Fashion photography tips

The intensity of a fashion shoot

“My lighting setups are extremely important to me, as they shape the image. Model Charlie Bredal has a unique look, and I wanted to capture the intensity of her look with the XF 100MP camera. Each lighting group had to be tweaked in power, which was pretty easy directly from the camera with the improved control of Profoto’s Profoto Air.”

“Ever had the feeling of being crowded around the tethering station by a curious creative team, wanting to see their work as it pops up on the screen? “I usually bring an iPad to shoots to avoid just that, also giving the team or the client a possibility to rate the images as they are shot when using the Capture One Pro Capture Pilot app.”

“As a professional photographer, it provides endless joy when the client is excited about the images while still in the creative process.”

Mutual understanding between a model and the photographer

“I’ve been working with model Aia Busk (see picture below), a bunch of times. It really gives you a great mutual understanding and you are able to do even greater things together. The expressions become more believable because she relaxes and the flow more natural. It’s easy to capture an image of a model doing something crazy or weird. The hard thing is to make that expression or pose believable.”

“When I shoot fashion, I love to get in close and do portraits. Even if the client wants a full body shot, I always give it a go. They often end up using the close-ups anyway! If the client won’t use it, I still like to take some close-ups to shake things up and tighten the whole timing of the shoot.”

“It sounds weird, I know, but when I as the photographer goes up close everybody has to concentrate and be on point; the model has to focus a lot more in her expression, the stylist has to make sure the clothes and accessories are right and the make-up artist has to be aware and touch up. I often use it as a little shake-up method.”

“When I do the close-up I always use the 80 mm Schneider Kreuznach f/2.8, it’s simply awesome for portraits and close-ups. it’s razor sharp and the perspective it gives is so nice to work with.”

“I tend to “think” my shoots through before I shoot them, visualizing where it can go and how I can push my own limits visually. It helps to be more aware of what is happening and what direction I want the shoot to take. The images from this story were all about expression, body lines, and simplicity. I wanted to create some images that seemed quite forward and simple, but in fact was very clever in regards to the fabrics used in the styling, color contrasts, perspective, expression and the body lines/poses.”

“I love the idea of making images that, at the first glance, seem simple but in fact are very complex and with a lot of layers and thought put into it.”