Frequently Asked Questions about Fashion Photography

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What inherent qualities make a good fashion photographer?
A. Commercial photography—fashion, editorial, and advertising requires a keen eye for beauty and light to create unique images that evoke feeling. Without feeling, a photograph is nothing more than a piece of paper with an empty image on it. Someone who understands beauty and light will also understand people. If you can understand people, you will be able to bring out the soul of the person, which in turn will bring out the soul of the garment making it come alive!
Q. After you seal the deal for an assignment, what is the next single most important step?
A. PREPARE — PREPARE — PREPARE. By the time the shoot day approaches every shot and every detail of each shot MUST be set. Everyone on the crew will know exactly what the plan is. I will meet with the crew and discuss everything that is going to happen on shoot day. Now that does not mean that once you start shooting that you cannot stray from the plan because that limits creativity. However, when you have a set plan, shot list etc. it gives you a direction and a purpose. Every image must have a purpose.
Q. Expand on that please. Every image must have a purpose.
A. Let's be real. The reason why fashion photography exists is for designers to show and eventually sell their garments. Our world revolves around advertising. So when I am shooting a campaign, editorial or even a corporate headshot, in the back of my mind I am constantly aware of why I was hired to shoot for my client. I am hired to make the client look GREAT. So that means if I am shooting clothes, the clothes must look PERFECT. If I am shooting a CEO of a company, he or she must look their best. So that means EVERYTHING in front of my lens all the way to the background must make sense and must have a purpose.
Q. So preparation involves what?

A. Ok so I sit down with my client and discuss what they want to achieve and what "the look and feel" of the campaign will be. That means knowing your demographics, customers and how your customers think. Then we discuss how we are going to achieve all of this through imagery. Do we want one two three or more models? Do we want males and females? Do we want happy, confident models? Do we want beautiful tall thin females or the average woman to represent the company's image?

Next we decide on the location whether that is a studio with a set or a beautiful beach or a house in the hills etc. The art director is present to keep us on track with the vision of the client. I will go scout the location and shoot some digital stills to create a rough mock up of the ad with my assistant standing in for the models. After we all decide on the look and feel, we hold a casting for models. I will call the agencies, Ford Models, Elite Models, Next Models, LA Models and others and tell the bookers how many models we need, the budget for each model and the look we need. The date and time is set for the casting and we wait for the models to show up.

The casting is the most important element in the preparation. I need to know that I am not casting just a "pretty face" or a "great figure." There MUST be a personality behind the pretty face. If a model cannot evoke, or let go and get into character then I have no need for them. I can get a mannequin for that matter. So the client and I will look through the model portfolio and ask him or her questions to get a feeling of their personality. I will snap a few shots to see how they move and interact with the camera.

If we are using 2 or more models in the shoot we will have a 2nd day of casting to see the selections together and how they interact. It really is no different than casting for a film.

I cannot stress this enough, a talented model is also a talented actor. You must be able to act like someone else on camera.

Q. So you cast your models, have all your shots lined up, what is next?
A. I get my team together, my assistant puts out the call sheet and we shoot!
Q. What does a "team" consist of?
A. A photographer's team is VITAL to his or her career. My first assistant is my right hand man and knows how I think so he can think ahead for me. He orders any gear that needs to be rented as well as props etc. My second assistant will assist him. I have a group of make up artists that I have worked with many years as well as hair stylists. I have interns that help out with invoicing and the daily office tasks.
Q. How does digital compare with Film?
A. This has been brought up many times and my response is that digital defiantly is up there in quality with film IF the photographer knows how to shoot digital. Many advertising photographers have made a complete move to digital for many reasons. It is less expensive, turn around time is MUCH faster, the client can approve a proof right there on the spot at the shoot and also see how their product will look.
Q. So how is shooting digital different than shooting film?
A. Shooting digital in many ways compares to shooting slide film in that you have very little latitude to make an exposure mistake. Yes you can shoot in RAW however, if you over expose then you will have no detail in the image and cannot recover any pixels. Essentially there is no information in the image. If you underexpose then yes you can pull some of the information out however you will sacrifice quality by getting an image that is very grainy. A photographer that has the ability to shoot digital well has an advantage over a film only shooter. Many, many clients are requesting digital now especially with the advent of the Internet and website advertising.