Proud Photography Blog

If you decide to pursue fashion photography or work on model portfolios, it’s important to work with a stylist.  Stylists have a good knowledge of fashion and trends.  They with clothes, choosing outfits that flatter their models and look good on the camera.  They will also have an idea of what’s on trend, and the best way to use things like accessories.

If you have never worked with a stylist before it may seem like an unnecessary expense but something it’s worth making the investment for the sake of a great set of shots.

Even if you think you are good with clothes, you have to remember that you will be geared towards things of you own taste.  The same applies if you let the model choose their own clothes.  They will have a personal style and look which isn’t right for the shoot.

If you are shooting something like, a models portfolio, then they can decide what they want to wear.  If you are shooting for a client, then you shouldn’t let the model choose the clothes unless the client says this is ok.

Genres of photograph that you may need to hire a stylist for include:

Model Portfolios
Portraits
Makeover type Shots
Glamour Shots
Fashion Shots
Lifestyle Shots
Stock photos including people

A good stylist should know how to flatter a model, and have an understanding of figures and what looks good on camera.  They should have a portfolio of images to show you – look out for things like:

-    Have they matches clothes well?
-    Have they used appropriate colors? Bright for shots that require it, darker shades for serious shots?
-    Does anything stand out as looking ‘wrong’ to you?
-    Do the clothes fit the model perfectly? (A good stylist has to work wonders with bulldog clips and pins to pull clothes in sometimes!)
-    Are the accessories, like shoes and jewelry appropriate?
-    Are there any creases or crinkles in the clothes that shouldn’t be there?
-    Is the fabric appropriate? Are there any bright hot spots on shiny fabric that look wrong?
-    Do the clothes fit the overall look?
If you are happy with the way things look, you then need to show the shots to other people in your team (if you already have other people involved!). If you have a client, you definitely need them to look at the stylists work so that they are happy and content with who you have chosen.

As well as qualified stylists there are a lot of trainee stylists so make sure you get in touch as many will work for free for the experience.

The best stylist will also have contacts in the industry and may be able to get designers clothes, which look great in photographs and will also have things like basic sewing/dress making skills. Quite often clothes don’t it properly so a good stylist should be able to take up a hem here and reduce a waist line there.