All About Becoming a Fashion Photographer

[detune]

they're very different? Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong.... I just try to catch the 'beautiful moments' rather than simply blast away, but maybe blasting is what I should be doing....?

 

[BetteT]

Beautiful moments are for magazine editorials or for marketing material for the designer ... studio and location work. Magazines, web sites and even the designers just want to see what the garment looks like because they need to use the shots for reference, lookbooks, etc. So, the straight ahead type of shot, showing the garment off to it's best potential is the main purpose of catwalk photography.

 

[detune]

this is a good point, I do have plenty of those too... perhaps it's the same in all industries - you have the bread and butter (a good shot showing the garment) and then you have the extra special (amazing captures of a moment).

 

[fraiseap]

BetteT is right. Look at any fashion magazine and the runway shots almost all stick to the formula - full length, front on, model usually walking towards camera or at the front of the runway.

 

[ched]

The only real way to make money from runway is to shoot for the house. Editorial doesn't ever really pay directly, unless you're an established art photographer or a contracted photojournalist. Editorial is a means to an end. Even the photographers for the big stock agencies are not really making bank unless they shoot everything, and that's really a burnout sort of job, and there are maybe 10-12 of those people in the world each year.

I shot 4 shows this season. Coordinating the coverage teams takes up too much time during fashion week to be away from my desk very much and I only shot 2 of them because we were short on experienced runway photographers. I had 18 people in the field for NYFW, all volunteers, and we really use it as a loss leader because being there in the room for the show sets up ideas for editorials for the rest of the season. You never get the same ideas from just looking on style.com or watching videos on YouTube. I did manage to squeeze in two shows that I really wanted to cover myself. Chado Ralph Rucci, which was amazing. I was dead center on the second runway riser. I still need to edit those shots... article going online soon. Also, Naeem Kahn on the last day, so many sparkles!

I'm missing Milano Moda Donna this season, which sucks, but nobody ever said running a startup company is easy. Did they? I'd like to meet that person.

 

[detune]

quite lucky to get front and centre if you only did two shows? Although I find in London, the photographers are far more aggressive in keeping their spots, NY was much more squeeze friendly

 

[ched]

quite lucky to get front and centre if you only did two shows? Although I find in London, the photographers are far more aggressive in keeping their spots, NY was much more squeeze friendly

I covered 4 shows, but 2 were because we didn't have anyone else free to send instead. I'd love to shoot more, but keeping the field teams organized is more important for me right now.

Getting a good spot is easy if you've been around a while, people know you, and you know what you're doing.

I've never shot in London, Boris Marberg usually covers over there for us, so I can't speak to an atmospheric difference in territoriality between NYC and London. I've found Milan to be a similar atmosphere to New York, though, with a little more testosterone on display. Usually at the center of the riser it's the same group of people making a circuit from city to city every season though.