What Is Fashion Photography?

With more and more people into photography and with more and more people wanting to have their own photo shoot experience these days, it's also likely that people have false or insufficient information about the various types of photography. Take fashion photography for instance. While it's true that many people have their own version of it, it's also possible that their idea or notion of fashion photography is insufficient or worse, entirely wrong. This, of course, is not good.
Hence, in order to clear things up about exactly what fashion photography is, let's take a look at its history, the fun and stylish details and even talk about the players involved in fashion. You might be surprised at what you will find out.
First of all, fashion photography is a genre of photography. It's not what photography is all about. It's just a sub-type of photography. From the name itself, one can deduce that fashion photo shoots has something to do with clothes, accessories, shoes and other fashion items. Because of its image of being "glamorous," "stylish," "fun" and even "lucrative," fashion photography has become an industry entirely on its own. Photographers involved in fashion are, of course, called fashion photographers. A lot of fashion photographers have already started and developed careers entirely involving fashion photo shoots. Several talented ones have already succeeded in this photography genre. Take note, however, that not all photographers can be fashion photographers. And this is for the simple reason that not all photographers have enough skill, connections, "eye" and - while this may sound rather odd for many - patience to last as a fashion photographer.
Let's dwell on the history of fashion photography. Did you know that fashion photography evolved from the time of countesses and their official court garbs? In 1856, a book written by Adolphe Braun was published. It contained a total of 288 photographs of Virginia Oldoini, Countess di Castiglione, who was a Tuscan noble woman at the court of Napoleon III. The photos of the countess clothed in those royal wedding garbs were featured in the book. Because of this, history regards her as the very first fashion model.
Also, the photo shoot that she underwent is regarded as the very first fashion photography session. Hence, fashion photography stemmed from the fact that a countess, along with her multi-layered, detailed and expensive looking frocks, was all but too happy to sit in front of a camera.
Fast forward 20th century - fashion photo shoots became the norm especially among French magazines. From La Mode Practique to magazines produced by Conde Nast, photographs has taken a different form (as halftone printing became possible). Still, fashion photography then used the same concept as fashion photography now. For instance, in 1911, a fashion photographed named Edward Steichen was challenged by then publisher of Jardin des Modes and La Gazette du Bon Ton Lucien Vogel to use the art of photography in order to promote fashion. What Steichen did was take photos of the gowns which were designed by famed couturier Paul Poiret. Steichen's photos were published in the April 1911 release of Art et Decoration, a magazine. Those photos later went down in history as the very first ones taken during a modern shoot. Now wonder that many say that fashion photo shoots was well-loved in Europe.
And, finally, in today's 21st century - not only has fashion photography further evolved into a bigger industry but fashion photographers have become aplenty - and for good reason. Apart from being a career that can let you manage your own time and pace, being a fashion photographer these days can also be lucrative and can open a lot of other doors, career-wise. Take Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, for instance. To be a part of their pool of fashion photographers can be a dream come true for many. And of course, to be one of the models who will undergo photography sessions with the professionals behind these popular magazines can also be the biggest break in one's career. Needless to say, the power of fashion photo shoots is akin to the power of the flame to a moth. It must be emphasized, however, that not all fashion photography sessions and not all fashion photographers can provide the best experience for all. As earlier mentioned, it takes skill, patience, "eye" and sheer professionalism to handle a real fashion photography session.

Photography Courses Online - An Overview

Today, photography courses online are of great importance instead of the conventional classes. You can attend these online classes from the ease of your home and can fix your own schedules. These online photography courses are perfect for both the fresher and experienced students since the syllabus of such courses vary from person to person depending on their requirement.
There isn't any interactive experience in an online class and the lack of students around you makes it a little harder for you to work independently. On the other hand, online photography courses have a lot of benefits that draw hundreds and thousands of students to online schools each year.
Learning Experience - Online classes cover a wide range of areas and have better course outline than the conventional ones. There are a lot of specialized courses for students to select from. Students who are in search of very particular areas of studies, online courses are the best resource for them. These courses are updated regularly and an insight to the up-to-date tools and technology in photography field is provided.
Techniques - There is more than one technique to capture the same subject. The techniques for capturing vary and for each of these techniques you will see different results. A good online course can give you a proper insight to different techniques of photography, which can be used on the same subject. Depending on the kind of technique you follow, the result will vary.
Dealing with your Subject - For any kind of photography whether it is still life or fashion photography, the method of handling your subject varies a lot. Your model's mood swings does not matter when it is about still life photography but you have to give proper instructions to your model. This requires a lot of patience and practice. Likewise, it is easy to have command on your model depending on different lightning conditions but for still life you have to follow complex setups to rearrange lighting settings.
Photo Editing - It is a difficult process nowadays, particularly when you take photographs in RAW format. Photographers take RAW format pictures so that they can make some corrections without losing the quality of the picture. It is a common belief that it is important to take RAW format pictures if you want to retain the quality after editing but it is not true anymore. High quality JPEG format is also very efficient nowadays. There is a limit on the number of corrected you can do and you must always stay within the limits. Accurate editing techniques can help you in enhancing the visual aspect of every photo. Therefore, learning editing techniques is very important.
Know the Good and Bad - There are a number of pictures which appeal to us when we are amateur but when seen through an expert's eye, just a few of them are of good quality. Factors like composition, blur, exposure, lighting, and number of objects in a frame play a vital role in deciding whether a photograph is good or bad.