Why you should not shoot without professional hairstyling & make-up
Like I said in my last article a professional model is usually well-groomed and this limits the work in post-production to a necessary minimum. However, for your shoot, it’s, moreover, of great importance to have a hairstylist and make-up artist on board. While in the fashion metropolises these are two different jobs, in many smaller industries, one professional does both. Other than the title might suggest, the make-up artist is not only responsible for the facial make-up but also for the overall appearance of the model’s skin, finger- and toenails. In some productions, these tasks are divided too – be it because of the workload or the fact that someone’s a specialist in something required for the look, e.g. a nail artist. This also leads us to the fact that MUAs (make-up artists) can be allrounders but also have different styles and talents. Depending on your concept you might want to have a close look at their portfolios to find the right one for your production. Read it
How the styling appeals
Which age is your target group? How bold is their style? Where and when do they wear your fashion? The answers to these questions may help you decide the extra fashion you need to add to your collection in a shoot, in case you don’t produce the overall look from head to toe. If you e.g. make shoes, you’ll definitely need pants, shirts, or dresses to combine on your model and vice versa. You may find the solution being cooperation with another label that with your help designs the perfect counterparts to your own collection. Yet, this might double your work prior to the shoot and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea – eventually, you’ve decided to produce e.g. just shirts for a reason. But that shouldn’t be a problem for your shoot after all. You’ll just need to have a proper styling that underlines your story without stealing your fashion’s show and we are going to analyse how to approach this in four steps. Regardless of whether one of your brand’s team is looking after the styling or an external stylist does, you should be able to decide, communicate, and possibly sample what you want through mood pictures. Defining the styling is one of the most important parts of the shooting concept. Read it
Heidi’s Christmas Calendar
I really love Christmas time, even more than the holidays. It’s a time when everything is illuminated, the first snow comes and you keep meeting your friends at Christmas markets. You start thinking about how you can make other people happy and you get plenty of chances to do so. There is the tradition of giving gifts which we do on Christmas eve in Germany. There is St. Nicolas’ Day on 6th December and there is the possibility of making someone a little present every day during the advent season – with an Advent calendar. I came up with the idea to do so with a photographic calendar in November 2016 already. Unfortunately for the Christmas season of that year, there wasn’t enough time left to make it happen. So I started the new year of 2017 with the early intent to make an Advent calendar for the next season. And so I started with the first shooting in March already. Read it
(Per)mission to Shoot
I’m going to tell this in a short and funny way because somehow it really is funny. It’s a matter of permissions to shoot at certain locations. Usually, it’s a legal gray area or it depends on how you interpret stuff. E.g. there is a law called „Panoramarecht (§59 UrhG)“ in Germany. It says that you are allowed to take pictures of art and buildings when they are situated in public areas, because the artist (or architect), by displaying it that way, must be meaning to devote his work to the community. The ones who take pictures have a copyright on their images and may distribute them as they like, as long as they don’t infringe anyone else’s rights. Read it
How Summer 2018 Looks Like
To start with the best: I had the pleasure of shooting the new Dawid Tomaszewski collection exclusively for the label at the spring/summer 2018 fashion week in Berlin. It was the most lovely show – the models were slowly strolling on an elongated balcony, which offered a beautiful view over the city of Berlin. All buildings seemed to be white, as well as the handrails, except for the cathedral which created a romantic atmosphere. The clouds were dramatic in their shapes, but still white and peaceful and they created a great light. Read it
How I Became a Fashion Photographer
I grew up with my father taking pictures with an old Russian Zenith camera every time an event took place or the family went out for a walk. He was a semi-professional photographer who used to be booked for weddings back in his 20s when digital photography wasn’t established yet. Since I was always curious about the procedures in a photo lab, the first internship I chose at the age of 14 was in a photo studio. Unfortunately, the photographer didn’t develop her films on her own but used to send them to an external lab. Read it