High Fashion Ad Quality Photography

I am starting a career in high fashion photography. I hear a lot that

it's the photographer not the equipment that counts, etc., etc., I

realize that; but I also realize that the type of equipment used

makes a difference. I will be specializing in high-fashion work,

predominately taken in the studio. I just purchased a Bronica 6x4.5;

but I am wondering if I should trade it in for a 6x6 or 6x7 format

instead, since a lot of people balk about how 6x4.5 is so close to

small format. There will be a lot of time put in each shot; and

quality is utmost important. Also, most of the choice photos will

need to be made into very large poster size; and will need to be

reproduced for ads. Should I even think about going into large

format? I have no issues with cost; and I'm not interested

in "convenience", but quality. What is the best choice for ad quality

fashion photography; without making too deep a dive, (ex.: spending

$13,000 + dollars for a Hassleblad)? Help I'm new to this! Any

suggestions on Brands etc., is appreciated if anyone has worked with

a Bronica vs. other medium format brands. Thanks so much. Tina Lee

Going to 6x7, 6x8 or 6x6 will be a good move. Large format is

imposrtant for some work, but realize that there is a pretty good

learning curve involved there. there are is also the new high res

digtial backs for medium (and LF cameras) to consider. ifyou are

going the digital delivery route , take a look at <A HREF=

http://www.jackbingham.com> this link to Jack Bingham's

website </A> for info about a very pratical, high end digital

workflow. <P>You should look beyond the camera however and

invest in lighting and grip equipment. most high end fashion

work is done with Balcar, Profoto (the big stuff, not the Acute

line), Elinchrom and Speedotron gear. Advertising and

promotional materials are also very important: Test shoots;

direct mail pieces, specialized mailing lists, portfolio prints and

cases, and finding a good agent or "rep" who can help open

doors for you.

Going to 6x7, 6x8 or 6x6 will be a good move. Large format is

important for some work, but realize that there is a pretty good

learning curve involved there. Consider also the new high

resolution digital backs for medium (and LF cameras) to

consider. If you are going the digital delivery route , take a look at

<A HREF= http://www.jackbingham.com> this link to Jack

Bingham's website </A> for info about a very pratical, high end

digital workflow. <P>You should look beyond the camera

however and invest in lighting and grip equipment. most high

end fashion work is done with Balcar, Profoto (the big stuff, not

the Acute line), Elinchrom and Speedotron gear. Advertising and

promotional materials are also very important: Test shoots;

direct mail pieces, specialized mailing lists, portfolio prints and

cases, and finding a good agent or "rep" who can help open

doors for you.

Ellen von Unwerth is one of the top fashion shooters today and I've never seen her with anything but 35mm. That doesn't mean she doesn't use other things when I'm not looking, but she shoots a lot with 35mm. The quality of your book is going to be far more important.

Hi Tina,

 

Ellis and Jeff both make good points, ultimately it's what you have in your portfolio that makes the difference, and how you get those images becomes irrelevant if they get you work.

 

But having said that, the equipment IS important, because those are the tools you will be working with, and you want them to support you and make it easy to produce the pictures you're after.

 

If you're serious about high fashion work then you will almost certainly need 35mm AND medium format systems, one will not replace the other, unless your style and approach is completely tied to one way of working and permits you the luxury of sticking to that.

 

Generally speaking, only the top pros like Von Unwerth can be that particular about who they will work for, the rest of us need to pay the bills and tailor the work to the client's needs.

 

I have moved away from it now, but I used to shoot a lot of fashion, and have worked for upscale magazines like Harper's Bazaar, as well as design firms.

 

What I would say about MF for fashion work is this: You need a system that is flexible enough to handle a wide range of assignments, one that will let you rent lenses and accessories as the need arises, one that fits your style of working, and certainly I would not invest in one that won't have readily available digital capabilities.

 

Those criteria really narrow the field down to 2 brands...Mamiya and Hasselblad.

