Taking good photos isn’t really as hard it seems, well once you get it down! If you have seen my work (Andrew Fashion Photography), this will be the kind of work I am going to explain. I have been shooting for almost a year, and built up a good solid reputation. I like to consider myself leaning towards the Fashion and Glamour type of photography. And I will be sharing my lovely secrets with everyone today! Why? Cause I am nice, and anyone who is interested in becoming a fashion photographer really does not pose any threat to me. There are a few things I would like to mention though. As with any art form (usually), to create a good movie, you need great software, great equipment, etc… Right? The game has changed in our little world now, in my honest opinion, I know longer think it’s all just “The Photographer,” (well to an extent it is). Hand Patrick Hoelck a $50 Point-and-shoot camera, and compare his shots with Richard Reinsdorf and his $8000 Canon 1DS-Mark II w/ his $50,000 lighting setup (kid you not, that’s not much in lighting –just imagine video). Now I don’t want people thinking, wtf is Andrew talking about, “It’s all the Photographer!” Okay yes, this is definitely an arguable subject, a lot of it can do with just the photographer, but anyone who is interested in the area of photography can become just that with practice! Anyone can take good pictures with just the sun and a normal camera yes, but there is a huge difference when it comes to Fashion and Glamour, a huge difference. Open up any Fashion magazine, and you will see what I am talking about, if you don’t… Every photo has exceptional lighting, well at least every photo should if it’s in a fashion magazine ;). And this is what were going to be discussing today. Now I am going to try to break this up into what I feel are very important aspects of taking photos, very important… This is a freestyle blog, keep this in mind, so I might tend to get things out of order, lol.

The first things I analyze “before” shooting:

  • 1. Location - The location can seriously make or break the photo. Location is very crucial, if you look at my photos (besides studio shots), I try to find anything that could come off as edgy/sexy or just looks damn nice to me :). You have to be very careful in the locations you pick, cause it makes a dramatic difference. When I first started photography, I would usually get ideas from other photographers to inspire me, learning and practice is key, time and patience too :).
  • 2. Lighting - Another very important aspect. I would like to say lighting is the main ingredient, the one ingredient that will truly reflect in your photos. lighting is the skill that will show your capabilities, it will show through your photos, and trust me, it does. I was so addicted to lighting. I was in love when I first started, I would set up my camera on a tripod and take photos of myself! Just to practice lighting techniques! Getting the lighting right was the most absolute frustrating part for me for the longest time, cause they show up on your camera screen, and I would get so irritated cause I had such high expectations.
  • 3. Makeup & Hair - Having a makeup artist and hair stylist really helps a lot. Makeup and hair create the photo as well. We are now bringing other artists into the photoshoot, we are creating an image together, we are working together! Having another person to help, give ideas, and just see the entire “photoshoot” from a different angle is an important aspect IMHO. Especially going towards Fashion, not only does it help, it’s absolutely necessary!
  • 4. Wardrobe - This is actually very difficult if you are the one who has to dress the model. I have no trouble dressing men, but when it comes to women, it’s a little bit irritable at times. I’m not going to lie… I am not the best at dressing women, haha. And the outfit is definitely really important, a lot of important things eh? Make sure the outfit doesn’t look like trash. If your trying to take beautiful shots, don’t let the outfit screw it up.
  • 5. Creative Director - Having someone who can help lighten the models mood, make them laugh, show them how fun you are to shoot with, and POSE the models who do not know how to pose lightens the weight off our shoulders. It’s not required obviously. Having someone who has good directing skills definitely helps! I always have one, and love it!
  • 6. Grip - Grip is a technical term for Lighting Assistant. Since I always have over 200 pounds in lighting, this helps. I have porty packs, batteries, modifiers, umbrellas, soft boxes, cables, bags, the list goes on…
  • 7. The Model - Last but not least, I have shot a lot of models, men and women. Having a model who constantly says “What do I do?” is not only frustrating but distracting. I love to creative direct sometimes when I need something I know will absolutely look stunning, but not the entire photoshoot. Some photographers know what they want and pose the women exactly how they envision it. More power to them. I let the “model” do their job, and I throw in suggestions. Having someone who has actually modeled before and has at least a little experience really helps!

