Creating World-Class Fine Art Images on a Budget

A couple of flowers, some DIY, and basic Photoshop skills along with a strong creative vision in mind is all you need to make a stunning image. If you are starting out in photography and want to get into fashion, beauty, or fine art but have a rather small budget, you should definitely look at this inspiring behind-the-scenes video of Bella Kotak.

Kotak is an amazingly talented fine art photographer based in Oxford, U.K. In the video above you’ll discover how she uses close to nothing to create spectacular photography. She shows every step, from the preparation to the shoot, and even the different layers she used to edit her image.

This video is proof that if you are buying more new gear as an excuse for poor work, that you should surely reconsider your approach to photography. No need for fancy lighting, a full crew, or anything of the sort, even though it does help. The simplest of locations can make a beautiful background, a lovely friend can become a model for a day, and Photoshop can help a bit where budget or means fall short. Her approach is extremely inspiring, and every photographer can learn from it.

Quentin Decaillet's picture

Quentin Décaillet is a photographer and retoucher based in Switzerland specializing in portrait and wedding photography.

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7 Comments

Please let me know where I can find a Phase One "on a budget"

With the income for the whole year she bought the newest Phase One. Now she has no money left for Make Up Artists etc. and have to do everything by herself and save every penny to buy the new coming Phase One next year. Even not for a car & gas so she has to shoot in front of her house ;). Also no money for a bag so she has to lie the cam safely down on the shoes of the model. Happy that Capture One is free with every purchase of a PHASE ONE. Hopefully the Fine Art Prints don´t have to be printed with a 200 Dollar Canon home printer. Article should be - If you want to shoot Fine Art with PHASE ONE you have to plan your shoots on a budget. Just joking - nice picture with good toning ;)

and, a master retoucher like Pratik Naik (from Solstiche retouch) on a budget also... ; - )

LOL! I literally laughed out loud!

Do enough amazing shoots with whatever crap gear you have, and they'll find you, make you an ambassador and give you one for free.

Zach is right, if you are putting a budget tutorial why use gazillion dollar camera (and it is one of the most expensive cameras on the market).

Regardless, great work and very well put together.

By the way, just about any camera on the market today (crop sensor or 35mm) can achieve this level of sharpness when photographing at this focal length (and from this distance), there is really no need for such expensive equipment..

Likewise, a shot like this is all about the post-processing and toning. The mechanics of the shot itself, the lighting, and the stylization are pretty simple. Even the basic beauty retouching is well-documented. It's the toning that is always a secret and this video is no different.