 

I just got the new issue of Photo District News, and inside is their annual Equipment and Resource Guide, and they profile some of the top rental and production service companies in the USA. One of the questions they asked all of them is what are the most popular rental items?

 

Two systems in particular popped up over and over again...Profoto lighting and Mamiya RZ cameras. There's a reason for that. Rental houses are great places to talk to when you are researching equipment purchases, because they have broad experience in what gear works, lasts, and suits a wide range of needs.

 

I'm trying to avoid being real brand specific here, and instead give you some guidelines to figure this out for yourself, but I will comment on the format thing, just because I've sort of come full circle with it over the last 15 years as a working pro.

 

If most of your work is going to be in the studio, go with the biggest frame size that's practical for the subject matter, and that's 6x7. Large format is NOT practical. Too slow, too expensive, too rigid. 6x7 shot correctly will do everything you mention, including the poster size enlargements.

 

My system is the RZ67II, and I use it to shoot a very wide variety of commercial work, 90% of which is people oriented. I can easily rent extra backs or oddball lenses for it when I need them, as opposed to tying up money by purchasing them. All of the digital back manufacturers use this camera as a platform (I've used the Kodak DCS Pro Back with mine, which is fantastic) and it's been a very reliable system for me.

 

645 has become much more popular recently with the advent of autofocus models, but I just don't really get it as a format selection. If it's the ONLY camera system you will own, it's probably the best compromise available, BUT generally speaking, you've got all the same expense, weight, bulk, and hassle of any MF SLR, but a much smaller frame.

 

And it can't begin to compete with the speed, metering, and lens selection of modern 35mm AF systems. And when you start trying to follow focus twirling models you will sorely miss that.

 

6x6 is an old fashioned format to many people (although I love it for personal work where I can print square) and when you crop it to standard page or print sizes you're back to 645.

 

So at any rate, I hope this gives you some food for thought...

 

Good luck to you!

Forgot something!

 

You might want to look up Robert Anderson, who is a contributor to Photo.net, and e-mail him for info.

 

Robert is a very talented and accomplished fashion shooter who works regularly for editorial and commercial clients, so he certainly knows the contemporary scene.

 

When I last spoke to him he was living in his own private Idaho working on a book project, but I think he still lurks around here from time to time.

I went with Hassy because rental gear (in the event of a equip failure) is always available at a moments notice. Bronica 645 is a great system, but few rental houses have it. I like the hand held quick shooting style available on 645 however, which is not easy with 6x6 or 6x7. Of course for the "blown out background" look, 35mm is almost the only way to go�300 or 400mm lenses shot nearly wide open -- something difficult to obtain with medium format.

I know five different high fashion photographers and I will be damed if they don't each use a different camera system. Yup, there's one with the Mamiya RZ67, another with the Bronica, a third with the Fuji 680II, the fourth with the Hasselblad and the fifth with the Pentax 67. One uses the Holga with some regularity, another switches between 35mm, 645, and the 67.

 

The point is this: each one responded to his favoured system in his own way. One has learnt to adapt his techniques to his system, annother bought and sold and bought and sold and finally settled on one. Yet another has three to four systems which he uses interchangeably depending on his mood.

 

Before you spend your hard-earned dollars, R-E-N-T. You will know in a hurry if you live with it or not.

 

Don't worry about billboard size just yet. Find a format and camera system that you like and leave the format arguments to the marketing men.

 

By the way, Ellis and Moses give great advice. If you feel that I am talking BS, you'd do well to listen to them.