Now, those are seven important factors I always consider, always! All seven of those go through my head before I shoot, and I mean every single one. Have I found a spot? How do I want to light it? Do I need to test shoot it first? Does she do makeup or do I need an artist? Can she do hair? Does she have outfits? Do I have assistants? Can she model? Now if you have people to help you through this, teamwork can really let you focus on what you want to do. What do you need to focus on? Say it with me, “LIGHTING!” Lighting is one of the most imporant aspects in fashion/glamour photography, so important that I can’t even stress it enough!

Lighting 101

setshot.jpg

I have read many books, practiced many times, and kept with it (another form of practice). If you have read up to this point I assume you enjoy photography, so keep reading! I haven’t taken any classes for photography, but I have read many books and spent countless hours getting experience behind the camera. With all of that studying and practice under my belt, I could probably write an entire book on lighting and techniques, as well as the science behind it. I have had experience with two professional photographers (real ones, yes) and of course my own experience. I have literally been around the block with photography. And as of right now (during this writing), I still shoot for the 3 biggest clubs in Downtown Denver (Colorado). Lighting comes from practice. Anyways, since I don’t want this to be a book, I am going to say what “I THINK”, and I will post really good resources as well.

Hot Lights - Do NOT use them! End of story. You can study about them all you want, but they are basically lights that stay on consistently and get very, very HOT. They are impossible to use with a good selection of modifiers and very obnoxious.

Flash/Strobes - This is about 99.99% of what fashion photographers and myself use, and yes, there is a reason. The same reason Formula 1 drivers race with Ferraris. Bad analogy? I don’t know. But it’s the truth, you use what will get the job done beautifully and correctly!

Modifiers - There is an entire dictionary of terms for modifiers, but I always use: Soft boxes, Umbrellas, Grid Spots, Reflectors, Beauty Dish, and Gels (these are what create colors -the cheaper way). There are many more modifiers I have not listed simply cause I don’t really use anything else.

There are so many other tools, and terms, but I am just here to get you on the right track. And I probably will be posting a lot more Fashion Photography blogs! Hehe. Quality of light is key, you cannot create beautiful images with bad light, you have to face the facts. You can buy a “Strobe Kit” for as cheap as $250. My first set was an Interfit kit with two flash heads, a softbox, and some other stuff, for that cheap of a price! I think it was around 150 watts maximum output or something to that extent. In other words, really cheap and very powered. There are so many variables when it comes to strobe lighting, if your not familiar with strobe lighting, they are just really, really big versions of on camera flashes (haha), but seriously. With strobe lighting, you have your maximum power (watts), how bright the strobe can get, you have your flash duration, recycle time, and other features like: built in receiver (which is nice), modeling lamp which is very helpful, and so on. When preparing to buy your first strobe kit which is what I strongly recommend, their are two ways you can go. Monolights and Battery Powered, that is how its “generally” broken down. Monolights typically plug into a wall (I like to call them studio lights, for in the studio, in the house, whatever…), but I always prefer battery powered. You can take them anywhere! I love to shoot studio and on-location. I am a huge fan of shooting anything I can, be it, sets, outside, whatever! But… One thing… Battery powered strobes can be very pricey. If you have the money, this is where you should throw it! At the end of this article I will provide links of what I recommened, what I use, and what I wish I had :).

Some quick lighting tips I use

Low f-stops:
Low f-stops? What does this mean, an f-stop is just the measurement of the “Aperture.” F/2.8 simply means the aperture is at it’s widest opening possible. Okay, let me break it down even more. Aperture is basically the eyeball of the camera, to any of you geeks out there, yes I can break this down even more, but were trying to keep it simple! You know when you wake up and go in your bathroom, turn on the light, and you can’t even open your eyes cause it’s so bright! And it’s just your light bulbs! That’s cause your eyes adjustment was at f/2.8 (meaning your pupil was at it’s biggest point), can anyone finish the puzzle? A butt load of light went through your pupil! Your pupil was at it’s biggest state! So remember this, f/2.8 = big pupil. Now when your eyes finally adjust, your eyes might adjust around somewhere to maybe f/11 (pupil is getting smaller, the higher the number), I don’t know, but the pupil gets smaller! Now imagine an f/32, your pupil is very small, meaning you are barely letting light in through your eye! So back to the main topic, “Low f-stops.” Wait, there is another symptom to low f-stops… f/2.8 is not only a huge pupil letting a lot of light in, it also plays a huge role in depth of field. I know, I am sorry, so many terms coming at you. It entertains me how all of this just intertwines, sometimes drives me nuts ;) haha. What is an easy way to explain depth of field… Okay you know when you see the photos of a person, specifically a portrait photo usually (chest up or something), the background is entirely blurred. The trees are 100% out of “focus.” This is what we call depth of field. If that shot were adjusted to f/32, those trees would of been practically crystal clear! I hope this is making sense, I am trying to make these easy to understand :). There really is a lot more variables that can make a huge difference to this, such as the distance the subject is from the background, how far your zoomed in with the lens, all of these variables make a change to how f/2.8 responds. But you will always experience a dramatic “out of focus” effect when shooting at f/2.8 (Yes there are exceptions to this, such as shooting an extremely close photo of an eyeball, face, whatever… But you get the idea!) Back to topic, I love low f-stops because of the out of focus effect, when doing close up photos of make up, I like to blur everything around the makeup, maybe blur the hair when shooting closeups of the face, all kinds of things you can do with the “out of focus” effect, which in proper terminology is “depth of field.”


