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Fashion Photography with natural light only

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David Ramos Elizondo

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Hey guys, last weekend I had my first try at fashion photography, and I dont have any lighting equipment, etc so I had to shoot 5 models from 9 am to 6 pm using only the available light. It was really tiresome, but in the end I think the pics came out ok. I'd like to hear your opinions and critiques.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dav.ramos/Modelaje

Please give me tips for next time, etc.

Greetings,
Dave
 
The first is definitely the best of the lot. Very dramatic with nice tonality.

11 Doesn't really strike me as being a fashion shot. Depending on who these were taken for (for the model vs. for the designer), the clothes are very important. This looks more like a portrait.

12. Looks overexposed. But she has darker skin tones, so that's a difficult shot when you only use natural light.

Keep shooting. =)
 
Thanx man, some of these are more of a portrait kind of pic because they will be used for various purposes, (promotion for the hairdresser and makeup guy, for the models, etc)

The overexposed pic, most of that was post processing, I thought the dramatic difference between light and dark would provide some artistic qualities.

Is it some sort of a rule not to overexpose or bloom parts of the pictures? I dont know if it is allowable in the context of the pic, or is something that should never happen.

Thanx for the response!

Dave
 
It is not a rule, at least I don't think so. It depends. If you are working for a newspaper, than it's definitely a rule (at least it was when I did). Depending on some printers, the ink actually rises, so if you've over exposed the ink will actually physically dip down in the areas where there is no information.

I would say as a general rule to not overexpose unless you are doing high-key portraiture and are trying to completely isolate the subject from a white background. Otherwise, it's not a good idea. I am not the authority though, ask around.
 
What comes out of the camera isn't necessarily what you're stuck with. Don't overlook the potential of some post-processing to compensate for less-than-ideal lighting.



--
~ Peano
 
I actually did post process it, it was worse, but in those pictures I felt that when bringing the light up to a normal level, the pic seemed less and less natural. For example what you did there was really effective, but I think it does look unnatural.

BTW what adjustments did you make to your example? Just levels and curves, or somethin else?

Thanx guys really helpful,
Dave
 
FWIW, I prefer the darker original version.

Overall, I remember what fashion editor once yelled at me on a set: "Take pictures of the clothes, not the models." I realize that has been covered, but it was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the set.

Overall, I nice piece of work if you think of it as more portrait than fashion. Good variety of poses, nice handling of backgrounds.

There are a couple where you might have been a bit more careful of the light, such as the first two photos of the girl with the pink in her hair. If this were a magazine or advertising assignment, these would give the production department fits.

You should consider using some fill flash in some of these situations -- not enough to be obvious or spoil the feel of the natural light, just a very light touch to perk up the colors in the clothes and the skin tones.

--
W.
 
Thanx for the replies guys, couple of questions:

Can you use the included camera's flash as fill flash, just by lowering its intensity? Another thing, I do realize these pics look more portrait than fashion, but what differences in framing or composing could you recommend me to emphasize the dresses or product?

Dave
 
David Ramos Elizondo said:
I actually did post process it, it was worse, but in those pictures
I felt that when bringing the light up to a normal level, the pic
seemed less and less natural. For example what you did there was
really effective, but I think it does look unnatural.

BTW what adjustments did you make to your example? Just levels and
curves, or somethin else?
Click to expand...
First a hue/sat layer in multiply mode with lightness dialed down some, then reduced opacity -- that was to darken the background. Then painted the subject back in on the mask to restore original brightness. Second, a levels layer (no adjustments made) with blend mode changed to screen. Masked that out entirely and painted back in selectively to brighten the subject a bit.
--
~ Peano
 
Hey there Wman

Fill flash would work but I was thinking more in the line of some reflector light. Some of the photos could use some more light on her face and into her eyes.. It's always better to see a photo with good catch light in the eyes..

Frank
 
Advertising today doesn't really need the product in it, especially fashion advertising. It's all about selling a certain ideology and getting the consumer to want to buy into that, not necessarily the product itself. Some of the best fashion photography I find puts emphasis on the concept and situation as opposed to the clothes themselves.
--
-n
http://www.artdied.com
 
David Ramos Elizondo said:
Thanx for the replies guys, couple of questions:

Can you use the included camera's flash as fill flash, just by
lowering its intensity? Another thing, I do realize these pics look
more portrait than fashion, but what differences in framing or
composing could you recommend me to emphasize the dresses or
product?

Dave
Click to expand...
With most camras the onboard flash can be used for fill. Some offer better controls than others, so you may have to do some research and testing. I know that some will say this is somehow "unprofessional," but for many purposes it can be very effective.

As to the differences between fashion and portrait, it is more a matter of attitude than anything I can easily describe. As a starting point (only a starting point) you can ask your models to ignore the camera and avoid eye contract. As a photographer, you can concentrate on the clothes and treat the model as only a glorified coat hanger. For lack of better wording, it is about glorifiying the clothes and style, which often means depersonalizing the model.

--
W.
 
Large reflectors and diffusers are the tools of choice for natural light fashion work, rather than on-camera fill flash. The last thing you want to do is to flatten out the models and clothes, which even well-balanced fill flash tends to do.

My wife gets the Chico's women's clothing catalog and I'm regularly impressed by their natural light work. They sometimes use strobes on location, but most of their location shots are all-natural, with judicious use of diffusers and reflectors. Their online site uses mainly studio shots, but if you get a chance to see a catalog, notice the lighting.
--
Jim
 
if you are going to shoot nautal light, get yourself some diffusion panels, and reflector panels....manyof your shots could have benefited from these tools...you very first shot for example-the model's skin tone and haiir color is so close to the wall color that the image is a bit flat to me..if you had used a diffusion panel to the models right, you could have reduced the burned out areas of skin; additionally, if you had placed a reflector panel to the left of the model and bounced some of the light coming fron the right back onto the model and wall, i think you would have had a stronger image.
 
Thanx for all the tips guys,

Ok I somewhat know the usage of the reflectors, but I dont have a clue about the diffusers, could you guys tell me something about them or direct me to a place I could read and learn proper lighting techniques online?

Thanx!

Dave
 
Photoflex has some pretty good tutorials, including use of reflectors and diffusers. Of course, their lessons lean toward the use of their own products, but you can learn some here...

http://www.photoflexlightingschool.com/
--
Jim
 
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