<I>Ellen von Unwerth is one of the top fashion shooters today and I've never seen her with anything but 35mm. That doesn't mean she doesn't use other things when I'm not looking, but she shoots a lot with 35mm.</I><P>

 

Of course she has a characteristic style for which 35mm is appropriate. And that's a key point actually, because these days in fashion photography, as in art and music and other aspects of popular culture, things are in a state of chaos. There are few widely recognized standards that everyone aspires to.<P>

 

Last year I took a course that looked at the history of fashion-photography and it's interesting how much more uniform styles of shooting and lighting were decades ago than today. I don't know if that reflected less variety in equipment types or just a generally more conservative style. but today you can pick up a copy of Italian Vogue or W or Elle, or whatever and see literally every conceivable style of work, ranging from things that look like handheld snapshots, to beautiful, carefully lit studio portraits. You'll see garish lighting, graininess, out-of-focus, weird cropping, strange-cross-processed colors, etc. None of it is 'wrong', because, after all, the client bought it, but some of it makes me cringe from a photographic perspective. <P>

 

Also a lot less stuff is done in the studio than in the past.

During the summer I took a studio-oriented fashion-photography course and I would leaf through major fashion magazines looking for ideas. And, especially with some of the European magazines, you could go through entire issues and not see anything but location shots!<P>

 

I don't know what this adds up to for an answer to your question - probably that you need to develop a personal style, or identify the style your clients want, and then choose equipment appropriate for that.

The problem with choosing equipment based on the style your clients want is that next year it will be something completely different.

 

I learned that one the hard way. When I started my career I bought Hasselblads, but sold them because they just weren't a good fit for me. I had the fashion fever at that time, so I made a point of researching some of the big shooters to see what kind of gear they used, their lighting techniques, etc.

 

Well, the Pentax 6x7 seemed to be THE fashion camera at the time. Guys like Sante D'Orazio, Peter Lindbergh, and Dewey Nicks were using it, and they sure made lots of money, so I thought that might be the way to go.

 

Wrong!

 

I bought the system, and while it was good for some things (handholding with fast film in natural light) it sure sucked at many others (anything with flash, Polaroid capability, fast paced shooting where I had to load and unload frequently).

 

I have since had the opportunity to observe 2 of the guys I mentioned (Lindbergh and D'Orazio) at work on a set, and it suddenly became clear how they made it work, and why I could not, at least to my satisfaction.

 

I got to watch Peter Lindbergh shoot a spread for Vogue on the backlot at Universal Studios, and he did indeed use the Pentax...6 of them. 4 were loaded with film and had identical lenses, and as he finished a roll an assistant (one of four) handed him a fresh camera and reloaded the one he took.

 

The other 2 bodies were devoted to Polaroid backs, one for color, one for B&W.

 

Problems with flash sync? Nope. Not when you are using 3 18K HMI's that sell for about $22000, and a couple of 20x20' silks to shoot them through. You NEED four assistants to rig those bad boys.

 

He had the budget and resources to make that system work for him...I did not.

 

So I changed systems again, and bought the Mamiya 645 ProTL. Great camera and lenses, but guess what? The 645 trans just didn't cut it for me anymore after using 6x7 for a few years. It seemed like a definite step down to me.

 

Next!

 

I kept that system, but also began to buy and use RZ67 gear. Used them both for a while, but eventually became so comfortable with the RZ that I sold off the 645 system.

 

Trust me when I say this is a very expensive way to go about it!

 

Renting equipment is a very good idea, but also won't tell the whole story. I rented each of the systems I mentioned before buying, but sometimes you just have to LIVE with something for a while before you really get a sense of it's pros and cons...at least I do.

 

My point is: Don't buy a system based only on what the current trends are, they are going to change. That's the very nature of fashion photography. Try to buy for the long haul.

 

And finally, regarding style. Peter is right, you absolutely have to develop your own vision. You have to perfect it, polish it, and market it.

 

Then you have to be willing to throw it out the window and start over.

 

Again, it's the nature of the beast (and one of the reasons I moved away from it, the transitory nature of it got old for me).

 

Magazines and advertisers want to be on the leading edge of style, and they only work with photographers who are in tune with that. Whatever is hot "right now" is what they want, and it changes constantly.

 

You have to be willing to reinvent yourself annually if you want to be in demand.