Over power the sun:
This is what I call it, and pros as well use this terminology. This refers to going on location with very powerful battery powered lights (1200 watts+) and shooting in bright daylight with strobes, sounds kind of funny huh? Here is an example: One and Two. These were days I had a towel over my head cause I couldn’t see the screen it was so bright. Man I look funny shooting with a towel over my head… So let me try to explain how this works so it’s easily understandable. Depending on how powerful the sun is at any given time, the required settings could be ALOT different, but if I were shooting during the day with harsh sunlight aka natural lighting. For example this photo was taken at the same exact time as photo #2 above! What made the difference was the LIGHTING! How on earth did I get those completely different photos with lighting? Well the shot with only natural lighting had an f/2.8 aperture (hence the out of focus background! Wow it’s coming together finally!), and probably a shutter speed of about 1/2000 of a second. Did I lose you, or are you quite aware of what shutter speed is? Okay, there is a technical definition and Andrew’s definition to help give you a real idea of what it does. We’ll leave the tech specs for the articles I list at the bottom :) k? Good, great! Shutter speed is what determines how “LONG” the light can come in for. Shutter speed determines how long light is allowed to come through the lens. EX: If you look at the sun for 5 seconds, and than close your eyes, you just had a shutter speed of 5 seconds! One more real world example! You wake up in the morning with f/2.8 pupils (very big pupils a.k.a your letting a lot of light through your eyes), so recap with me real quick. The f-stop/aperture (same thing) determines how big the entrance for light to enter into your pupil is! You walk into the bathroom blinded with your eyes still open, just pretend you kept your eyes open and stared into the mirrior for 5 seconds. You just took an f/2.8 aperture, 5 second shutter photo! Now obviously that photo would come out “over exposed,” also known as completely blasted in whites, can’t even tell who’s in the photo! Making sense yet? Back to the main topic… Hmmm…. Oh ya, 1/2000 second shutter speed, do you know fast that is? That is fast! So that photo had a very big eyeball (f/2.8) and very fast shutter speed (not letting light in for very long) which produced this photo!.

Now the “over power the sun” photo is a different technique all together. I blasted my strobes to full power, maybe around 1100 - 1200 watts of power, so every time I snap a photo, I get 1200 watts of light bursted onto the model. This happens seriously in a fraction of a second (hence the name strobes). The best way to explain this is, if I am shooting the model with 1200 watts of power, and the flash head is back maybe 6 feet with a really big softbox (a type of modifier that diffuses light a bit to soften it up), that is a lot of light blasting the model. So in order for the photo to not be to “over-exposed,” I cannot be shooting at f/2.8, she would just be extremely over-exposed. So that photo was probably shot at an f-stop between f/18 - f/22, which is making the pupil a lot smaller, which means the light in the sky, the light from the sun isn’t entering the pupil as much, because the pupil is so much smaller, which in the end makes the sky appear “DARK.” And in the end, the strobe lights up the model great too, giving the over power the sun effect. Now with strobes, you do have a flash duration/sync speed, so you cannot be shooting at 1/2000 shutter speeds! With the lighting setup and camera I use, I have a max shutter speed I can go up to which is 1/200th of a second. Huge difference in shutter speed. But the insane difference from f/2.8 to f/22 compensates. If you shoot the photo with a 1/60th shutter, you will see a dramatic difference in “ambient light/natural light” enter the camera aka the clouds, the sun, the sky will brighten up big time. If I took the shot at 1/200th shutter speed, the sky would appear practically dark, that is how much a difference the f-stop and shutter speed can make. Now you might be asking, does this effect the model? If you keep the strobe at the same distance, same power, the shutter speed will hardly effect the strobe on the model, the strobe is so fast, the strobe is just a flash of light, the shutter has nothing to catch after that… It doesn’t end right there… A good rule of thumb.

