Recent Fashion Articles

BTS: Watch Patrick Demarchelier Shoot a Beauty Campaign for Guerlain

There are many different ways to learn photography. For me, one of the biggest keys to improving my craft has always been observational learning. I find that watching others do things I’d like to do is both inspiring and educational. It’s one of the reasons why I try to watch at least a couple of behind the scenes videos every day. What better way to learn something than from the best, such as fashion and beauty photographer Patrick Demarchelier?

First Impressions of Clay Cook's Fashion and Editorial Portrait Photography Tutorial

Fstoppers is at it again with another amazing tutorial. This time, Clay Cook is bringing his talent as an advertising and editorial photographer to the table. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Cook has worked for a variety of local, national, and international clients. However, his work all maintains a common visual style regardless of the end publication, whether it be printed in The Voice of Louisville or used globally by ESPN. Fashion and Editorial Portrait Photography brings you Cook’s start to finish workflow, including his process of working with a retoucher, to show you how you can create similar, amazing images using these techniques.

Model with 'Cat Eye Syndrome' Poses for High Fashion Editorial

Caitin Stickels, a 29 year old model, actor, and singer from Seattle, Washington who was born with a rare chromosomal disorder known as Schmid-Fraccaro, or "Cat Eye Syndrome," realized a dream she never dared to hope for when she recently starred in a high-fashion editorial, photographed by famed photographer Nick Knight.

Create Your Photographic Lighting Style by Understanding Six Qualities of Light

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to walk into almost any photographic situation armed with a whole vocabulary of lighting techniques and be able to quickly select exactly the type of lighting you want for the main light of your photo? By understanding six key qualities of light you can create your own vocabulary of lighting to draw upon and apply for your desired effect in fashion photos, formal, and lifestyle portraits and beyond. Angle, Size, Distance, Shape, Duration, and Color are each qualities of light that photographers can combine and manipulate these qualities in setting the look of their photograph for impact beyond just illumination.

The Robotic Studio That's Poised to Replace Photographers

Technology has been responsible for some of the greatest advancements in human history, but is it poised to take your job? If you photograph fashion for catalogs or online retailers, the new robotic studio launched by StyleShoots might do just that.

Behind The Scenes of the 2017 Pirelli Calendar

So many photographers dream of shooting the Pirelli Calendar, but so few make it. German Photographer Peter Lindbergh shot the 2017 edition, and he’s probably someone we can all learn from. There must be a reason as to why he is working with all the big names in the cinema and modeling industry. For those like me, who love watching other photographers at work to learn, you must watch this hour-long behind the scenes video of his work for Pirelli.

Kendall Jenner Returns to Photography With a Mammoth 72-Page Editorial

Back in July 2016, Kendall Jenner made her editorial debut as a photographer with a 10-page spread in Love magazine. In an attempt to prove her worth in the industry, she's now returned to the print publication with a monster 72-page spread as well as various covers. Has she done it justice?

Changes We Wish Adobe Would Make to Creative Cloud

Adobe is known as being the creator of Photoshop. Then, they went and bought Macromedia in 2005 which changed the game a lot for the creative industry. Since then, apps were bundled, we’ve moved to a subscription model with Creative Cloud, and all the apps now work together intuitively. I have a great respect for the company that makes the software I use every day. But there are certain workflows that I think can improve.

Photographer Recreates Famous Brand Adverts to Highlight Lack of Diversity in the Industry

Does the world of advertising suffer from a lack of diversity? One photographer certainly thinks so, and to highlight the issue, has faithfully recreated some of the best known advertising campaigns of recent years to imagine what they would look like with a black model instead of the white models predominately used within the industry. Entitled "Black Mirror," the project is the work of Los Angeles-based photographer Raffael Dickreuter and his girlfriend, model Deddeh Howard. Dickreuter believes it was being part of an interracial couple which first opened his eyes to the lack of diversity in the photography of many of the world’s leading brands.

pirelli calendar natural beauty photoshop

The 2017 edition of the Pirelli Calendar has finally been revealed in Paris, and in the words of Al Green, it is simply beautiful. Shot by German Photographer Peter Lindbergh, it features actresses Robin Wright, Nicole Kidman, Uma Thurman, and Lupita Nyong’o amongst others. It has been titled “Emotional.” Expect to see nakedness in a different way, because the calendar of this year was all about “stripping down to the very soul of the sitters” without shedding all their clothes.

It's Time We Talked About Celebrities and Models Being Hired As Photographers

It’s simply impossible to ignore the change our industry is undergoing. The wide availability of industry-standard equipment has seen an uprise of people pursuing photography as a career. Photographers are battling against many threats to their careers; increasingly, celebrities who are trying their luck behind the camera. Be it models, socialites, or the rich and famous, people who are not renown for their photographic skills are increasingly booking jobs ahead of established professionals. So are those of us who work behind the lens full-time being made redundant? Can anyone be a photographer these days? It’s time to discuss.

