What is fashion photography?

People often think about photography, but you should know what they think of the most! People usually think about fashion photography and sometimes they also want to pursue that. Most aspiring photographers want to be fashion photographers, they want to shoot beautiful models with some of the most gorgeous dresses.

Fashion Photographers make the world look more glamorous. It is common for the fashion photographers to be known and discovered for their unique style and attributes. In fact, nobody really cares about the models that the fashion photographers work with or even with the equipment they use. The thing that really matters in this domain of photography is the result.

Fashion photography is all about displaying the fashion clothing and items mostly for promotional purposes. This is often seen on advertising boards and in fashion magazines. Usually, it is seen that the models are wearing the clothes to show them off in a photograph.

Fashion photography is here, and it existed along with other domains of photography from the beginning, and it is always evolving with time. Using past trends, creating contemporary trends, and understanding the current trends in the fashion industry are in fact especially important techniques to grasp and learn. Proper fashion photographers do not just take care of the photo being captured, they also take care of other tiny details yet important such as hair, make-up of the models and their clothing.

Some Fashion photography tips

Fashion photography is nothing less than an art, it is an amazing blend of product, portrait, and sometimes fine art photography, it is damn amazing. Photographers use their own eye and creativity to highlight, speak and curate anything in the fashion industry and give a whole unique perspective to the fashion sense of the world. Fashion photography can be imagined as a spectrum of a whole lot of different things like ecommerce style with studio lighting, photoshoot in the streets of the city or at historic sites or at any other places.

Fashion photography depicts a certain narrative, and the possibilities are endless on how it is trying to depict it. Every successful fashion photographer tries to tell a story through their captured photographs, and they have the power to change the narrative anytime they want.

Below are some fashion photography tips which you can explore.

How to display fashion products with the help of photography?

One thing that you need to keep in mind while photographing for the fashion domain is how the clothes would look when displayed on an ecommerce app or on the ecommerce website. How they appear on the platforms will determine the traffic and hence in turn also affect the conversion rates. While scrolling through any ecommerce app or website, the images of the fashion products provide the initial glimpse of the actual product and hence it depends on the photos that whether the buyer or shopper is going to look more into it and buy the product.

The three most common ways to display fashion products are:

Using an invisible mannequin

Realistic look is very important in fashion product photography as it provides a great value to the customers and moreover it can actually help to showcase the detailing of the product more precisely. Displaying fashion products with the help of mannequins can really aid a lot in this.

It is seen that most of the online shoppers tend to buy those fashion products or clothes if they are shown with the help of a mannequin. It helps them to visualise how the clothes or fashion items will look when they wear it.

With the help of mannequins, sellers can easily provide a realistic human shape to the clothes without going through the hassle of finding models for each shooting session.

While using mannequins to show off your product, be sure that the mannequin is standing straight-on. When you go to the market or mall you will see that there are several shops showcasing their products with the help of mannequins which are standing at different positions and in different poses so that they do not look the same.

Moreover, it is also better to avoid amputated arms in a mannequin as it would take you a lot of time and hard work to give an empty and dandling sleeve a realistic form using photoshop. It does not even matter whether you have work towards removing the background.

Hiring a model

Apart from using mannequins to display your fashion products or clothes there is another thing which you can pursue to fulfil the same objective. You can hire a model if you have a proper budget.

One of the biggest advantages of hiring models is that they can aid in making the piece of clothing look better as they can work in any kind of pose or in any kind of angle.Such images of the fashions products can be often seen featured on various ecommerce stores and also additionally on social media.

Models can show off the clothes by experimenting with different poses but it is advisable to not showcase the product in such a way that it does not cover up much of the product while also maintaining and showing the details of the clothes.

Popular models are a brand by themselves. When clothes are shot by popular models, they can aid in giving the products a unique personality and create more of a band.

But, keep in mind that when it comes to hiring a model of fashion product photography it will cost much more than using a mannequin.