- Aperture will make a dramatic difference on the strobe lighting (lighting within a close spectrum)
- Shutter speed makes a dramatic difference on ambient lighting (sun light/natural lighting)

Cameras 101

The good ole camera, about time right? I shoot with a Canon 5D, 12.8 megapixels, it works… But I would like to have a Canon 1Ds Mark II, which is about $7000. I am going to be blunt and honest on how I feel. I am not a Nikon guy, the only good Nikon is the D2XS in my opinion (unless we get into film, which were not), okay I should probably back my reasoning up. I have used everyone Nikon out there, D70S, D200, and the D2XS which are the main “3″ from Nikon. The D70S and D200, don’t even think about it your looking into high fashion (You will end up spending a lot of time in PS). Nikon users can argue me here, but these cameras are old technology and based off an old CCD chip also known as the sensor which captures the data. I have compared various D70’s, and D200’s to my old Canon 20D, and it just was not happening for me. The color was horrible compared to the 20D in my opinion. The 20D uses a quality CMOS sensor. Feel free to research this if you would like. If you use the D70S, or D200, look forward to a lot of Photoshop, the color is not that great. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s all personal preference RIGHT? Well I just told you mine. The D2XS is Nikon’s top camera right now running around $4000 without a lens. My 5D tops the D2XS I think, and my camera is only $2539 without a lens (sorry if I use the word “only,” that might be some big bucks for some people, but in the fashion world, it’s not a dime…) Anyways, the top dogs are Canon, Nikon, and Hasselblad (to expensive). I am being blunt and to the point with my opinions, I love everything about Canon’s, they are usually more expensive than Nikon though… Anyways, here are so important terms to know when getting ready to buy your first camera:

DSLR:
“Digital Single Lens Reflex.” The type of camera you should be using. Basically, the sensors and so on are glass, which in the end gives much better quality than point and shoot cameras. You don’t have to use Digital, FILM is just as beautiful as well, I love FILM. But 95% of the time I use my DSLR.

Megapixel:
8mp, 12mp, 21mp. This all determines how big the photo can really get. In a nut shell, the bigger the better. Now I know some people might totally disagree with me on this, but let me explain my reasoning. With DSLR cameras, you have a quality sensor inside the camera (SLR). The more megapixel, the more data you typically capture, the more data you capture, the more you can work with. With a point and shoot camera, the concept is the same, but you are not using an SLR sensor. Technology now is becoming very intelligent though, so the theory is becoming true. “The more megapixel, the better.” That use to a be a joke, but it’s almost true now? Anyways, with SLR cameras, no matter what… You are not buying a bad camera, SLR cameras are great.

Full Frame:
It means the camera doesn’t have a multiplying factor, which means you see the entire image. All film cameras are full frame. If you attach a 70mm lens to a film camera, that is what you will see. If you attach a 70mm lens to a Canon 20D with it’s 1.6 multiplying factor: 70mm x 1.6 = 116mm. You wont be seeing the image at 70mm with the Canon 20D, you will be seeing it as if it was like a 116mm! My 5D is full frame, so a 70mm lens is exactly as it would be on a film camera, 70mm! In another sense, you are capturing more data with full frame. (As I hear, things might be changing, I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated.)

Multiplying factor:
As I said above, if the camera has a multiplying factor, it is not full frame. Most Canon’s have a multiplying factor of 1.6, Nikon’s have one of 1.5. There is nothing wrong with this, you can still take great photos, just another fact to consider.

ISO:
The sensitivity to light, ISO ratings can usually be from 50 up to 6400. 50 being not sensitive, 6400 being very sensitive. The values go up like so: 50, 100, 125, 160, 250, 320, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 (something like that, heh).

