Fashion Photography Tips For Beginners
Fashion photography is essential to showcasing your clothing and accessories. Without high-quality images, your customers won’t be able to appreciate the design and overall quality of your products. Whether it's flat lay images for online product listings, or lifestyle shots for a lookbook — having great photos of your pieces can make all the difference in communicating their value.
If you’re new to fashion photography, don't worry! Our photography tips for beginners will have you creating high-quality content in no time.
How To Plan A Fashion Photoshoot
Planning is essential to a successful fashion photoshoot. Follow these simple steps to get the most out of your time on set.
Choose Your Camera
If you’re going to use the photos on your website, it can be worth investing in a high-quality camera. Before the shoot, take the time to understand your camera’s settings and take some practice shots. If you’re creating content solely for social media, you may find that a smartphone camera will meet your needs.
Scout Your Photoshoot Location
When it comes to photoshoot locations, you want to prioritise spaces that have great natural lighting and allow you to shoot from multiple angles. The best photoshoot locations can often be found by browsing Google Maps or simply asking your friends and family.
If you choose to hold your fashion photoshoot outdoors, check the weather forecast beforehand and have a wet weather backup plan. Pro tip: While shooting under natural light keep in mind the direction of the Sun. Avoid shooting during the middle of the day as this can create harsh shadows.
Gather Fashion Photoshoot Ideas
Magazines, social media and blogs are all great places to find photoshoot ideas inspiration. As well as being fun, this step will give your shoot some initial direction.
It can be helpful to create a mood board or even a Pinterest board to keep your reference photos in one place.
Understand Your Products
Not sure how to style a fashion photoshoot? The key is identifying the unique selling point of your products — whether it’s an exclusive print or a statement silhouette.
It’s all about the details, think about what your customers are looking for. Do they reach out for clothes with pockets or lining? You can then direct your model in a way that highlights this selling point.
Edit Your Photos
Once you’ve wrapped up your fashion photoshoot, you can edit the photos using tools such as Lightroom and Photoshop. There are plenty of tutorials online for people who are new to these tools. This stage can take longer for beginners, so factor in plenty of time for editing before you launch a new collection. If you’re looking to tweak the exposure or saturation for your images the native photo app on your phone can do the trick too.
Fashion Photography Checklist
Take this checklist to your next fashion photoshoot to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
As you can see, there’s a lot of planning that goes into fashion photography. If you don’t have the time or budget to execute a fashion photoshoot, don’t worry! Global Fashion House stockists receive access to our library of product photos, so you can have high-quality content for your website and social media.
For more business tips, read our article How to Open a Fashion Store or apply to be a Global Fashion House stockist today. We’re committed to helping our stockists grow their businesses and will guide you through the wholesale buying process.
