Our mission is to help people see the best in themselves through the art and experience of fashion photography. We believe a photo shoot isn’t just a transformation of the way you look. It’s an evolution in the way you see yourself.
Pre-Shoot Planning
Step 1: Budget
It’s always best to asses your budget first. You don’t want to start planning, hoping, and dreaming up an amazing concept, only to realize you can’t afford to make it a reality.
Step 2: Creative Direction
Now that you know how much budget you have to work with, you can brainstorm your creative direction. A mood board made up of tears is a great place to start.
Pulling tears can be physically tearing what you like from catalogs and magazines, taking screen grabs of other websites, pulling past work of your own, or making a Pinterest board. Whatever you do, it’s a good idea to put it into a sharable digital format so you can easily share it with other members of your team.
It’s important to review and keep in mind the product you are shooting while you are pulling tears to make sure there isn’t a disconnect from what you are envisioning and the product you have to work with. For instance, you might love the look of a shoot that took place in a sleek modern home, but if your product is bohemian you will have a hard time making that vision successful.
After you have assembled your mood board, you can determine if you want to achieve your vision in a studio or on location somewhere.
Step 3: Booking
Hiring the right people is just as important as having great product and even more important than a great location in my opinion. Quality talent makes quality photos. If you have best fashion photographers they can make a less than ideal location look fantastic.
For a lookbook shoot, you’ll need to book the following:
Photographer: You can’t create a good piece of art without an amazing artist you need professional photographer for model portfolio.
• Model: Pick someone you think is a good fit for the brand and whom your customer will identify with. A good model knows their angles, what expressions look good on them, how to take direction, and how to look natural. If you don’t pay for a good model, you might end up having to take a few hundred photos to get one you like. A good model will save you time (which is the same thing as money).
• Stylist: Depending on what you need and what you can afford, a stylist can be an incredibly valuable member of your team. They can help you put the looks together, source accessories, create shot lists, make the product fit flawlessly on set, and assist with creative direction consistent with the outfits.
• Hair & Makeup: Looking good on camera is different than looking good to the naked eye. It’s worth bringing in a professional who knows hair and makeup for photography; for example, you may want your model to have a smoky eye, but the flash creates shadows intensifying that look. You want a makeup artist who knows how to adjust for lighting to achieve the desired look on camera.
• Location: If you’re shooting in-studio, you need to book time if the photographer doesn’t already have their own space. If you’re shooting on-location, you may need to acquire permits for public spaces, rent a private dwelling, or get permission to shoot on hotel or other business property.
• Set Designer and/or Prop Stylist: If you are shooting in-studio and have something unique you want to create, you may want to hire a set designer and/or a prop stylist to bring the set to life.