Critique the Community: Submit Your Best Editorial and Fashion Images Now

Fstoppers is happy to announce the next round of Critique the Community. We invite everyone to submit your best editorial and fashion images to be critiqued by Clay Cook. Please follow the guidelines for submissions below to ensure eligibility for your image to be chosen. We will be accepting submissions through Friday night, November 18 and will be offering feedback to a total of 20 pictures.

Photographer Mario Testino Gives a Tour of His Museum in Peru

Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer Mario Testino recently gave a tour of his museum in Lima, Peru to Hamish Bowles, the editor for the American edition of Vogue magazine. Testino appears to have recorded this short video tour on a just a cell phone, but he briefly takes you through each room of his museum, MATE, which first opened in 2012, but was just recently renovated, and he shared the newly restored museum with the public last week.

Fashion Photographer Amber Goetz

Stumbling upon a recent article reminded me that this is a question I wanted to ask here on Fstoppers. In my expertise and knowledge there is an absolute need for filters in certain industries of photography and if you're attempting a certain look. For instance a few friends of mine that also work for my wedding photography company do some off road coverage, for them I'd say it's pretty crucial to have a filter on their lenses to protect as much as possible as high speed off road vehicles and dirtbikes fly past them with the potential of tossing a few hundred rocks their way daily.

The Ultimate Guide to Finding a Makeup, Hair, and Wardrobe Stylist

If you’re interested in shooting production sets, like with fashion photography, you’re going to need to build a team beyond yourself. The truth of the matter is that your success will depend on who you know and what they can do for you. As blatant as that sounds, it’s the nitty-gritty truth about building a team.

4 Effective Exercises To Develop Your Photographer's Eye

Having a recognizable style helps you get hired for the right job. So how do you develop your style? The truth is that it’s not that difficult, but it does require consistency and patience. In this post, we’ll be looking at some practical ways to develop your style.

How to Constructively Critique a Photographer’s Work

As an aspiring photographer, it eventually becomes obvious that likes on Facebook or comments such as “Beautiful work Kiddo!” from your mother aren’t exactly providing an objective evaluation of your talent. Constructive feedback from others in your field is something that everyone can benefit from at times, even as a professional. The problem is, most of us don’t take criticism very well especially when it comes to something we’ve poured our heart into and may actually love on a personal level.

Behind the Scenes - Annie Leibovitz Photographs a Lincoln Continental Campaign

Even though she doesn't have a professional portfolio website, her name is widely known. Annie Leibovitz has done yet another nice shoot. This time it is for a Lincoln Continental campaign. Her style is very distinctive — both working with the subjects, lighting, and post processing. Although her lighting is simple, many photographers find it hard to achieve such a look. There are details that are not obvious if we look only from the technical side of her work.

The iPhone 7 Plus Fashion Photoshoot: Blondes, Brunettes, and Bokeh

What happens when you throw together a shoot with two fashion models, one photographer, and an iPhone? We went ahead and found out for ourselves. As a professional photographer, the most popular question I receive on a daily basis is, "What camera and lens do you shoot with?" I also hear "My camera isn't good. What camera and lens should I buy?" When asked that question, I always make sure to emphasize that great light trumps great gear every time. That inspired me to do put down the D810 and practice what I preach. And what better way than to break in my iPhone 7 Plus?

The Sensible Minimalism of Mauritian Photographer Karen Pang

How do you recognize a talent? How do you predict if someone in the photography industry will become a good professional when they are just starting? Is it the level of the aesthetics you see in someone’s work, a sense of perfect balance in their compositions, their speed of mastering technical aspects of certain art, or do you just feel it in your gut? It might be an amalgamation of all, but the young Mauritian Photographer Karen Pang sure has it all, and I feel privileged to have spotted her right at the start of her career and watched her growth throughout the years.

Playing Vice-Versa: Models Give Advice to Photographers

Whenever I am working with models on a shoot, I always have their best interests at heart. You may say I care too much about my models, but I am alright with that. No one badmouths a caring photographer. I have seen firsthand how some models are treated badly on set and it saddens me to see how bad attitude from photographers can ruin the photographer-model relationship and also lead to bad photos. Knowing how to build a relationship upon meeting your model and engaging in a photoshoot with the latter is a must and I asked a couple of models for advice to write this article.

Three Easy Fashion and Beauty Lighting Setups

Unless you’re a well established fashion and beauty photographer with the support of an agent or a plethora of business acumen, you probably aren’t going to make much money when you’re first starting out in the business. This is why it’s important to learn how to be scrappy and work with less gear if you’re working on a budget. In these lighting tutorials, I’ll show you three easy-to-replicate fashion and beauty setups that fit almost every budget.

