmet-store catalogs (Bergdorf-Goodman is consistently edgy and great) and decide what sort of style you like best and notice from the credits who is shooting it. Try to figure out how the lighting was done. One good trick is to look closely at the relection of the lighting in the eyes of the models, where you will see a tiny "picture" of what type of lighting was used, Often, if you look closely, you can even count the bounce-umbrellas or see the shape of the light box! There's so many different styles, and fashion photography is always evolving. Last year's fad of the ring-flash and underexposed background is now disappearing from the top editorial pages. But some people just keep producing astonishingly beautiful and timeless images. Have a look at the wonderful and deceptively simple things by one of my personal favorites; Paolo Roversi. http://www.vincentsimonet.com/pages/page-paolo.html Then there are American Masters: as diverse as Annie Leibowitz, Bruce Weber, and David LaChappelle (who I personally can't stand), and Europeans like Mario Testino, and Jurgen Teller and Ellen von Unwerth. Or of course the incomparable "Old Masters" like Irving Penn. And I'll mention the relatively unknown but celestial American, Clemens Kalischer, who is still shooting (and showing in what used to be Norman Rockwell's studio!) at a sprightly 80+ years of age! There's a wealth of books that you can browse in any bookstore. The thing is to find a definitive style that you yourself like -- whatever that is -- and to try and perfect that. Make series of pictures that revolve around a theme or tell a story rather than individual images: fashion photo-editors really look for this in a portfolio. You've got to have good models. The girl (or boy) next-door won't do unless she or he REALLY looks like a model. That doesn't necessarily mean "pretty"! I've found in my own experience that until you put someone in front of a camera, there's no telling whether they have "It" or not. There was one incredibly gorgeous girl I knew in Portland, Oregon where I started out. Along with the other shooters in town, I finally had to admit that taking a picture of her was like taking a picture of a tree, no more. You might "build a team" with a friend that's a make-up and hair person, and another that does styling. This will give your photos a more polished look and continuity. Go to the better agencies in your town and ask to shoot "test" photos of their "New Faces". Do it at your expense: which with digital is negligible anyway. You'll build not only your own technique, but relationships that will pay in the future. Well, that's a lot more than "lighting", which was your question. Bottom line: one good light-source is usually best. Try to use natural light, or off-camera flash, and cover it with some kleenex or a diffuser (there are "slave" attachments that will set off another flash off at distance if your camera does not have a PC or hot-shoe connection). Then again your might LIKE the blast-and-shadow of straight-on flash. Both Jurgen Teller (Marc Jacobs) and Terry Richardson (Dior and D&G -- see http://www.katybarker.com) use only the onboard flash of the tiny Yashica T4 Super to do almost all their work. Beware comments and advice from "informed amateurs" or so-called "pros" who don't have real fashion editorial experience. The requirements of succeeding as a fashion photographer are as difficult and individual as becoming a rock-star, with equal rewards! So there's many would-be's (or has-beens like me!) who will give you their opinion as if it's gospel. In the end, like any Art, your own talent and desire (and luck!) will be the only things that determine the limits of what you can do or become. The point? The lighting choice is yours, but make a choice -- and keep shooting!!! Now if I can only follow my own advice! Right now, my portfolio is just about as marketable as Cyndi Lauper's last hit record.