I'm looking for advice on doing a fashion photography project?

I'm taking a high school advanced photography class, and our next assignment is to do a fashion photography shoot. We shoot black and white film, primarily 35mm SLR, although we can use medium and large formats if we wish. We have a full photography studio, so we can use studio lighting and backdrops and such.





I've never done anything close to fashion photography and have really no idea how to go about this project. I picked up a couple fashion magazines (Vogue, Bazaar, Elle) and have been looking through them for inspiration, as well as looking for tips from instructional books.





So, if anyone here is involved in glamour or fashion photography, it would be really helpful if you'd give me some advice as to how to prepare, what sort of things are helpful with shooting, anything you think it would be good to know.





Thanks so much!I'm looking for advice on doing a fashion photography project?
Hello,





Your best bet will be to visit the library or a bookstore.


There are tons of books on both glamour and fashion photography.





The hard part is going to be the subject.


A professional model is really easy to photograph. It's hard to make them look bad.





Your job is going to be harder, most likely, working with armature models.





You will need to make sure that your model has on her best game face and her best game walk. By making positive reinforcing statements. It's all there in the books.





Being an advanced photography student ... you know the larger the negative the better the print so I would opt for medium format. I do my best work with tools I find comfortable. If you find a twin lens reflex a bit alien after cultivating a relationship with a 35mm ... try to get a hold of a medium format SLR .. like a Pentax 645.





My passion is for natural backdrops. This means taking the models to the streets.





I look for old brick buildings with ancient fire escapes. These are great for fashion shoots!





Because of all the straight lines and hard angles I use a medium format bellows camera with tilt and shrift for parallax correction.





The time of day is important to make the most of natural light. I fill with reflectors and strobes. The reflectors are handheld so I need at least two assistants.





Bus terminals, train stations, cafeterias, construction sites are all fair game.





Here's an idea ... find a very busy location with people in motion. Take a time exposure so that the crowd is a blur but your model is as sharp as a tack.I'm looking for advice on doing a fashion photography project?
My idea is you should theme it. Are you wanted something like High Fashion? or mainstream? Since you are in high school I would say go for Teen Fashions or High School Sports something like that. You could also do something like Halloween or Christmas themes or Fall Wear Fashion. For the highest quality photos go with the medium or large format since you have access to that. Be sure to use a good make up artist if you can. I hope this helps. Good Luck and Have Fun!
make up! lots of make up. and i'm not even saying that just because...great make up can make a shot if you've got the right girls...or people, to pose. well...it also depends on what you're trying to sell. oh yea, that's also super important, posing. make sure you can see ALL of your model. try to not hide any limbs, in pictures it just looks amputated. i'm working on a project myself now and it's going very well. get good models, and by that, i mean people who want to take a nice picture so that you don't have to deal with girls who refuse to pose for you. + if you're limited in time, avoid poses where the face is comepletely to the camera...these tend to make your models look bigger or give show that they are not semetrical %26amp; then you've got to deal with the backdrop. wish i could be more helpful but i've accually got to get back to my own. good luck.
Fashion photography is based on the type of image that you want to create for the clothes. If you take something like a LEVIS advert you will find that the jeans are usually put on a muscular guy with a rugged backdrop of nature or industrial workplaces. If you take a Armani style advert the backdrops will usually be dark wood offices or plain backgrounds with graphics applied after. Composition is similar in theory. If you take a straight cut pair of jeans you want the model to give something to the look wheras if you take a bais cut dress you need somthing like a fan to show the characteristic of the fabric. It's hard to give ideas without knowing the type of clothing you are going to select so have a look and think of the overall feeling that you want to create.