Preparing the clothing and the fashion products for the final event.

A successful picture shoot requires careful planning. I can't really tell you how many picture shootings I've done just to discover a tiny but evident detail out of place. The time you invest now will save you a tonne of time during post-production and even prevent you from having to retake the entire shoot! You should gather every piece of clothes you want to photograph and set up a production line so that everything is ready at once.

The first step you ought to do is iron or steam all of your clothing while listening to your favourite music. To make sure there are no wrinkles visible, do this before hanging anything.

Second, have your camera's toolkit accessible, extra batteries charged, and pins available. Put the first piece of clothing on your mannequin if you're going for mannequins.

- Keep an eye out for the little touches on your clothing.

- Verify that every button is present and fastened.

- Make sure the tassels and ties in your item are fashioned neatly and consistently.

- Make sure the sleeves are folded regularly as well as neatly.

- Verify that the apparel is spot-free.

Tips on Fashion Photography

1.Plan and research

Before even starting your shoot for fashion photography, begin with doing some research on analysing the pros of fashion photography, doing some preliminary research and pre-planning before delving into the photoshoot will help you a quite lot in getting inspired and create a vision on how you want the photos to look and the shoots to go. Planning creates a difference everywhere.

2.Look for inspiring images

Sometimes looking at things can fetch your innovative ideas; can make you think the other way which you have not explored yet. You get to think differently, you almost end up booming with many ideas which you can apply in your fashion photography journey. The most principal and significant ways to get innovative ideas is to look at pictures taken by other photographers, pictures on google, browsing various websites over the internet with some interesting fashion photography shots. You can also follow the social media handles of fashion enthusiasts; fashion designers and fashion photographers like on Instagram to know more about the different trending styles. It is incredibly important to figure out image making and how to implement them in real scenarios.

3. Creating mood board and shot list

To make things easier and more intuitive, one thing that you can surely do is to make a collage of different photos which inspires you with ideas and its creativity. You can also prepare a list of every single photo which you want to get. You can check out those photos at every single shooting day which will highly help you to stay true to your vision and what you want to get from those shoots. You can also write some adjectives on the back to highlight the kind of mood and feel you get from those pictures. This is a very efficient way to stick to your visions.

4.Get around with the basics

Fashion photography is not something which you can master by only beating around the bush. It consists of a diverse subject matter like shooting the latest fashion trends to sell fashion products for online markets to studio shots for lifestyle photos as well. Again, it can also include some high-end fashion shots with trendy clothes worn by models or with the latest fashion accessories like the editorial shots with some supermodels and makeup artists. The end goal can vary from person to person, so it is important to get accustomed with the basics and choose the right path to get forward.

5. Practice and Practice

If you are a newbie in the world of fashion photography, then it is highly suggested that you start practising your skill related to fashion from now onwards only. You can start with casual tools and equipment in the beginning. You can envision yourself or your close as a fashion model and you can begin practising with them. You can try out different clothing, different setups, different angles for photo shoots. You can also start practising on how to edit such photos to make them look better. This way you will also improve your photo editing skills. You can try to try the different lighting setups and compositions to see how the model eventually looks at the end.

6. Perfection from imperfections

There are many brands out there who do not traditionally fit the typical mould of glamour and propriety. It is more important to convey some sort of message rather than making things look perfect or fancy. Things should be portrayed in such a way that it piques people’s interest and creates a vibing atmosphere altogether.

7.Models should be made comfortable

Fashion models should make them feel at ease when you are working with them. This is the main primary tenet for working on portrait photoshoots. If you are working with a newbie model, then it is important to make sure that they are comfortable with you and the photoshoot. Spending some time with the model and to break the ice and know them better. The main beauty of fashion photography comes with the people being themselves. You can also practise photographing with someone who is too close to you as an act of demo practice to sharpen your skills and be better at that. You need to give them direction to get the fashion photography shots the way you want. Candid shots are also something that you can try out in this case.

