Fashion Shoots
Well , I’m a photographer and I do not really have any qualifications to write an article about fashion , or any styling tips to share. But I can tell you a little bit about my background, the background for this shoot and the thoughts I had before the shoot.
My name is Per Haar
My name is Per Haar, and I’m a photographer from Aarhus, Denmark. I picked up my first camera 3 years ago and fell in love with photography instantly. The first two years I spent on the internet where I tried to learn as much as possible about lighting, composition, rule of thirds and so on, (still learning every day) and also spent a lot of time looking at other photographers to find out what kind of pictures I loved.
Catalog/Fashion Shoot Tips
So because I’m relatively new in fashion photography, (under a year) but really want to go in that direction, and need to build a strong portfolio that reflect that desire, I try to make every test shoot look like a Catalog/Fashion shoot. That means that I’m spending a lot of time looking at online fashion magazines & photography blogs to get inspired,and figure out what kind of theme and mood I’m looking for. Both for the fashion, lighting, and photography style.
If you are interested in photography, I recommend the pretty interesting online photography school. It has a lot of useful courses, a couple are even free.
The Models
I find the all models my self so I know what features they have. That is also something I use in my considerations when I’m deciding what theme to go with. When I have my theme and mood ready, I try to find out where to get clothes and what ever we need to make it happen. But it can also be the other way around. Sometimes when I’m walking around town I’ll see something nice, and go inside the stores and talk to them about borrowing the clothes for future shoots, and then build the shoot around that clothes.
Sailor Shoot
The Sailor shoot (photos at the end of this article) I planed as portfolio work for me, the model and the Make Up Artist. The styling was something I did in collaboration with the stylist, where I had the theme, mood and location, and she delivered the clothes and accessories. Together we composed the different looks before we went on location. I always have a strong saying in the style we are going for since the shoots normally are my vision. We had three locations, and three different looks that day, and this is just one of them.
As a photographer, I’m in favor of simplicity and bring no more gear than I can carry in one bag. This means that we are very mobile and can move quickly from place to place and get a lot done in one day. It also means that my style in photography is more about the clothes, mood and products, and not so much about complicated lighting setups and so on. I have one stand, 3 cheap speed lights, a reflector and no more. – ypu can see it all in the behind the scenes video 🙂
I believe in a good contact between the photographer and the model, and since we often don’t meet before the day of the shoot, I like to be a part of the hair & makeup session. It gives me a chance to talk to the model about everything else than the shoot and creates a strong foundation for the communication the rest of the day. Sometimes I even bake muffins for them to enjoy while getting ready, to get everybody happy before we start 🙂
Use Your Social Media
I always make a Pinterest moodboard that I share with both the Make Up Artits and model about a week before the shoot. Then we have time to talk about everything from poses to hair and makeup. It gives them the opportunity to share their opinions, and get a voice in the planing of the shoot. That way they take more responsibility, and give more of themselves on the day we shoot.
Then I don’t have to worry to much about posing the model an so on. Everybody just do what ever we already talked about.