 

There are icons in the biz that don't have to slavishly follow the trends: Helmut Newton, Bruce Weber, Patrick Demarchelier, and a few others at their level. But that's because they INVENTED the trends, and they're at the top of the pyramid.

 

Nobody needs a Helmut Newton copycat...he's still working!

 

Best of luck...

Are you "starting" a career or hoping for one?

 

If you already have a good portfolio, then you will already have settled on the kind of equipment you prefer to use. If not, then you need to pick something that will let you develop your skills and style. That could be any type of camera, but 35mm has much more more flexibility than the other formats. And digital not only gives you instant feedback, but allows you to shoot as much as you want with no film and processing costs.

 

Get a D1 or a D30 - or even if you decide to get a traditional camera, get something like a 995 to practice with.

John! This is Tina; we shot together in St. Petersburg; I'm the stylist! Remember we did the shoot where we had a model in the red white and blue couture gown; red beads all down her neck, blonde girl with her hair done elaborate. Wow! Nice to see you on this forum! What have you been up to? I moved to NY last year; as you can see I'm looking to conquer the photography aspect of this biz to round everything out. I'm looking to open a studio up here in the near furture. How have you been? What type of equipment did you use for the shoot we did? Any pointers you could give me for going into photography? Talk to you soon! Take Care. Tina

<I>"There will be a lot of time put in each shot; and quality is utmost important."</I>

<P>

the problem is your definition of quality. by quality, do you mean image resolution? the light? your ability as photographer? if all you're interested in is <I>high resolution</i>, go buy an 11*14 large format camera.

<P>

you can get quality from 35mm, from medium format, and large format. but they're different types of qualities. whatever equipment john used in his fashion shoot is completely irrelevent, because every person has his/her own idea or ideas of quality. the whole <i>idea</i> behind fashion is to sell a <I>mood and atmosphere</i>, along with the fashion -- you can do this with any equpiment, even those damn $20 holga medium format cameras.

<P>

you're just asking the wrong questions and just way too many of them, in my opinion. no one can answer these for you. you're ready to open up a studio, but you have absolutely no idea what you really want. but back to your original question, all you want are "high quality" images for large poster sizes? buy a 8*10, or 11*14 viewcamera. images by a D1 or D30 in terms of resolution are pathetic in comparison. then again, you'd have to learn about shift and tilt, rise and fall, bellows compensation, the scheimpflug principle, and so on. the polaroids and film to go along with the camera might cost you a bit, too...

<P>

this truly isn't meant to be negative, just critical of your approach.

excellent posts by Moses Sparks above, by the way. he makes some very good points and observations.

Yes Tina, it's a tough one. Sounds like I'm in a similar situation. I've been shooting Fashion with a Pentax 67 which is choking me with limitations.

 

Now I need to move up in gear as I move up in work. 67 is definitely a great all round choice. I need professional system 67 with polaroid, backs, good flash sync, etc, basically sounds like the RZ67...PERFECT...it's got it all!

 

BUT what if I want to take it off the tripod and work quickly on location? And when 645 would do perfectly as scan size? Maybe sometimes the RZ is 'too much'. This makes me also need a 645 system with similar spec. After weeks of agonizing over mountains of advice it's down to two choices in 645: the Mamiya 645Pro and the Contax 645. Contax sounds PERFECT except in PRICE, Mamiya sounds perfect in PRICE but a bummer in film flatness and build(especially lenses and back-to-body area). I'll be agonizing for a while yet on this one.

 

For 67 with the spec you will find useful the RZ is a winner!

 

By the way, one of the reasons Ellen von Unwerth shoots a lot of 35mm is because she has perfected the use and abuse of the amazing Polaroid instant colour slide films, that come in 35mm only. They're very 'cool'!

Good Luck Tina, sometimes it hurts...

Sorry I forgot: the RZ also has 'real' 645 and 66 backs, effectively being 3-in-1.

