Let us talk about how to shoot for a catalog on location and what you need to know when shooting for a client and what they are looking for in you to photograph their clothing line. It’s not just about getting a shot of the model when she looks good it’s about when the clothes look good on the model and then you have to captured what are the best parts of the outfit that you want a viewer to see that will help sale the outfit.
If you are shooting all day you might think about what will happen to the light on the clothes as in the early morning the light will be cold (Blue) and later in the day it will become warm (Orange). Using a strobe (Flash) to light the subject should be considered to keep good color balance throughout the day. In these shots I use a small strobe as a fill light and at the same time it would also put a catch light in the model’s eyes as to give a eye sparkle.
As you can see the location for this outfit was at the bottom of some steps at a gate and all I had to do was to crop to the views we needed. As the model is moving about, I looked for the moments when the outfit look good and the model was in the right place at the right time and did not look awkward or that she was not blocking the view of the outfit on her.
Working with Yvette Kingston who is a seasoned professional helped as I did not have to give her very much instruction as she knows all the right moves. This is part of why you need to book a professional model for your paying shoots. Now if you are doing this just for fun or for your portfolio with some one that is not used to posing all the time you will just have to work a little bit harder to get your shots. I still think you should enjoy what you’re doing so take your time to get it right by looking for the moment’s when it all comes together and you can click that shutter and have the proof you got the shot! When shooting for a client you might not have a lot of time as there could be many outfits to shoot that day but don’t rush or you might have to come back and do pickups another day if the client is not happy with the way the outfits looked on the model.