My Top 3 Tips for a Successful Fashion Photoshoot

During my final year of university, as part of my marketing module, I had to create a brand which reflected my collection I had designed/manufactured as part of my other modules and market it. One of the ways I thought would achieve the best results for this, after the in-depth research of course, was a lookbook! A lookbook is a brochure of  images put together to promote your brand to any future stockists, potential business partners and of course, its consumers, you’ve probably had one through the post from Cath Kidston or Boohoo etc. at some point! But as you probably know you need a photographer, a model and a venue to capture the images you need for the lookbook before you even start thinking about printing and typefaces etc. So in this week’s blogpost I’m going to give you my top 3 tips on how to have a successful fashion photoshoot when you’re neither the photographer nor the model!

TIP 1 – PLAN

Even before you start thinking about a photographer or a model for the shoot, PLAN everything to a tee in regards to how you want the model to look e.g.; hair and makeup, how you want to the clothes to be styled, and also what style of photos you want to achieve from the shoot. I created a few different boards on Pinterest and printed them off and took them with me to the shoot so as I could have a visual guide, this also made it easier for the photographer and model to recreate any poses and shots I wanted specifically for the lookbook. If you need any help with this, check out my Pinterest page >>>> https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jessicalpepper/fmp-photoshoot-ideas/

TIP 2 – Start looking for a Venue ASAP

I probably spent a good month to two months looking for a venue that would sit with my collection/brand and enable me to achieve the looks I wanted. If you can’t find a location that suits your brand /designs then you can always just use a photo studio and have a simple white background. Just remember when you do find a location whether it is a town hall like I used, or a simple photo studio, BOOK IT in advance! Obviously you also have to consider when the model and photographer, as well as yourself are free for the shoot, but if the locations not available then you’re ultimately back to the drawing board with often only a few days to go till shoot day

Tip 3 - Spend as little as you can

I ended up spending nothing in order to produce the photos for my lookbook, I did have to buy a pair of shoes and some jewellery in order to style the different looks, but these were all things I could use myself afterwards. Both my photographer and model were students at the same university as me, and all I did was send out an email to the head of the Art and Design department who then passed on the email to the entire student faculty. My Photographer, Danielle did work for work, so he used the photographs for his own portfolio and my model, Kelly, was just another fashion student who wanted to be on the other side of the lens for once! Use your connections and I promise you, you can easily achieve what I did and more on a mediocre student budget!

So there you have it my top 3 tips for a successful fashion photoshoot, I know they may seem like common sense, but trust me something as little as knowing what type/style of photos you want to achieve makes things 10x easier in the long run!

Jess xo

One of my favourite photos from the final selection - Designer @JessicalPepperdesigns, Model, Kelly Brown, Photographer, Danielle Da Costa.