From: jay@metran.UUCP (Jay Ts)
Newsgroups: rec.photo
Subject: Re: Fashion Photography -- Going Pro
Date: 7 Jan 93 02:57:08 GMT
Organization: Metran Technology, Tampa, Florida

acs@csri.toronto.edu (Alvin Chia-Hua Shih) writes:
: In <350@metran.UUCP> jay@metran.UUCP (Jay Ts) writes:
: 
: >So, how does one get started professionally as a fashion photographer? 
: 
: Actually, how does one get started as an amateur fashion photographer?
: How do you advertize?

Let me just start out saying that the best way is to do it in person.  There,
that feels good.  Now, if you want, you might try putting an ad in a free
weekly magazine/newspaper.  I am embarrassed to admit that I tried that.
What happened is that I got a number of responses from "fringe of society"
people who could not get a successful pro to take the kind of photos they
wanted.  If I were a more law-abiding citizen, maybe I would have reported
a few of them to the police, but as far as I could tell, they were "mostly
harmless".  Anyway it did provide me with a source of entertainment, although
no work (it never got past a phone conversation).

Getting a good model is the single most difficult part.  (Unless you have
a few thousand $$ to blow -- in that case, there are plenty of modeling
agencies that will be happy to hear from you!)

The good news is that there are *lots* of pretty girls who are dying to
be models and make a few hundred thousand (or is it million) dollars a year
just like Cindy Crawford or Claudia Shiffer.  Of course, some of them have
overactive imaginations, too. ;-)  But on the other hand, there are some
girls who have good looks and good modeling skills too, who are having
trouble coming up with the $300-600 it takes to get a portfolio made up
professionally.

The bad news is that there are a number of "photographers" and other
oddballs around to take advantage of pretty young women, and as a result,
there is a large amount of distrust for photographers.  This is something
you will have to learn to handle.  Rather than having the girl visit you,
meet her in a public place where there a lot of people around, and explain
exactly where you're coming from.

Pay attention to what things look like from her perspective, and make sure
that she will have no reason to feel ill at ease.  This is actually important
if you are going to get great pictures!

I have found it helps greatly if I make it clear that their friends or
relatives can come along on location too.  (But try to make sure it's not
too much of a crowd, or *you* will be uncomfortable...)  I have worked with
girls as young as 16 years old, and I have to admit, it was very helpful
to have her mom along to carry equipment!  There, that's your hint on how
to get the best out of the situation.

When just getting started, friends and relatives are your best source of
models.  Working with them will help you get your technique up to the
point where you are confident that you can do a good job.  Approaching
someone you don't know and trying to get them to model for you is not
going to be as easy.  What I suggest is that you concentrate on making
friends first, and allow the model to get to know you as a photographer.
Then once that is underway, bring up the subject of modeling.  (Note:
how you explain this to your spouse is up to you to figure out! :-)

Where to meet girls.  (I know, this is starting to sound like a guide on
how to get dates -- the thing is, it is very similar!)  Really, anywhere.
The reason this hasn't been happening to you already is that you haven't
been thinking about it.  If you go around thinking of yourself as a computer
programmer who happens to do a little photography now and then, you will
impress people as being a computer programmer rather than as a photographer.
But suppose, instead of telling people you are a computer programmer, you
tell them you are a photographer?  (It's ok, you still get to keep the
programming job!)  Then they will relate to you as a photographer, and
you are more likely to be introduced (or just happen to run into) a model
who is trying to get her portfolio together.

(Aside:  Since this post is travelling worldwide, I feel it necessary 
to explain definetely that I am not encouraging any misrepresentation!
The point is simply that if you want to do something, and you need the
cooperation of others, you need to impress into them what your intentions
are.  You cannot expect to be annointed by an angel from heaven with the
title of "photographer".  You have to give it to yourself -- which is
something that most, if not all, photographers can be thankful of! :-)

I could go on and on about this, but just try to keep in mind that if you
are going to be doing this, for pay or not, that it is important to be
professional in behaviour.  So you are going to have to present yourself
professionally when dealing with people you don't know.  Well, it helps,
anyway!

: Do you *just* take photographs, or do you have
: a whole package with makeup, studio, etc.?

You are going to be surprised at how little equipment I have.  See below.
I do all work outdoors, and since I know next to nothing about makeup, I
expect the model to handle that herself.  My only fear is that it will be
overdone or messy.  The key, I find, is to drive in the concept of "Simple
and Natural" without sounding too forceful.

Now, when I say that I work "outdoors", I don't mean that we step out into
the parking lot and start shooting!  I have scouted out a number of great
locations in the area, and this has taken a lot of time.  Not only is a
good background a must, but there needs to be good light, too.  Somewhere
where there is a lot of light from all around works best -- usually an open
area where there is enough shade to put the model in.  The beach is good
if the sun is low enough.

