These 6 essential tips I use when shooting fashion photography will help you elevate your shoots to the next level and create stunning, professional images.

tip 1: build a team

Fashion photography isn’t a solo endeavour. You’re going to need a talented team to bring your vision to life. This includes a stylist to handle to wardrobe, a makeup artist and hair stylist to create the perfect look, and an assistant to help with logistics, lighting and any other little tasks. When working on larger commercial sets you may even require additional team members. Such as an art director to help with set design and composition, a lighting assistant, and a digital assistant or “digi-tech” to deal with transferring of images and tethering to your computer.

When building your team, I always do my best to research potential stylists, hair stylists and makeup artists using Instagram. I like to look at who they’ve worked with while getting an understanding of their style and previous work.

A solid team who works together and takes direction well is important as it reflects you and your business, and ultimately impacts the end result of the images.

Tip 2: share your vision

Be clear on the vision and be the leader on set. Before the shoot communicate your ideas and expectations with your team. When i’m on set, I like to make sure I am prepared ahead of time and provide my team with visual references and make sure everyone is clear on the style and mood for the shoot.

As a fashion photographer you’re going to want to build the habit of preparing mood boards and story boards in advance. A mood board conveys the style and vibe, whereas a story board helps visually explain how you want your editorial layout to look.

I like to create my mood boards using Pintrest and Google, and then I take those images I’ve found and insert them into a pre-saved layout in Canva to be able to print or send to the team in advance.

Make sure to provide direction and take change during the shoot. Be confident, be kind, and be decisive!

Tip 3: attention to details

Fashion photography is all about showcasing the clothes, so make sure that they’re perfect. Checking for wrinkles, stains, or tags that might ruin the shot. Small adjustments can make a huge difference. So take the time to get everything just right!

tip 4: lighting

Different styles call for specific lighting needs, so experiment and find what works best for your shoot. Natural light can create a soft flattering look, while studio lights offer more control and precision. What it really comes down to is what style or mood you are trying to go for with your lighting.

For example, when you’re shooting e-commerce, the lighting will usually be brighter and more evenly spread across the clothing. Whereas, with an editorial shoot the lighting can be more creative because you’re setting a mood rather than showing off every detail of the outfit.

Spend time setting up your lighting to highlight the textures and details of the clothing. Great lighting can transform an ordinary photo into something extraordinary.

tip 5: posing

Posing is key to showing off the wardrobe. I like the study the wardrobe before hand and think about the ways I can best highlight the characteristics and details of the outfit. Because ultimately we are trying to sell clothes for our client and make the wardrobe enticing.

For example, if you’re shooting a flowy skirt, having the model move around during the photos may highlight the flow of the skirt more than just a static straight on shot. If you’re shooting more of a structured suit, I might have the model in poses that are more static but have more shape throughout the body.

tip 6: perspective

In fashion photography, I like to shoot from a lower angle. By shooting from a lower angle, it creates the most flattering photo. This technique elongates the model’s legs and creates a powerful, confident look. Experiment with different heights and angles to find what best suits your model and style.