Moses, great post. I agree the best friend of Pentax 67 must be HMI!

Now I need some help too: what's your practical experience of the 645 Pro as regarding film-flatness plus back-to-body and lens build? After much research these 2 points scare me and should be best confirmed with long-term use. Imagine money is no problem(!) Am I really better off avoiding the 645Pro?...

This is in response to m. lohninger's 1st response. Lohninger, I'm opening up a FASHION MODELING studio; to train models, which I have done for years; and am extremely acclaimed for. With or without being versed in photography in addition. My asking about John's camera equipment was a question to satisfy my own curiosity about our shoot together. PLEASE, you're jumping the gun; you're criticizing me without even knowing the facts of the full story. You need to work on that before you try to impose your opinions. Thank You.

well, tina, knowing that helps a lot! you're right, i didn't know the facts -- only the ones you put down. it was mine (as it was probably everyone's) impression that you're doing a quick jumpstart into fashion photography as fashion photographer. that's why there were a lot of posts of film format size, taking it easy, etc. to me, you seemed like some random beginner, who's "starting a career" with enough money who's already breaking his/her head if their system is ready to take billboard-size photos.

<P>

i'll reiterate, however. you said you're not interested in convenience. if you're into high quality, go get a 4x5 or 8x10 viewcamera. you can't go better than that. check out the <a href="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/index.html">large format photography homepage</A> for equpiment reviews, techniques, information, etc.

This response is to Jack regarding the Mamiya 645 Pro...

 

Great system, really, but had a few problems that bugged me.

 

Film flatness and build were not among them though. I never had any complaints in that regard. The optical quality of the lenses was extremely good, and they certainly felt rugged enough for me. I owned the 35, 55 leaf, 80 leaf, 150 leaf, and 210.

 

I print 16x20's from negs quite often, and the enlargements from the 645 negs were very good indeed, so film flatness obviously was not an issue.

 

I think the buzz about film flatness and poor build is probably based on opinions about earlier models, but doesn't really apply to the Pro TL (which is what I had) and the 645AF. They are very well thought out systems, and the range of lenses for the TL in particular is very impressive. The leaf shutter lenses, 35 ultra wide, zooms, and high speed teles like the 200/2.8 APO give you options that just don't exist in other 645 systems.

 

As to the problems I had, they weren't really "problems" as much as design quirks that began to bug me and which I decided I didn't want to live with. I shoot a LOT, and I spend so much time behind the camera it has to fit me like a glove or I find it distracts me from what's important, and that's producing pictures for my client.

 

One thing was the leaf lenses. The fact that Mamiya makes 3 of them puts them miles ahead of the competition if you need high speed flash sync. But when you change them, you have to disconnect the PC cord AND the cable from the motor drive to the lens. You also have to remember to reconnect the PC cord to the LENS and not the BODY. If you don't, the flash will still fire but you WILL NOT be sync'd. Also, every time you change lenses, the meter coupling between the prism and the lens stops the lens down to it's smallest aperture. In a fast paced session where you have to change lenses quickly and want to keep the rhythm going, that's a lot of stuff to remember, and potential disaster if you don't.

 

By comparison, with the RZ I can sync the power pack to the body because it's all electronic. Then I set all the lenses I'm going to use to the working aperture, and forget it. I never have to mess with a sync cord at all or remember to reset my aperture, I just bayonet the lenses on and off as fast as I need to and resume shooting. HUGE advantage over every other leaf shutter SLR out there except the Rollei 6008, which doesn't exist in "Rental World".

 

The other thing was the format itself, and some of it's limitations. One of the things I do quite often is shoot large groups, like portraits of the cast and crew when they wrap a movie, or the entire staff of a corporation. These can often include 200-300 people.

 

The resolution of all those faces on a 645 neg wasn't really cutting it when I blew them up. I compared them to some I had done with my Pentax 6x7 and I could definitely see the difference. Not huge, but I'm a perfectionist.

