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Portrait vs Fashion photography
Hi , I mainly shoot portraits and sometimes I get models wanting to shoot fashion . TO my understanding fashion photography is mostly focused on cloth , makeup and hair. Where portrait is focused on the person and mostly the face. What am I missing, is it the lighting , the setup ? just wanting to hear your input. Cheers Oct 26 10 05:58 am Link Paul Doumit Photography wrote: The depiction of cloth (fabric and texture), makeup and hair styling most properly relates to Catalog fashion wherein it is used to sell or promote goods and services. On a higher level, Fashion photography can be about those things you mention, but it is primarily the selling of an idealized lifestyle. It is used to stimulate the attainment of an upscale social status. Because of that, the technical details such as lighting and setup are all over the map and can range from a minimalist approach to the highly complex. Oct 26 10 06:54 am Link Paul Doumit Photography wrote: they are both interlinked Oct 26 10 06:58 am Link SoCo n Lime wrote: THIS. Oct 26 10 07:02 am Link Portraits , the sitter is the subject. Fashion is about selling something else. Although many do fashion with a portrait style, the other cannot be done, you cannot have a portrait of other than the sitter. Oct 26 10 07:03 am Link Neil Snape wrote: Well almost. Oct 26 10 09:05 am Link Fred Greissing wrote: But that is the difference between good and genius. Same thing can be said about Newton's nudes. There are good nudes and then Newton's genius. Oct 26 10 11:14 am Link I had the same problem and didn't do the transition that well. The best I can say I make a good commericial photographer but only a reasonable fashion photographer. To me, fashion photography has been reduced to the "wow" factor, sizzle and it has nothing to do with the model or the clothes. It impresses the viewer so the viewer believes the product with also impress. If it gives you any comfort, no matter how good your fashion shot is in thirty days someone is wrapping their garbage in it unless it's been relegated to the hell of a doctor's waiting room. (Translation: the magazine that the shot appears in is thrown out in a month when the new edition come out.) Edit: Fashion = Fad. P.S. I find beauty photography a good comprimise between portrait and fashion. P.P.S. One interesting question, I see thirty year old Avedon or Scavullo shots that still impress. I wonder how the shots done today will be looked upon in thirty years ? Oct 26 10 11:29 am Link What I think about my own work is: I want the viewer to connect to the face of the model and within the context of that emotional connection I want the clothing to be revealed. When I do a portrait I don't really consider wardrobe except as background and only serves to support the connection between the subject and the viewer. Oct 26 10 11:47 am Link Fred Greissing wrote: Exactly , yet they are portraits just the same. Any great portrait photographer can show the intensity of the sitter. In the case of YSL, it was easy to see no matter who shot him. What I find amazing by Newton were his pictures of Karl Lagerfeld. Oct 26 10 11:52 am Link Look at magazine editorials in Vogue Italia, Marie Claire, Oyster, Dazed and Confused, iD etc Get inspired. if you don't know what fashion photography is, it's all there. Oct 26 10 12:25 pm Link Neil Snape wrote: You beat me to it. Oct 26 10 12:58 pm Link thank you for your replies. I will start experimenting more with my portrait sessions to be able to get a more fashion look. I guess i have to check out more pictures in magazines and other's portfolios to get some inspiration paul Oct 29 10 11:28 am Link Neil Snape wrote: This is correct, what Neil said. Oct 29 10 11:43 am Link I should add in good fashion photography it should not looked posed and a model hitting the "standard" poses isn't doing it right. As the photographer you need to make sure she doesn't fall back on them so to speak. The entire image should invoke a feeling or desire for whatever it is really trying to sell, even if it is the clothing brand itself. The higher end fashion world isn't always as concerned if the product itself is shot well as much as the feel. I realize that sounds odd and you would expect a dress maker to want a more catalog approach to really show the garment but that isn't always the case. Sometimes it may be so and some designers want both high fashion and a good product shot (not easy). If you remember to not allow the model to use canned poses and look at the entire feel of the image you will be on your way to learning fashion Oct 29 10 11:53 am Link Look for some of the other threads asking "What is fashion?" etc. But basically it just is what it is and you have to know it to see it. There is not one fashion look. Also, you need a team to shoot fashion. Oct 29 10 12:35 pm Link |
