HIGH FASHION ON LOW BUDGET

If you're like me, you've seen videotapes and magazine stories about high-rolling photographers who spend thousands of dollars on a single set, hire herds of assistants and take days to shoot a handful of fashion photographs. This sounds great! Unfortunately, the vast majority of us must deal with tight deadlines and tighter budgets.

As a staff photographer on the late Houston Post, I've shot hundreds of fashion assignments in the studio and on location all over the world. The editors are always in a hurry and I rarely have a budget to work with.

Most photographers can sympathize. With practice, though, there is no reason why fashion shot on a budget can't look as slick as that shot by the high-rollers. You can use some tricks of the trade to streamline your work and make the most of each dollar. The best part is that most of these tricks cost nothing.

--Trading Up--

You can sometimes cut hundreds or even thousands of dollars from your photo budget with some creative trading. You can swap photographs, services or cut lines for models, locations, accommodations or props.

I'll relate an extreme example. Two years ago my newspaper wanted to come out with a slick swimsuit edition in our Sunday magazine. We didn't have much of a budget, but I wanted to shoot the assignment in Jamaica since it is a spectacular location ideal for swimsuit photography.

By agreeing to publish small credit lines under the pictures, we finagled air fare, resort accommodations, ground transportation and food for five people for five days at no cost! Local retailers supplied the swimsuits and absorbed the cost of the three models.

Everyone came out ahead. The retailers, the resort, the Jamaica Tourist Bureau, and the airline all got free advertising. The newspaper got a terrific locale and our most successful swimsuit edition ever. The models received full pay and some terrific tear sheets for their books. Later the newspaper took an additional step and made one shot into a poster. The poster became so popular that the model appeared on talk shows and went to different events signing posters!

--Amateur vs. Professional Models--

On a smaller scale, you can often trade prints or slide out-takes to novice models in exchange for their time. This is a popular technique among college students. The model gets some pictures for his or her book and some practice in front of the camera. The photographer gets some portfolio art and some practice shooting fashion.

Still, sometimes you get what you pay for. A professional model is usually better than the most talented amateur. People who work outside the fashion industry think models have glamorous jobs. Ha! They have the toughest job of all! No matter how carefully you prepare the lighting, equipment and environment, it's the model who ultimately makes or breaks the shot.

A professional model is utterly reliable. He or she knows how to move, how to fix makeup and hair, and automatically comes "on" the moment you raise the camera. Since fashion advertising is always six months out of sync with the seasons, it's the poor model who must look cool while wearing a sweater in 100-degree heat, or wear a swimsuit when it's cold enough to see your breath.

--Lenses--

When shooting fashion, the general rule is the longer the lens, the better. In extreme cases, I've used a 2X extender on a 300mm lens and shot from a tripod. The model is so far away that I direct by placing a two-way radio on the ground just outside the frame!

Long lenses keep the model looking slim, minimize distortion, and turn distracting backgrounds into a pleasant surrealistic blur. Still, time or space limitations often keep me from using super telephotos, so I shoot most of my fashion work with lenses ranging from 85mm to 200mm.

Like all photographic rules, the long lens rule should be broken on occasion. I sometimes resort to a 35mm lens for environmental fashion, when working in tight spaces, or to create an unusual perspective. Be sure to minimize distortion by centering the model in the frame, though.

--Lighting--

All photographers know the importance of lighting, so it comes as no surprise that I prefer to work during the "golden hours" of sunrise or sunset. Realistically, however, deadlines often keep us from choosing the time of day for the shoot. Here are some suggestions for improving pictures in less-than-ideal conditions.

I think the new collapsible and reversible fabric photo reflectors are the best invention since Kodachrome. I own a lightweight 42-inch gold/white reflector that folds down into a slim, 14-inch black sheath that looks like an oversized Frisbee. Spring steel lines the perimeter, so a snap of the wrist pops open a large, super-functional reflector in a split second.

The reflector is a lifesaver, despite its kite-like qualities in stiff breezes. If you are working in the shade, someone can stand in a distant patch of sunlight and fire a golden beam of light to warm and illuminate the subject. Used in close, it mimics a tropical sunset. I even stick it among tree branches to block distracting patches of raw sunlight.

I often choose to photograph models in the shade. This minimizes contrast, harsh shadows and hot spots. If I need to work in direct sunlight, I turn the model away from the sun and use the reflector or fill-flash to illuminate the subject.

You don't need a fancy strobe setup, either. A simple on-camera flash with partial power settings is all you need for most outdoor or location work. It's a good idea to keep equipment lightweight and simple since fashion is often shot on location. My one sophisticated piece of equipment is a color temperature meter. When shooting chrome, a model who is in the shade or backlit may need an 81C or even an 81EF filter to shift the tones back to a daylight balance.

--Simple F/X--

You should never try to rescue a bad photograph with a special effect. A bad photograph using a special effect is just a bad special effect photograph. Yet, there are occasions when an unusual effect applied with a light touch can add some pizzazz to a shot.

For instance, try rolling an 10x8 sheet of transparent or aluminized plastic into a tube and slipping it over a 50mm or 85mm lens. The plastic picks up the colors from the environment and swirls them around the perimeter. Be sure to shoot at a wide aperture to keep the edges of the tube from falling into focus.

Using deliberate camera tilt when shooting is another handy fashion trick. Always tilt the camera at such a rakish angle that the viewer will know that you did it on purpose, though. The late Gary Winogrand would make the edge of the frame parallel some element in the picture. For instance, normally the edge of the photograph is even with the horizon. When you tilt the camera, make the edge of the frame parallel to an awning or the slope of a roof or the jaunty angle of a hat.

Flash-plus-time exposure is another technique that takes a bit more skill, but the rewards are correspondingly greater. It opens whole new vistas for shooting fashion and portraiture under low light conditions.

When working at night or indoors, for instance, try setting the camera on a tripod and balancing the fill flash to the background illumination. You can also experiment with using a slow shutter speed and have the model move a couple of inches during the exposure. You'll get strange ghosting patterns cutting into the model.

Using fill flash while hand holding the camera during a 1/4 to 1/15 second exposure can create similar effects, even when the model is stationary. It's impossible to tell exactly what sort of effect you will achieve each time, but it can be real show stopper!

--In Closing--

If you are new to fashion photography, rest assured that it can be an enjoyable and rewarding profession. A background in almost any specialty, from portraiture to sports, can be valuable when shooting fashion. In fact, newcomers often view fashion with a less jaundiced eye and come up with some novel ideas. I'm a big believer in research, though, and often develop concepts while thumbing though fashion magazines and art books.