White Balance:
This setting allows you to adjust how the camera “interprets” light, how the camera reads the color white. This can make huge difference on your photos and will determine if you end up in Photoshop all night or not. If you don’t master proper color, you will be fixing it in Photoshop. I always avoid this, I like my photos to come out perfect so very little Photoshop is needed.

Aperture/f-stop:
This was heavily explained above in layman’s terms. The aperture defines the size of the opening in the lens. F-stop is simply the physical rating (f/2.8 - f/32). A smaller number means a bigger opening and less depth of field (very blurry background). A bigger number means a smaller opening and more depth of field (non blurry background).

Shutter Speed:
A shutter speed is how long the actual shutter in the camera stays open while taking a photo. If you ever heard the term long exposure, it means somehow who took a photo that lasted 30 seconds or more. The shutter stays open for 30 seconds and more gather light the entire time.

* There are many more terms, but were getting you in the right direction, remember?

Lenses 101

Every article I have read, everything I have ever heard says invest your money in lenses. I am sorry, but I strongly disagree with this. I mean yes, a good lens will help and make a difference, but so will everything else. I just do not believe in that theory at all. What I am getting at is everything is an important part of Fashion Photography, but the equipment (camera and lighting) is the real difference. The equipment is what will make your photos, not the lens! Lenses do play a huge role in macro photography though, but not fashion. If any other photographers disagree with me, I am sorry, feel free to argue it in my comments. I do use the best grade lens for my camera, but have also used the standard plastic lens that came with my camera. When shopping for lenses, you want a glass lens, just remember that. Stay away from plastic. There are many terms when shopping for lenses: Prime, Zoom, Focal length, Macro, f-stop range, filter size, minimum focus distance, etc… Canon and Nikon both have their technology stamped on lenses too! Which makes it even more difficult shopping for lenses. For Fashion Photography, if you are just starting, I would recommend a Zoom lens for sure! Since I am firm believer of Canon cameras, I recommend trying to invest in an L-series lens (top of the line, glass grade), but non L-series lenses are just fine!

Canon
Canon has their own technology built into their lenses, I strongly advise reading about it on their site than me trying to explain it, it’s really not a big deal, and somewhat self explanatory. But here are their basic tech specs.

L: Canon will sometimes have the Letter “L” at the end of some of their lenses. Like this Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Autofocus Lens. The “L” means it is their professional series lenses. Meaning, it is the Rolls Royce of their lenses, lol.

EF: Interchangeable with Canon film and DSLR cameras. Try to buy EF lenses.

EFS: For use with only Canon DSLRs, cannot be used on Canon film cameras, I don’t like these because you can’t use them on film cameras!

USM: Ultra Sonic Motor, which is their actual hardware running all the motors, doing the work inside the lens when your zooming in and out to take beautiful photos :).

IS: Image Stabilzation. Self explanatory right? Helps prevent hand shaking to keep your photos as clear as possible!

Nikon
Nikon has their own technology terms as well. They have great lenses too, here are what some of their terms mean when shopping for lenses.

– SOON –
Feel free to fill me on this anyone who probably knows more on Nikon than me :)
– SOON –

Basic Terms
Filter Size: The size of the opening at the top of the lens, this will determine what size filters you can put on your lens.

Prime: A prime lens means the it is only one specific focal length such as 70mm, 105mm, 50mm, and so on. You cannot zoom in and out. They say prime lenses give better quality than zoom lenses, but that is old news now. Zoom technology is becoming so advanced, I would just invest in Zoom.

Zoom: The focal length can be from 20mm - 70mm, or 70mm - 200mm, etc… It allows you to zoom in and out so you have more flexibility when taking photos.

F-stop range: Sometimes lenses will show an f-stop such as f/1.5 or sometimes they will give a range like f/2.8 - f/3.5. This just tells you how long of an f-stop you can achieve with that lens. If the lens has a “range,” it simply means you might not be able to achieve f/2.8 depending on the settings with your camera.

Minimum focus distance: This is how far you can stand from the subject in order to achieve crystal clear focus, if you stand any closer, you will have a very hard time and sometimes impossible to get a clear photo.

