Photographing Clothes for Web

Hi, I have an opportunity of shooting a range of clothes for a web

site catalogue. As I usually work outdoors I will be renting the

lighting and studio space to do the work. It proposed that

everything is shot onto a white bg to minimise the amount of cut

outs required.

I would appreciate any advice on lighting and the best way of

shooting products on mannequins. I am particularly interested in how

to shoot a clothes on a torso whilst still being able to see the

back of the garment through the V line.

Thanks in advance, David

Hi David,

 

First of all, welcome to PN.

 

2nd, if studio work is new to you, this job although not impossible will require a very sharp learning curve. Take a look at the various Lighting Themes archived in this forum for ideas and specific help http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00BjHh&tag=

 

Basically there is a world of difference between taking shots that ilustrate the garment to taking shots that sell it. If you want to sell it then shooting on mannequins simply won't do it because they lack sex appeal - and sex sells clothes. Although there's a big difference between high-end fashion and this type of job, the same principles apply - fashion shots sell the person inside the clothes and persuade the viewer that they will look like the person if they have the same clothes. Do they want to look like a mannequin?

 

Hope this helps

'I am particularly interested in how to shoot a clothes on a torso whilst still being able to

see the back of the garment through the V line.'

 

Impossible.

 

You sometimes see mannequin shots in magazines, where the mannequin has been

photoshopped out, but you end up with a missing 'V' which looks kind of weird.

 

Much more common is to photograph the garment on a white background on the floor.

Works well for simple garments (t-shirts etc), more difficult for complicated dresses.

 

Best to have a look at some online clothing retailers. The use of models is common, but

you see a lot of cutouts too.

Color correction will be at least as critical as lighting, if the photos are intended for marketing the clothing. Buyers will expect the color of the clothing they receive matches what they saw online or in the catalog. You'll probably find yourself becoming more intimate with Pantone than you'd imagined.

Thanks for the feed back, I take on board the 'model' shots, the fashion element is being

taken care of so it will work in conjunction with the product when shown online. Here are a

couple of links to reference images, I am particularly intrigued by this knitwear shot

http://www.mandco.com/bin/venda?ex=co_wizr-

productgrid&bsref=mackays&step=shopcartmulti&invt=1057790&ordercol=alphanu#

 

this is clearly done on a wire frame

http://www.thomaspink.co.uk/uk/product-details/?41200309P2K

 

At the moment I mainly shoot small product web shots, using 2 EL 500's with softboxes,

this works well but I think I will need to add to the set up to get the results required.

 

Clearly there is some PS work involved to get them clean, but I will will use lighting to get

the bg's as white a possible to minimise the amount of post processing.

Apols, I thought posting as 'text' would avoid the external links clicking through, please copy

and past them in your web browser