How to get started with fashion photography?

Question

So, I'm in a pickle, on a whim I decided to email a model who lives in Bloomington, IN. Told her how I admired her work and how I would like to take some photos of her in the spring at the Indianapolis museum of Art and sent the email on it's way. I didn't expect her to email me back, alas she did. So now I who knows nothing about fashion photography in any shape form or function must figure out how to this sort of thing before some point to be determined in the spring.

So, any tips for someone who knows a lot about landscape and flower photography but nothing about fashion photography? Oh and any books you could recommend would be stellar as well. Thanks.

Answer

The practical answer to your question is to find some female friend to photograph in that same location first, perhaps reading some tips online about photographing models.

Then you can see what works with lights, what poses look good, and practice asking for poses.

Also when you go out with the "real" model it would probably be good to take the same female friend along to make the model feel more comfortable, also they could hold reflectors or side strobes for you.

Basically you have the responsibility to try and produce some good photos for the model, it's great you are trying to get a good idea of what you should be doing but nothing beats practicing with a live person.

Check more discussion of this question.

What should a photography beginner focus on?

Question

I have no experience whatsoever with photography, but it's a subject that has interested me for quite some time. As a beginner, what should I be focusing on? What camera should I get? Any other general advice?

Answer

You should focus on taking pictures!

Don't worry too much about the gear. If you're really interested in this as a hobby, I suggest budgeting a significant chunk right off (See this slightly-tongue-in-cheek article) and buying some decent mid-range gear.

I don't mean you need to buy a ton of stuff without knowing what you need, but if you jump in at higher than the entry-level, you'll have more flexibility, room to grow, and not be as distracted by lusting after better gear (you'll know that what you have is good enough even though there's always something better). Most crucially, you'll have a camera designed for direct access to the essential controls, rather than one designed to produce snapshots without any thought. (See Are there disadvantages to a prosumer camera for a beginner, aside from cost? for more on this.)

You almost certainly want a camera with interchangeable lenses, but it's not a necessity. You could go for a high-end point and shoot like the Canon G12, or something like the lovely Fujifilm X100, which has a large sensor and a built-in lens tailored to go with it. Interchangeable lenses offer a lot more flexibility, but unlimited flexibility isn't necessarily all good.

A dSLR with a prime lens or two is a good choice too, or one of the newer mirrorless options (like Micro 4/3rds) with one of the tiny "pancake" lenses. Some people will suggest a basic zoom lens; some will recommend the prime-lens route, as I am doing — this is basically a choice of personal style. (While prime lenses offer some image quality advantages and usually wider max apertures, this can also be seen as a place where less flexibility helps learning by providing structure.)

So anyway, get something, and start taking a lot of pictures. Malcolm Gladwell puts forth the idea that to be great at anything, you need to put in about 10,000 hours of working at it. So, the most important thing is to not obsess about how to start and to just do it.

Take a lot of pictures, and then review each one with a critical eye. What are your favorites? What worked, what didn't? Narrow down your favorites from each batch, and make prints from those — there's really no substitute for the physical artifact. Look at other photographs you like. What makes them work? How do yours compare?

By repeating this process of taking pictures and narrowing them down, you'll become good.

Check more discussion of this question.

What should a beginner focus on?

Question

I have no experience whatsoever with photography, but it's a subject that has interested me for quite some time. As a beginner, what should I be focusing on? What camera should I get? Any other general advice?

Answer

You should focus on taking pictures!

Don't worry too much about the gear. If you're really interested in this as a hobby, I suggest budgeting a significant chunk right off (See this slightly-tongue-in-cheek article) and buying some decent mid-range gear.

I don't mean you need to buy a ton of stuff without knowing what you need, but if you jump in at higher than the entry-level, you'll have more flexibility, room to grow, and not be as distracted by lusting after better gear (you'll know that what you have is good enough even though there's always something better). Most crucially, you'll have a camera designed for direct access to the essential controls, rather than one designed to produce snapshots without any thought. (See Are there disadvantages to a prosumer camera for a beginner, aside from cost? for more on this.)

You almost certainly want a camera with interchangeable lenses, but it's not a necessity. You could go for a high-end point and shoot like the Canon G12, or something like the lovely Fujifilm X100, which has a large sensor and a built-in lens tailored to go with it. Interchangeable lenses offer a lot more flexibility, but unlimited flexibility isn't necessarily all good.

A dSLR with a prime lens or two is a good choice too, or one of the newer mirrorless options (like Micro 4/3rds) with one of the tiny "pancake" lenses. Some people will suggest a basic zoom lens; some will recommend the prime-lens route, as I am doing — this is basically a choice of personal style. (While prime lenses offer some image quality advantages and usually wider max apertures, this can also be seen as a place where less flexibility helps learning by providing structure.)

So anyway, get something, and start taking a lot of pictures. Malcolm Gladwell puts forth the idea that to be great at anything, you need to put in about 10,000 hours of working at it. So, the most important thing is to not obsess about how to start and to just do it.

Take a lot of pictures, and then review each one with a critical eye. What are your favorites? What worked, what didn't? Narrow down your favorites from each batch, and make prints from those — there's really no substitute for the physical artifact. Look at other photographs you like. What makes them work? How do yours compare?

By repeating this process of taking pictures and narrowing them down, you'll become good.

Check more discussion of this question.