Conclusion
Okay, so now you have all this information, but what do you do now? This was a lot of information at once, and seriously just the beginning, I will have more articles in the feature if the responses to this I receive from this blog are positive. You can take all this information and do nothing with it OR you can make use of this great material. A quick synopsis would be:

  • The 7 important aspects to consider before shooting! (Location, Lighting, Makeup & Hair, Wardrobe/Outfits, Creative Director, Grip, & The Model)
  • Lighting 101 - we discussed what is important in lighting and a few powerful tips if done correctly
  • Cameras 101 - the important factors of cameras
  • Lenses 101 - basic understand of lenses and how I perceive them in the world of photography

So in fashion photography in my eyes, a lot of it comes down to your desire to shoot it and the equipment. Yes, anybody can start in the fashion industry if you love it, if you have an eye for it, but it all comes down to: “Do you want to do it? Do you enjoy it?” If yes is the answer, than you are capable. If your budget is low, no worries, their are plenty of decent equipment out there for an “affordable” price. You can start off in the fashion game with relatively low budget Canon camera, and get very pleasant results! I had a 20D and it did wonders! They discontinued the 20D and brought in the 30D which cost $995 for the body only. If that is to much you can pick up a Canon Rebel which is great as well. But I am going to have a huge list of resources like I have been mentioning this entire article. But where your money should go is in lighting, you can pull ANYTHING off if lighting is done correct, trust me. Don’t have studio back drops? If you master lighting, you can use a normal wall and achieve almost similar results, although paper is not expensive ($40 a roll, which last for over 6 months for me –even longer if you take care of it!). Lighting, lighting, lighting… If you need your subject in pitch black, and don’t have black paper and a studio, guess what? You can do it with proper lighting and camera settings in the middle of a field! Open areas work best for achieving the look of somebody in pitch black like this photo. Need somebody in pure white without a studio, like this photo. You can do it if your lighting is done properly using a white or beige wall! So without further ado.

What we have discussed.

  • 1. Lighting, lighting, lighting. Your money goes here.
  • 2. The physical piece of machinery you will be holding in your hand, THE CAMERA! Your money goes here next.
  • 3. More lighting, money goes here again!
  • 4. A good lens wouldn’t hurt!

Topics to be discussed in newer blogs.

  • 1. Specific lighting techniques and setups
  • 2. Film - Medium Format

My Secret Resources & Final Suggestions
Okay so your still will left with all these great tips, but you know what I hate, is when people write amazing articles but leave you hanging! You know exactly what I am talking about, they don’t tell what is good, and why! As Albert Einstein once said “The secret to creativity is hiding your sources.” I guess I am about to blow that quote out of the water? I am going to leak you all of my secret information, equipment I use, equipment I would die for, and what I recommend starting with if you have a low budget.

  • Where to shop:
    Repeat after me, I will only shop at BHPhotoVideo.com unless it is a product that I need or a product I can’t seem to find on BH. BHPhotoVideo is the largest Camera/Lighting/Video store in the world, they buy in bulks, meaning you will rarely find better deals, they even sell incredible used equipment at great deals. I don’t trust eBay, and have had awful experiences with Samys Camera and even worse experiences with Adorama (thousands of dollars of problems (literally involving a lot of money), hours on the phone, ugh… Let’s not go there…)
  • Lighting Tutorials:
    Studiolighting.net
    photo.net - Light
    photo.net - Studio Lighting
    Like I said, I learned most of my stuff from books, but Studiolighting.net is great, especially their podcasts, it’s them interviewing amazing photographers, I highly recommend subscribing!
  • Photoshop Tutorials:
    How to airbrush skin! - This is where I originally learned how to make models skin perfect! Master this technique, it took me months to get it down. There is more to airbrushing than this article explains, but get this down and your golden!
  • General Tutorials:
    dpreview.com - Great site for camera reviews
    dpreview.com Glossary - Great glossary of all the terms you will come across in photography and shopping for equipment
  • Books I have & Liked:
    Master Lighting
    Beginner’s Guide to Photographic Lighting
    Garage Glamour (I liked this book a lot personally because he uses the same equipment I do, and it was a great learning process. I got a few tips out of this book)
    Like I said, I am a book nerd, I would go to Barnes & Nobles and pick every book and just finish them from front to back and not even buy them… Lol.

Lighting Equipment

  • What I use: I use all Hensel equipment, very competitive pricing.
    My Base Setup:
    I have use Hensel Porty Kit. The kit only comes with one flash head, which is good to start with, but I definitely recommend at least two, you can buy seperate heads here which are to be used with the Hensel Porty Kit. The porty is fully battery operated, you do not plug these into the wall, you can use these anywhere.