8. Try out your camera with perfect settings.

Some photographs look better with shallow depth of field, but when you are shooting photographs for fashion photography, the aperture might turn out to be low and the edges of clothes might also get out of focus, you might need to adjust those settings properly to get the job done. It is important to learn how to tweak the camera settings as per need to get the required shot at the perfect time. At first, it might feel somehow difficult and impossible, but you will make mistakes and will eventually learn to do it.

9. Styling and product quality

The quality of garment used will reflect in the shots whether you like it or not, it is a major deciding factor on how the image looks and feels. Styling is another major factor in determining how the clothing looks in the overall photo. It is important to make sure that there is no dust on the clothing, and it should be wrinkle free. Having the best lighting conditions, or the best location, even a highly expensive camera would not add anything to the photography if your clothing or garment is not in proper condition in addition to the styling.

10.Light and experimentation

Unbelievably light is everything, it is the major distinguishing factor between a good photo and a dull one. Lighting conditions will be different for diverse types of fashion photography according to what you want to do. Close up shots will require different lighting than a portrait shot. There are many tutorials out there which you can follow to know more about the manipulating lighting conditions according to your need to get some of the best shots. Investing in proper lighting equipment is also needed in this case.

Ideas for Fashion Photography

1.Black and White fashion photography

Black and White photography is extremely exciting and popular in the fashion industry. Black and white images are known for their elements like contrast, form, and shape. These types of photographs enhance fashion images to a whole different level. Black and white photography can be used for high fashion and street fashion photography as it can add composition to it.

2. Street Fashion

This is one of the simplest ways to begin with fashion photography since street fashion can be found anywhere in the world.

While it may be simpler to spot photograph-worthy street fashion in a big city such as NYC, your eye for streetwear fashion will develop over time if you search long enough or think creatively.

3. High Fashion

High fashion is often unconventional or avant-garde. The styles you will be shooting are unlikely to be what you are used to seeing on the street. This type of photography will certainly require you to have an unobstructed vision in mind.

4.Colour is important

On the other end of the spectrum, it is always fun to experiment with colour in fashion photography. You can do this with the set or props, but we also recommend styling the wardrobe with unexpected colour combinations. This can help to bring the image to life and add visual interest.

5. Go monochrome

Keeping with the colour theme, you can also have a monochromatic photo session. This means that everything on your shoot must be the same colour, or at least close in colour.

6.Utiliysing reflections

Using reflections in your photography always offers the potential for an interesting outcome, but fashion photography is especially well suited for the use of reflections because fashion is inherently self-reflective. You can do this with a model looking into the mirror, but you can also create the illusion of a mirror with water or even other reflective surfaces.

7.Capturing the full runaway

If you specialise in runway photography, your main goal is to capture the models, their outfits, and the extra style details that contribute to the brand's aesthetic.

Having said that, we often forget how important it is to capture the complete set when shooting a runway show. This could be a wide shot or a close-up of a small detail on the set.

8. No distractions

Doing too much is one of the most common mistakes that you can make once putting together your portfolio. You want your photos to stand on their own. You do not want a lot of text, colour, or other graphics on your portfolio page. Instead, go with a neutral background, easy-to-read text, and few to no graphics.

9. Futuristic effect

Chrome accents, stylish silhouettes, and a limited colour palette can all contribute to your futuristic theme. The black latex, sunglasses, sleek hair, and metal shades all contribute to the theme in this example.

10.Nostalgic effect

This nostalgic feel can be achieved through the clothing worn by the models, but it can also be achieved using a set that feels set in the old days, as well as pictorial effects that make the photo itself appear vintage.

How much is the cost of Ecommerce fashion photography?

The cost of ecommerce fashion photography is heavily influenced by the location, costumes, props, and equipment used, as well as the hair and makeup artist, stylist, and, of course, the photographer and his or her experience in this field. Charges are typically based on an hourly basis and begin at 5000 rupees in Mumbai.