© 2008 Melissa Rodwell Photography LLC.
Fashion photography is the business of photographing fashion. That means that the product we are selling are the clothes. It is important for the young, aspiring fashion photographer to understand this. When a client hires us, we are being hired on our technical ability of understanding garments and the way they will photograph. I see so many photographers who are just starting out and building their books and the weakest part of their photographs is the styling.
Styling Mistakes:
- The clothes are wrinkled or out-dated.
- The clothing is accessorized poorly.
- The model doesn’t befit the style of clothing she is wearing.
All these factors are of key importance when photographing fashion. If I’m hired to shoot a swimsuit catalogue, I hire swimsuit models. If I’m hired to shoot an advertisement for a French couture designer, my model is going to be completely different. I will talk about how important the wardrobe stylist is in another blog. Right now I want to address finding the right model for the assignment. Recently I was hired by a fashion designer to shoot her small ad campaign when she opened her boutique on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. This designer specialized in high end, very expensive evening gowns geared towards the Hollywood celebrity clientele. Think awards shows: Grammy, Emmy, Oscars. The red carpet is where you will see her work. Not at the local supermarket or dog park. Evening wear is a specific genre of fashion and it is highly dictated by couture. One of a kind, in other words. Her work was definitely unique in that she used spandex in the blends of satins and silks to create tight, body fitting gowns. Her dresses were very “unforgiving”. My model had to be rail thin to support the look and feel of the clingy, form fitting fabric. Any girl who had a little roundness to her frame wouldn’t work. I eventually decided on the girl you see in the picture, Shay, from Photogenics in LA. Shay’s 5’10″ frame worked perfectly for the size 1 dresses we had to shoot for the job. She doesn’t have an ounce of extra weight on her body and she’s not curvy by any stretch of the imagination. She is, by all means, the definition of a couture and runway model. And she pulled off this look perfectly for the job!
One thing that is SO important when you are beginning your career as a fashion photographer is for you to understand the history of fashion. How many of you have picked up a book on the subject? Because I can tell you you are going to need to understand fabrics and how they respond to light. You are going to have to know the difference between an empire waist and a waistcoat (ie.right). When your client tells you in your pre-production meeting that the fabrics you will be shooting are velour and satin, can you automatically tell them which lighting would work best for those two fabrics? You better be able to. Fashion photography is a business just like any other. It is about fashion and you should know it inside and out!
Here’s some suggested reading:
- The Complete History of Costume & Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day by Bronwyn Cosgrave
- Fashion (Oxford History of Art) by Christopher Breward
- 20th Century Fashion: 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer in Association with Vogue by Linda Watson
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Great post, especially that reading list is really, really useful.
But please, since the images you post are consistently amazing, could you make it a standard practice to include a lighting diagram or a quick behind-the-scenes snapshot showing your setup? I mean, “reverse engineering” the general lighting is usually pretty simple, but having info like what size of softbox you used at roughly what distance, and especially a short note on why that particular setup helps the fabric/model/location look its/her best in that particular photograph would just be awesome.
Please keep up the great work, this is the blog I’ve always been waiting for, I’m really looking forward to what’s coming. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and insight, the type of information you post here is really invaluable.
Peter
Great article, opened my mind to start studying those fabrics. Love the 20th Century Fashion: 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer in Association with Vogue by Linda Watson.
Great post, I can’t wait to get into that reading list.
I’m thinking about getting into fashion photography, so your blog is an awesome resource. Thanks!
Maybe you could do a post about the difficulty of getting into the fashion photography world.
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Thanks so much for this blog. I just found it and already have spent quite a bit of time here. I will be picking up this recommended reading!
Fashion photography is truely an art. The images in your blog are nothing short of amazing. IMO the lighting and coloration is superb.
Interesting… I recently got the book FASHION NOW, the view of 150 today’s fashion designers.
There must be out there some websites on the fashion history theme… i will google it. As aspiring fashion photographer, i’m looking for all the info i can get. I like this post, really… MUCHAS THANK YOU VERY MUCHO!
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[...] One way to conquer photographing fashion is to understand fashion. In another post I wrote called Styling and Fashion 101 I spoke about reading up on the history of fashion and costume design. I recommended some books, [...]
Once again thanks for an insightful posting. It is kind of interesting how people change…. three years ago you won’t find me flipping through fashion magazines or reading books on fashion history. More like Field and Stream… but now these are the first things I look for in the local magazine shop or bookstore. Now I’ll be asking myself a different sort of question from ‘what was your light set up’ to ‘what was the photographer trying to bring out in these garments, and were they successful’ … sheesh so much still to learn…
After reading this about the talk about photographers lacking understanding about fashion i find i have to point out something that’ll add to that train of thought. Most of the models out there who are trying to break into the business don’t get it either. I’ve come across so many faces that have been deadset on shooting fashion or a genre of it when they don’t have the look for it. e.g. from my experience the best example i can think of is one who technically wasn’t Fat fat, but too big and curvy to be in fashion who was more suitable for swimsuit and lingerie catalogs. Said model kept insisting and bugging photographers like me to do fashion themed shoots with them when she just doesn’t have IT. there;s also the issue about how many models in fashion seem to be of the mind set that fashion photography is about THEM and not the clothes. There’s also another hilarious anecdote about how some wardrobe stylists insist on bossing the photographer around and insisting the photog shoots the stylist’s vision and not the photog’s. but that’s a story for another day.
Really an awesome post which opens mind and doors to do something new i am planing to involve myself into fashion arena now.
Now please give me an information from where can i start learn about Fashion stuff’s.
Once again….very informative and always a pleasure to visit your blog!
Im a student still in high school but going into my senior year. The past year i have gotten interested in photography and fashion to such a high level. Its constantly on my mind and the only career that seems right would be fashion photography. My question basically is what can I do now and what are the best schools to go to if I really want the best opprotunity to make a name for myself? Thanks so much this is amazing advice I really appreciate it!
Its constantly on my mind and the only career that seems right would be fashion photography. My question basically is what can I do now and what are the best schools to go to if I really want the best opprotunity to make a name for myself? Thanks so much this is amazing advice I really appreciate it!
If you want to be a professional photographer I don’t think you have to go any school or university. You just have to take some lessons from professionals.
Fashion is one area I’ve stayed away from, I think you have to be in a city to make it work and for me that would be London. I prefer it in the sticks!
Mind you, you do always get good looking people to photograph!