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I was sent an email asking for advice on how to best to photograph and use lighting to show clothing, in particular waterproof clothing for a website, and this is the reply I gave them.
Hmm this is a difficult one, as it is very much personal preference and the type of shot your trying to get, for example lighting wedding dresses, gothic clothes, a pair of doc martins and a builders over alls will all be done in a different way, but none will be the right or wrong way... It’s just the way that fits the job spec.
But.... in general, it is 99% about sex appeal, the doc martins are a trend for a certain market and if somebody like Kate Moss was to wear a pair on your images you would sell many more than if you were to use some swamp monster that the general person would not find attractive. Same as the builders overalls, people would rather look at some handsome chisel chinned bloke wearing them getting out of a clean professional van with new equipment, rather than a fat bloke on a dirty muddy raining day with some tatty 1986 transit van in the background.
Its amazing how much attractive people and sex works, and makes a massive difference to the sale, and is probably more important than the quality of the clothing itself. That’s why celebs are paid such massive sums of money to represent their products and services.
Using a cheap human model, (well free, but I’ll get to that bit in a minute) is amazing, and with minimal lighting or even just a reflector you can have some real pro results.
I prefer to use some type of scene shots, something you have researched before you set off, will work wonders.
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=8632973
Something like this, or imagine a girl sat outside of a cafe at a table drinking hot chocolate all wrapped up in a warm waterproof jacket with the winter scene around her.
She could be messing about in the shoot like this
www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-6385106-pretty-young-woman-in-a-raincoat-with-umbrella.php
Just some ideas, as there is a million and one ideas you could use from Google images and the sites I have linked to below.
But... of course using a mannequin or laying the clothes out flat is quick and much easier as it is the same on every shot and can give a very uniformed look to the website. But personally I think the items being worn by somebody is a much better way to represent the clothing and make a sale... as long as the photography is good enough of course.
http://photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/00BjHh
This site has a HUGE amount of amazing info, that are from genuine real pro’s, spend an evening reading as much as you can, you will get a really good idea of what you need in technique and equipment, to get the effect/image you want.
http://photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/0085Ir
This link is the Hard and Soft link in the second from last link above. It shows some great ideas that you can use in clothing photography.
Now to get free models, you can use sites like these
www.modelmayhem.com
www.northernallstars.co.uk
There is a lot of rubbish on here (models using photos of themselves in a mirror with a mobile phone for example!), but there are some genuine good ones and a lot of the models will work for free, as long as they can use the finished work as portfolio work. Be honest and genuine, and you will have a list of them at your door for free :)
But of course models with experience and talent as well as the right looks, usually don’t work for free, they are also worth their weight in gold as they know how to stand, pose and what you want of them. They have done it many times before, and the financial expense of them being there is usually paid back many times over. If you’re going down this root, make sure you find from them what they need for the shoot, they may need a hair and makeup artist as well for example, make sure you have covered all possibilities, as you don’t want a model turning up with no makeup, expecting a makeup artist to be there for them.
Go through photography sites such as
www.gettyimages.com (World leading outstanding work here)
www.istockphoto.com
www.photo.net
www.modelmayhem.com
www.talkphotography.co.uk
www.flickr.com
Search for images similar to what you want, have a look at how they have done the shots you want, and take ideas.
Try to work out their lighting method from shadows and reflective bits, where was the lights positioned? Did they use reflectors rather than lights? Check if the sun is behind them and you can see there is light on their face looking at you, then there must have been some form of light source from the front from a reflector, light/soft box, flash etc.
Try and pretend to be a detective and look for all the cheats they have used, you will be amazed at how false an image really is, especially lighting.
You’re not reinventing the wheel here, whatever image you take at this stage of your photography; a million people will already have done the same before you. If you were a real true pro with ideas of being completely unique, you wouldn’t be reading my blog looking for answers.
Some people call this “cheating”, but in the creative world it is called “Inspiration”. Find a look you like and try to do something similar, as you will prob find your mistakes are better than the result you were aiming for and in so, will create your own unique work that is actually totally different to what you planned in the first place.
But lastly, take sample shots with a friend standing in (or use a mannequin), and post them to the sites above such as photo.net and modelmayhem.com and ask for critiques. You should get a lot of feedback, some good, and some bad, then tweak your shots and ask again, after a few days of testing you will get a good idea of what people like and what people don’t.
In marketing it is called “Split testing”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing
If you have no education in photography and your learning by the self taught method, this is a good way to find out what people think. As you have nobody really to ask in the same way that you if you were working with like minded students and lecturers, as you would at University.
I hope this helps a few people, please comment below and let me know what you think :)
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