 

Also, proof sheets and Polaroids were too small to view them really well with my "40 something" eyes. Polaroids are a fact of life in my business, and I want them as big as I can get them.

 

Bear in mind that these are things very specific to the kind of work I do, which is only about 5-10% fashion these days, so they may not apply to you at all. I offer them only as a response to your question.

 

If you really want to go 645, I would look at the Mamiya 645AF as well as the Contax and the Pro TL. I would buy that camera in a heartbeat if I could justify it, and didn't have an LA mortgage and two kids to feed!

 

All the digital backs will fit it, and when I tried it out alongside the Contax I found the autofocus to be considerably faster. Not blazing fast mind you, but very useful.

 

Why don't you narrow it down to the two top contenders, and rent them both for a weekend so you can try them side by side in the conditions you typically shoot in?

 

That will cost you a couple hundred bucks with multiple backs and lenses, but could potentially save you thousands by not buying the wrong system.

 

I've always thought of buying a medium format system as something like getting married...it's a long term committment, it's expensive going in, and it's REALLY expensive getting out.

 

And finally, to all those people who are going to tell you that equipment is not really important (if you are shooting commercial work you already know that's bullshit) I say this...equipment is like money, it's only important if you don't have any.

 

Shoot straight my friend!

I have difficulty w/ the original question. I know nothing about "high fashion work" but it seems like this is a super-competitive, cut-throat metier that one learns first from coursework, but mostly hard work, sweat and mopping up behind the pros.

 

Just like in the natl-level show horse business (family in it 50 years). If someone came up to us, "Help, I'm new to this. I want to be a professional trainer, do I buy a "Impressive" daughter, do I buy a Windy Ryan saddle, What is the best choice?" I'd say "WHOA there." To be a pro, you gotta learn to the business from the old pros, learn to really, really ride, show you are in it for the long haul, show your talent. You don't learn about being a professional trainer asking questions on a bulletin board." Then, once you've learned the ropes, you can go pro and buy the fancy horses and saddles (or in her case, cameras).

So my guess is that the questioner oughtta just stick with what equip she already has and learn the ropes. Hanging out with the pro's will immerse her in what equipment is best.

Hello Tina,

 

My name is Ed Lau. I'm a ex-fashion / advertising photographer from

New York City. I can offer you some insights into the types of equipment used in the industry. Only certain equipment is used or should I say accepted for Fashion work. E-mail me directly and I will explain.

 

Ed

 

E-Mail = EdwardGLau@aol.com

WOW Theres a lot of information and advice on this thread.

 

I am a pro fashion photographer, have been for 33 years.

 

Heres my 1 pence worth.

 

I have over the years shot with 35mm, medium 6x7, med 6x6, med 645 film and digital cameras. Becauase of the way I like to shoot and my own style, I now exclusivly shoot with 35mm digital using mainly Nikon D2x plus D2H and D100 as back up bodies.

 

Lenses 17 to 55mm, 35mm to 70mm 70 to 200mm zoom all 2,8 all Nikon

 

Location lighting battery powered: Balcar generator plus 3 heads, reflectors and softboxes etc.

 

Location lighting continuous I rent HMI or Arri 3000wts 1000wts and 500wts and scrims, depends on clients budget.

 

Location available light, large reflectors and diffussion screens.

 

Fill-in flash Speed lights either bounced or direct and Metz hammer heads bounced of reflectors or direct.

 

Studio lighting: What ever is available to rent at the hire studio. Mainly Broncolor or Elincrome. Its what you do with light that counts

 

I believe that simplicity is always the best policey.

 

Check out my web site to see what I produce If you have a question about how what which and why Ill be happy to explain.

 

http://www.brucesmithphotographer.com/index.php

 

Swimwear shoot Australia Dec 2005 shot 35mm digital I think with the D2H ??

Sorry 80 to 200 zoom