: What format are you shooting?

35mm.  I have a Nikon FG that I inherited from my father.  I also have some
Olympus equipment, but to my dismay, I found the lenses (50mm f/1.8, anyway)
are not sharp enough to satisfy me.  (Actually, I would very much like to
have a 55mm f/2.8 micro-Nikkor as a standard lens.)  I recently came across
a 75-150mm Series E.  I thought I was going to use it for wildlife, but it
turns out to be great for fashion.

I have the simplest flash equipment you could possibly imagine as being
useful for this work: a Nikon SB-15 Speedlight.  And I use it on manual
mode, never auto or TTL.  I use it for daylight fill flash, and it works
pretty well.  If I went to something more "professional", it would require
a lot effort on my part to set up the light stand, umbrella, etc., and
would really slow me down!  But maybe later I will upgrade.  I would at
least like a flash with a real power reduction feature -- the SB-15 has
"motor drive" mode, which reduces the power by a factor of 13 (about
3 1/2 stops).  In addition to this, I use neutral density filters over
the flash to balance its light output to ambient light.  It took me a
while to figure out how to do this, but it works!  I have to admit, I
would be much better off with a Nikon N90 and SB-25.  Maybe later.

While I am at it, I might as well throw in some recommendations for equipment.
(Note that this is just for fun and should not be taken too seriously!)

Cameras:  If you like the auto-everything models, then either Nikon or
Canon.  But I don't!  (Even though I would find matrix metering, auto
winding and a few other of the "advanced" features useful.)  For me, what
works best is if I keep the equipment dirt simple.  What I want to be
working with is a Nikon FM2, Leica R6.2 or better yet, a Contax S2 (I am
"itching all over" for one of these!).  Sooner or later, you will want to
do fill flash in daylight using a large aperture to blur the background.
Be aware that this requires a fast X sync speed.  (This pretty much
eliminates the Leica, not to mention all medium format cameras with focal
plane shutters!)

Lenses:
	what I have and use:
50mm f/1.8.  Yes, I'm actually finding this to be the most useful
	so far.  I would gladly trade it for a 55mm macro, but a lot
	of successful pros would consider that weird!
75-150mm zoom.  Allows me to back off a bit for closeups.  It is
	very useful to have the zoom capability for quick composition
	without having to move around a lot.
28mm f/2.8.  It takes a little effort, but it is possible to use this
	lens to get some interesting effects without making the model
	look strange.  I pull it out when I get bored.

	other possibilities:
85mm f/1.4.  The "fashion" lens.  Medium tele with wide aperture to
	make it possible to blur the background.  This isn't really
	that important to me, but I'd like to have it once in a while.
	It's a good thing I don't feel a need for it, because they are $$$$!
35-70mm zoom.  I'm not sure about this.  The zoom feature would make it
	much faster to compose the subject, but the small maximum aperture
	of the current technology lenses would make it harder to focus.
	With this short a focal length, it is usually pretty easy to take
	a step or two toward or away from the model rather than change
	focal length.

Film:
	color:  I'm not going to recommend a color film right now.  Try
	some Fujichrome 100D and some Ektachrome 64x and maybe some plain
	Ektachrome 64 and Kodachrome 64.  Then tell me what you think!

	black and white:  I have been using Tech Pan, T-max 100 and just
	recently Ilford XP-2.  After just 2 rolls of XP-2, it has become
	my favorite.  This is a really interesting film!  I am going to
	use it for a while before coming to any definite opinions, but
	right now I am very positive about it.  It may actually be the
	best possible black&white film for fashion.

Other stuff:
	Maybe a diffusion filter (I have been making these myself).
	Definitely model releases.  Get as many of your models to
	sign them as you possibly can, so you will be able to use
	the photos later either to sell or use to promote yourself.
	But keep in mind that if the model has an agency, they may
	not let her sign.  In this case, make sure she pays you for
	your work!

That really is about it.  To me, the mark of a good photographer isn't so
much how much equipment he has and can use, but how little he can make do
with and still get great results.  After I've been making $1000/day for
a few years, you might want to check back with me to see if I still believe
this ;-)

I certainly would not mind being given a Mamiya or even (gasp! :-) :-) a
Hasselblad, but for now, 35mm is great.  I don't have to lug a tripod
everywhere, and I am free to move around as I feel like it.  This, I think,
is actually very important.  With good technique (which could be the subject
of a whole article, if not a book, by itself) it is possible to get quality
from 35mm that is nearly the same as from medium format.  To an untrained
eye, anyway!  That may not include me your you, but it *does* include a
lot of magazine editors, readers, etc.  If you look through a few fashion
magazines, you will see a lot of covers, editorial photos and ads that were
done with 35mm equipment (or very shakey medium format! :-).
-- 
Jay Ts
uucp mail: uunet!myrddin!tscs!metran!jay
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