Fashion photography is where art meets commerce. It is a combination of portrait, product, and to an extent, even fine art photography. Bruce Weber Photographer and similar experts in the field use their own perspectives to curate or highlight diverse aspects of fashion. Much like many other photography styles, the essence of fashion photography lies in storytelling. There are endless possibilities of showcasing a fashion trend or a certain outfit, with the usage of both creative thinking and photography techniques.
Bruce Weber Photographer talks about certain elements of fashion photography that can be helpful for beginners in the field
A career in fashion photography can be quite dynamic and exciting. Fashion photographers may work on product shoots for clothes sold online or even get the chance to take high-fashion editorial shoots with supermodels. All one needs to get started is a basic knowledge of fashion photography, a good eye for creative images, and a camera. Of course, having a source of light and a backdrop would be important, even if it is just a bright window and a sheet. A tripod can also be quite helpful for the progress. Here are a few simple tips fashion photography beginners can follow to hone their capabilities:
Experiment with light: Lighting can be the difference between just a good photo and a really great image. One should try studying portrait lighting techniques to gain ideas on how to effectively light indoor shots. Newbie photographers must properly plan their budget and see what they can invest in. Having one or two strobe lights and V flats, for instance, can come as a huge help. V flats help diffuse the light from the strobe to fill the room. Experimenting with diverse lighting styles and tools can often help the photographer to get way better outcomes than they had initially expected.
Get the camera settings in order: There is not much room for the artistic use of focus in fashion photography, unlike portraiture and fine art photography. It is smart to keep tweaking the settings while doing the shoot. Most new fashion photographers make mistakes with their camera settings of they get ahead of themselves and shoot too fast. Patience and care are vital for taking impactful images during fashion shoots.
Take test shots at every photo shoot: Photographers should check their light setup before the models arrive and take some test shots to see if any changes are required. This will help prevent any delays later on.
Before picking up the camera and getting started with actual fashion shoots, it would be prudent for people to actually do some research. This will help in getting inspired and creating a vision for what they would want their shoots to look like. Going through popular fashion magazines, as well as the works of industry experts like Bruce Weber Photographer, would be a great way to gear up for the fashion photography journey. Looking at editorial fashion photos and interesting product shots and more would go a long way in assisting a newbie photographer to plan similar shots or styles in their shoot.