Von Wong's Message for Success

Recently I found myself going through Facebook when I came across one of Benjamin Von Wong's videos. After watching the video by Empty Duck Digital, I felt like he hit the nail right on the head with his response to people's common questions of “What preset do you use? What equipment do you use to make that happen?” Like he states, people are always searching for the fastest and easiest steps to speed up their workflow. I understand why, but at the same time, most of it can’t be done. “Time and hard work” are his answers, and I completely agree.

Documentary on the Most Famous Fashion Photographer Alive: Mario Testino

Mario Testino is without a doubt one of the most famous fashion and portrait photographers currently alive. He has worked for the biggest magazines and brands in the world, including Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Calvin Klein, and Burberry. Over his 35 years of experience in the industry, he more than certainly shot some of the sexiest, most important, and most famous people on earth. In this article, take a glance at his work, but also his life, through a documentary created by the BBC.

Organizing a Photoshoot Without a Professional Team

When I first started photography at 15 years old, I didn’t know anything about organizing a team. I would bribe my younger sister into being my model for the afternoon, pulling clothing from her wardrobe and doing the makeup (really badly) myself. I was worlds away from the average fashion photography set, which typically involves a team of agency represented models, a professional make up artist, hair stylist, set designer, wardrobe stylist, and assistants. This is how I conducted my photoshoots for years, and after a while I realized that I needed to expand.

The Pain of Shooting Film and Why It's Worth It

When you're shooting film, especially large format film, you have a lot of time to think. When your hands are in a bag and you're loading or unloading many sheets of film, the mind tends to wander and probably the subject that crosses my mind the most is "why?" Shooting digitally would be so much faster. I could be out having a beer somewhere! I could be editing some images in Photoshop from an editorial gig that I've been putting off. Hell, I could be practicing my juggling skills (or learning to juggle). So, why am I instead up to my elbows in this bag, enduring the necessary tedium of film life? Here are some common doubts I have and the reasons I push past them!

Window Light: The Biggest, Bestest Softbox You Already Own

This article will probably seem like a giant “duh” to a lot of you out there. Hell, even most avid selfie-shooters have figured this out. This is geared more towards the photographers who lust after huge, expensive light modifiers and overlook the amazing light source that is probably staring them in face. I suggest you start staring back!

Finding Your Style as a Fashion Photographer

Style is one of the most important aspects of fashion photography. Having a consistent portfolio of images that reflects who you are and your creative vision is really important when it comes to clients viewing your work. Many fashion photographers, including myself, have struggled with making their work stand out from the crowd. Here are a few tips from what I have learned about finding your style and visual voice as a photographer.

Three Ways to Use a Beauty Dish

A beauty dish can be extremely versatile if you learn how to control the way it modifies light. Most photographers simply use beauty dishes to light the face, but you can use it to light full length photos if you know how to position the light correctly. In this video, I’ll demonstrate three ways to use a beauty dish for beauty and fashion photography.

How to Manage a Client's Expectations Before and During a Photoshoot

It is a common expectation that when clients hire you, it is because they like your style and think you will help project their brand’s identity. But what do you do when, despite previous exchanges, on the shooting day, you realize that your clients have entirely different expectations. Do you just change everything to adapt to their needs or do you say no?

Kendall Jenner Is Now a 'Fashion Photographer' - Is This Where Our Industry Is Heading?

Following suit with the likes of the Brooklyn Beckhams of the world, it should come as no surprise that one of the Kardashians (technically) is taking a stab at the other side of the lens (that isn’t a well lit, angled, and photoshopped selfie). Kendall Jenner’s work photographing Kaia Gerber, daughter of Cindy Crawford, has been featured for the UK-based Love Magazine. But the question that underlies in Jenner’s debut as a "fashion photographer" is what direction the photography industry as we know it is heading?

Men Watch Themselves Get Photoshopped to the Same Standards As Women

"We're constantly looking at images that have been Photoshopped; we only notice it when it goes a step too far," note the Try Guys. There's an ongoing debate about society's conception of the female body and just how much post-processing is too much. To really explore the idea, though, the group held a shoot in which they recreated infamous Photoshop disasters to understand just how far these "ideals" are pushed.

Lindsay Adler Fashion Shoot Workflow From Start to Finish

I'm a big admirer of Lindsay Adler and her work, and I spoke to her recently regarding her most valuable career mistake. As you can imagine, my ears pricked up when I heard Lindsay was doing a walkthrough of how she conducts a fashion shoot from preparation all the way through to post-production.

