I recently had the opportunity to attend an editorial lighting workshop where we shot three different looks. My first workshop experience was a blast! It made me think differently with how I approach editorial photography. I started to pay attention to the poses, clothing, lighting setup an and the amazing backdrops that we shot against. This made me realize that there are so many ways to enhance my editorial photography. Here are my 5 tips to step up your editorial photography!
1) Use Existing Furniture
It’s amazing what a few good pieces of furniture can do for an glamour editorial shoot. If you prefer not to spend money on new furniture I recommend looking at your existing furniture in a new way. Sometimes the existing set up of your home may make not bring out the best in your furniture, so positioning it differently or isolating it from its existing environment will make it stand out on its own. Using plants, books and carpet can create an interesting set up for your photo shoot.
2) Playing with Fabric Attaching a piece of fabric to your model and throwing it up in the air can create interesting lines. It helps to have an assistant who will help throw the fabric in the air. The trick is to have fabric that’s a bit long so it’s slower to fall. This way you have more time to watch the fabric to capture that perfect angle.
3) Using Different Backgrounds Using fabric background either black or white are great bases for editorial photography. Using bristol board is a great way to start simple. If you're really sick and tired of shooting on white and black background, try using different colour backdrops. Have any spare paint lying around? Try painting a wall with some texture.
4) Nature
Nature is so beautiful. Why not use what’s around you to create interesting images. Use nature as backdrops for your glamour photography. This image above was taken by a very small vine wall against a house. The way it was shot and framed makes you think it was a big vine wall! The vine wall adds a dimension of softness to this editorial shoot and gives interesting texture to the image.
5) Wind Is Your Friend
Use wind to create a dynamic image. Having a fan would be great. But hey, sometimes we have to be creative. For the image above, I had an assistant help fan the model with a reflector.
What tricks and tips have you tried? Share them here.
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