Question by yoje115: I want to build up experiance in Fashion Photography BUT…?
I want to build up experiance in Fashion Photography but I am only 15. I would love to really start taking pictures with models but I cant get proffesional models because I am not even in college yet and they wont take me serious. I do have acces to a good quality camera though
Best answer:
Answer by cherylobrien90
I’m only 17, and i’m studying photography at college. I enjoy every aspect of it, but especially Fashion Photography.
The first thing you can do is, if possible, get access to a camera. Even if you cannot afford to buy/rent a second hand Digital SLR Camera, then a small compact will suffice. Keep the camera on you and take photos of anything you see,experiment with angles, styles, contrasts. Build up your knowledge (and save your money!) as you go along.
The second thing you can do is just ask friends and family if they would be willing to model. I’m sure there must be at least one friend who would be willing to get in front of the camera. Even if it is just the one friend, use them everytime you fancy taking a few photos as, afterall, one model is better than one. You do not need professional models. I am actually at college in my first year and I have never used a professional model as such. I have used life models from outside of the college that get paid for the live modelling, but never the sort you would see in a magazine. As most of my class have the same problem (lack of models) we try and help each other out by modelling for each other. Do the same with your friends, if you have another friend who is keen on photography, model for each other! Once you have a few nice photos, you could upload them to a website such as http://www.deviantart.com and there you should get contractive critism from other artists and photographers.
If you can, dabble with using Adobe Photoshop. (Try and get hold of Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or any version more recent than that, try not to use an older version of Photoshop such as 6.0 as they don’t have layers and layers are pretty much vital in photo editing.) Do not think that editing photos on Photoshop is fake or ‘not real photography’ because that is wrong. Photo editing just means to enhance a photo, enhancing certain aspects such as saturation/contrast/shadows.
Whilst you’re still young, build up a confidence to ask people for their photo to be taken and to get motivated in photography. Look into options you could do after secondary/high school (I don’t know which country you’re in so i’ll cover both England and the States by putting both secondary and high school haha). Ask yourself questions like “What course shall I take after school?” “Where shall I go, which college/uni?” “What sort of job would I like after I have got my diploma/degree in Photography?”
Remember, photography is a difficult subject to get a good job in. With so many people claiming to be ‘photographers’ these days, you really need to take yourself seriously if you want to get somewhere in photography.
I hope i’ve helped in some way and good luck in the future! đŸ™‚
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Start and take pictures of your friends and family. Make it fun and pose them like you are doing a fashion shoot. You don’t need professional models. It takes skills to direct models to what you want them to do. What better way to learn on people who do not do it for a living. You will learn to be very specific on what you like to get out of your shoot. See if you can assist under a photographer in Summer and on your days off from school. Take as many photography classes as you can and simply shoot a lot.