Capture a set of 2-3 fashion photos

Inspiration and Model Scouting

Inspiration Around You
Discover things around you that make you excited, happy, and adventurous. It can be anything from something inside your house, a person, shadows, cool walls or buildings, the nature, culture, and environment around you, etc. Write down everything you come up with.
Research Trends
Research fashion blogs or clothing wesbites, study editorials in magazines, and see what’s in style or trending at the moment. Here are some of my favorites to check out:

-Totokaelo

-Fashion Gone Rogue

-W Magazine

-The Sartorialist
Create a Mood Board
Pull images from clothing wesbites, blogs, and magazines and keep them in a folder somewhere on your computer or anywhere that you can come back to for a reference.

From everything you researched, come up with a concept for your shoot and create a mood board with images. Share this mood board in your student project section! Example attached below.

Images are from Artizia, H&M, and Zara.
Finding your Model/Subject
If you do not have a relationship with a local modeling agency, and do not have a portfolio ready to present to one, ask your friends or people you know and see if they would be willing to model for you. Asking through social media via twitter, facebook, or instagram is a good way to start.

If you do have a relationship with an agency, or want to have one, present your work to them and show them the mood board. You can see if they have any models that would be willing to test with. “Testing” is when you are photographing new models that are signed with an agency. They usually will send you a few different models to choose from and you can get in contact with them through the agency. Every agency has it’s own way of going about this process.

Location, Lighting, Framing, Movement, and Posing

Scout your location
Research or explore different locations in your state that would flow with your shoot concept. Look for buildings, streets, or parking garages in your city, lakes, water, beaches, national forests, woods, mountains, or anywhere that would go with the concept of your shoot.

Use Google maps and find different locations if you do not know where to start.
Use natural lighting
If you want to photograph in the sun, make sure you have the right camera settings for the appropriate lighting. Overcast or cloudy weather is perfect for shooting portraiture or fashion because you are avoiding harsh light. If you are shooting in the sun and want that “golden” look to your photos, start shooting about two hours before the sun goes down.

Here are some tips:

For harsh light (mid day), make sure you have the right camera settings. Example: If it’s harsh and you’re shooting with a DSLR, bring your ISO down to a low number, f-stop between 2.8-4, and shutter speed fast.
- Otherwise play with shadows or shoot in shade as much as possible. If shooting in direct sunlight, use a reflector to shine onto the model to fill in shadows or dark areas.
Something to try: If you are shooting mid day/afternoon and are in the city, use sun that’s reflecting off the windows for a natural fill on the model. It’s one of my favorite things to use during shoots. Here’s an un-edited image for an example of what it can do. The red outlined areas are where the light is hitting the model from the windows.
Capture movement and pose your subject
If you are working with someone who has never been behind the camera, the first step is to make sure they are comfortable. Start with a portrait of them, then to mid-thigh and up, and then full body. They can be sitting or standing.

A lot of photos in editorials have a variety of these images, so keep that in mind when you’re shooting.

a. Pull different ideas from other editorials or campaigns where there are different poses that you like. Draw them out or bring along to your shoot for references and teach the model how to pose in that way. About 15 minutes into the shoot, your model will start to feel more comfortable and you can create different poses for your shots.

A simple tip: Have the model play with their hair, grab part of their clothing, or move their hands around their face for a natural pose.

b. Movement is great in fashion photography. Have the model walk towards you, or walk by their side and take photos. It’s a simple step to create a more interesting and natural image. It might take 50 shots or more to get the image, but it’s the perfect touch to add with your set of photos.
Frame your subject
I don’t believe there is technically a right or wrong way to frame your subject within fashion photography. I feel like it can be free reign on how you frame your subjects and how well you are presenting your images at the very end.

Most of the time with fashion, you’re presenting the clothes and how it compliments the model. So keep that in mind while you’re posing your subjects.

a. Go back to your mood board/shot list and pull ideas on how to frame your subject. Ex: Portraits, full length, or details of the clothing.

For beginners, there’s this general rule called “The rule of thirds”. This is where you are dividing the image into 9 equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and vertical lines. Then you compose your subject on or around those lines to frame them. With fashion, framing them in the middle or on the side of the photo looks best.

b. Shoot a mix of vertical and horizontal images. Vertical shots are great for showing details and composing a portrait. Especially if you are going to be giving these photos to an agency. Horizontal images are great if you want to put a title on your image if you are creating an editorial.

Here are some examples that I have done below:

3. Try playing around with positive and negative space to give more depth.

Editing and Client Deliverables

Edit your images
I’m only going to go over how I edit my images. There are many different ways to edit, and I’m not saying that my way is the best way. Do whatever you feel comfortable with. Also, I’m not teaching how to use Lightroom, Photoshop, or any editing program. This is just going to show you some tips and what to look for while editing.

For editing, I upload my images using Lightroom. In lightroom, I use VSCO presets to edit the colors for my images. I’m a huge fan of VSCO presets. They are available for purchase at their website for Lightroom and Aperture. http://vsco.co/store

You do not have to use Lighroom for editing. Photoshop or Aperture works fine.

These are the steps I do in Lightroom in order to create my images:

a. Color label the photos you want to edit

b. Apply the presets, crop, manipulate photos to the color labeled images

c. Export the images inter a folder

Once you have uploaded your images and they are ready for retouching or editing, bring the image into photoshop and retouch. Some areas to look for are under the eyes for dark circles, blemishes, weird hair across the face, dust speckles, wrinkles in the clothing, something weird in the background of the image that you don’t’ want there, etc.

If it’s a portrait, brighten up the eyes, and maybe any shadows on the face.

(The red areas are the areas to look for while retouching portraits)

Final edited image:
Send your photos to the client and share your images!
Once you have completed the editing process, here are some ways to send your images to your client, model, or the agency.

1. You can send your images using Dropbox

2. Hightail.com works great for sending images. You pay for a yearly subscription

3. Share or send through Facebook, instagram, twitter, etc.

4. Then start promoting your work with social media and/or share what you created in an online portfolio! Some great websites are 4ormat.com, virb.com, sqaurespace.com, and 22slides.com (all monthly subscriptions).
Your Assignment
Now create a fashion shoot, 2-3 photos using the techniques and tips you have learned!

Joshua Phillips

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