Less is More: Retouching Tips

Retouching in photography has many forms. Everything from skin work to background manipulation. With the latest software abilities to retouch and manipulate an image, there is an endless source of possibilities to create. Even with all the tools available, there is a fine line and perhaps sometimes too much is too much.

Why Nepotism in Photography Is a Consequence of Social Media

Any time there is a case of nepotism in photography — like with Burberry and the oldest spawn of the Beckhams earlier this year — there is a colossal backlash and insatiable rage. In a time prior to refreshing social media four times an hour, although I could see the motivation for nepotism in fashion photography, it was tantamount to indefensible in my books. Now, however, I have a harder time working out why companies wouldn't favor their elite friendship circles for recruiting photographers.

Fstoppers Reviews the Parabolix Parabolic Reflectors

If you follow big name photographers or pages like FamousBTSMag on Instagram or elsewhere, you’ve likely seen a parabolic reflector. Even more likely is the prestigious names that are Broncolor or Briese plastered on the side. The results that these modifiers produce are absolutely gorgeous, there’s no doubt there. They offer the most even light spread of any modifier, a large range of sizes, and incredible versatility. If you’ve done some research, however, you’ll throw the idea of shooting with one out the door because of their incredibly steep price. A few months ago, I stumbled on a company by the name of Parabolix. What I found seemed entirely too good to be true.

Photographer Spends 20 Years of Documenting Our Collective 'Sense' of Fashion

Dutch photographer Hans Eijkelboom captures the way we universally dress like bad extra's in 80's B-films. In his latest project, "People of the Twenty-First Century" (Phaidon, $35), the Dutch photographer shares the results of 20 years of skulking around the world's busiest streets. The images tell an amazing story of just how average we all are.

Five Steps to Get Started as a Fashion and Beauty Photographer

One of the most commercially viable careers as a photographer can be fashion or beauty photography. In fashion photography, you are mostly shooting people, and you have details like clothes, makeup, and mood that you can capture in creative ways. You can create fantasies, capture a personality, and really build a name if your images are unique, and you will get people asking for you if you’re able to portray a certain feeling or mood. How to get started is often most aspirational photographers’ stumbling block. I can tell you that it is the ones who "show up and shoot" who build the careers and names for themselves from it. So, how do you do it?

15 Top Magazine Covers Then and Now: From Marilyn Monroe to Caitlyn Jenner

From Vogue to People, including Playboy and National Geographic, all these popular magazines are familiar to us and instantly recognizable, but just a few of us know what their first editions looked like decades ago. As time passed by, bringing forth new faces, new fashion, and a whole new way of thinking, magazines needed to evolve with their time and adapt. Some have stayed faithful to their initial visual identity, having only undergone minor changes because they knew what worked for them. On the other hand, other magazines covers have changed drastically, their covers being a far cry from the original design.

'Blood Dress' Photo Shoot Grabs Attention

Canadian Photographer Melissa Trotter is getting a lot of attention with her latest foray into alternative themes. "Blood Dress" was viewed more than 1.3 million times in just 8 hours after being posted online. Inspired by a "milk dress" shoot, Trotter says she instantly fell in love with the idea of creating the same concept with blood. There are plenty of comments to go along with the provocative image. The owner of Stolen Innocence Photography, Trotter says she's been overwhelmed with the response she's gotten, pointing out most of it has been extremely positive.

Photographers Bring New Meaning to the Term 'Power Pose'

I've always been very slow and methodical when it comes to posing. Each angle is adjusted; every minutiae is considered. Sure, it may take a little longer, but it's worth it for the shot. After watching these videos, though, I've begun to think I've been doing it all wrong.

Behind the Scenes of Mad Max Styled Fantasy Portraits

The latest fantasy shoot from the Slanted Lens instantly brings to mind the incredibly Academy Award winning movie Mad Max. With the help of a local junk yard, some incredible styling, and creative lighting, Jay P was able to execute an eye grabbing shoot. Check out just how he did it.

The Art of Sigma Art: from Inspiration to Implementation of the unLimited

I am a wide angle fanatic, especially when it comes to prime wide angles. I carry four lenses in my camera bag: two of them are prime wide angles, one prime nifty fifty, and one telephoto. Out of all these four, I found myself reaching just for one particular lens: the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art. This came to substitute my old Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM lens which I adored, but it used to struggle a bit with chromatic aberrations and at times I craved for a wider view.

An Often-Overlooked Yet Very Important Aspect of a Photoshoot

Shooting or being involved in a fashion or beauty shoot is a lot of fun. It’s a day where creative personalities, the photographer, stylist, hair and makeup and assistants as well as the client's creative team get together to produce a story, a body of work that they want to show the world. Everyone is focussed on bringing their best ideas to the party.