    Modifiers I use:
    I use this Beauty Dish a lot.
    And this Softbox a lot.
    And of course, the famous Ringflash.*

    * The ring flash is a very popular solution for fashion photography, you can use it practically in any situation and achieve amazing results. I use it on studio, I use it out doors, it’s a lot more efficient to use than setting up a softbox and having a Grip hold the softbox in the wind the entire time. The ring flash is what creates the halo shadowed effect around people, and the famous halo circle in your subjects eyes. Here is an example although not my best, just don’t have my recent work up. This Photo.

  • The I have money (professional setup):
    Two or three Profoto Pro 7B-2 1200 Power Packs.
    Four or five Pro-7b Flash heads.
    Just one Profoto Ringflash.
    And of course the ultimate Profoto 5′ Umbrella Style Reflector.
  • I don’t have money situation:
    Don’t worry, there are always solutions, money is still involved, but you can always go with this Hensel Porty Kit which is $1000 cheaper, but doesn’t have a built in receiver. Which means you have to use a cord. I know your probably still saying, this is still $2000! There are kits as cheap as $700 if you browse BH. I don’t suggest going with low name brands if your looking into high quality of light, fashion/glamour, etc… There is nothing wrong at all starting with cheaper brands, but I would suggest studying light in the mean time till you save the money up! Invest on lighting wisely!

    I hear a lot about Alien Bee, a lot of good things. You can check them out here. I have never personally used them, but they are very inexpensive.

  • Conclusion: Hensel is great equipment, but the Ferrari of lighting is Profoto, there are a lot of other companies out there which are great as well, but If you have a little bit of money, Go with Hensel. If you have a lot of cash, go with Profoto.

Camera and Lenses

  • What I use:
    I use a Canon 5D which is $2539 for the body only.
    I have two lenses, 70 - 200mm and the 24 - 70mm. The 24 - 70mm is what I use 95% of the time, I only use the 70 - 200mm for extreme closeups, or extreme f/2.8 style :). A lot of people would prefer to use the 70 - 200mm the whole time because it is considered Canons greatest portrait lens, but I like more flexibility in my shoots trying to capture unique “composition.” I am very happy with my lenses, and probably don’t need any lenses for awhile.
  • The I have money (professional setup):
    Canon 1DS Mark II for only $7000, haha! The Mark III comes out in November which is what I wish I really had! It’s only $8000 for the body only!
  • I don’t have money situation:
    There are plenty of routes you can take if you don’t have a lot of money. If you have enough money, I would try to get a Canon 30D. If that’s to much money, just pick up the highest end Canon Rebel you can find, maybe the Rebel XTi 400D.

    Now if you get the Rebel XTi, it comes with a lense I recommend you use till you get some decent lighting, but if you need a cost effective lens to use with your 30D, there are great lenses out there! A good lens to start with would be this Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Autofocus Lens. I feel it’s important to get a zoom lens with flexibility from wide angle all the way up to portrait. There are plenty of lenses on BH, all you have to do is shop around and ask questions!

Great Sites

  • ModelMayhem.com - A great place to find models, promote your work, and just learn from other locals! This is where I started!
  • photo.net - A great resource to share your images, learn, read, and a very active forums to ask questions!
  • Flickr - A great place to share photos, I haven’t set one up, but all my buddies use it! I am going to set one up soon

Inspirational Photographers

Final Words
I just want everyone to keep in mind, that everything I say and think are what I think based on my personal experience and knowledge gained from practice as well as other people. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Nikon, cheap strobes, etc… You can still take GREAT photos with a D70s and Smith Victor Strobes. But everything I say is in reference to QUALITY, I am giving out all the secrets the pros use, and how it is achieved. Do you think a Pixar film was creating in iMovie (Cheap software) or Avid/Final Cut/Premiere (Thousand dollar software)? Laugh out loud. I am not of fan of Nikons, they do have great cameras, and as I hear Nikon is coming out with a new amazing camera the D3. I haven’t heard much about it yet, so I have nothing to say about it at this point. If anyone has any questions, or just need some tips or feedback, LEAVE A COMMENT! I am happy to help anybody out!

And please realize this is “Fashion Photography 101″ meaning the first post, more to come, and obviously 101 means the basics, I haven’t even touched further subjects or advanced lighting!

Popularity: 100% [?]