Pick your clothing carefully
There are two types of photos when it comes to clothing: 1) For Portraits and 2) For Fashion.
If the photo shoot is for portrait you need to be sure that the clothing doesn’t distract, but rather compliments the person’s face. The fashion photo shoot is all about the clothing and the model is just there to make the clothing look good.
Look at these three examples of tops for a typical head shot.
To be sure we are concentrating on how clothing can add or distract from a portrait I shot these all the same so that the only difference is really the clothing.
First of all all three outfits look good on the model and the point isn’t about which one you like the most. The point in a portrait photo is which one makes you look more at the model’s face and less about the clothing?
Simple Tips:
- Avoid busy patterns as in Photo #1
- Choose a solid as in Photo #2
- Avoid Stripes as in Photo #3
Each person will look best in one of the following necklines: v-neck, oval or round.
Color choices can be tricky as well. Everyone will look good in Aqua. The reason for this is this is the closest to the complementary color for the skin.
While different ethnic groups have different skin, the general rule is it is more about how light or dark the skin is more than color differences.
However the other factor is our eyes and hair color. Complimentary and the same color are generally good on a person. Complimentary colors tend to make you pop more than the same colors.
The general rule which is often the most difficult to follow is always keeping it simple.
Lighting diagram used for examples
Items:
(2) Alienbees B1600
1-stop brighter on background than lights on subject
White backdrop
I recommend not having it perpendicular to the camera. Slight angle will help avoid light flare caused by light bouncing off background
(2) Alienbees B1600 with bounce white umbrellas
Nikon D4 with 28-300mm
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