Preparing for your Photo Session or Fashion Shoot

What to Bring to your fashion shoot

I get asked a lot, what do I bring to the photo-shoot. How do I prepare for my Photo Session.”Sometimes I am not asked what to bring?” It becomes a problem for the photographer, because models come with what they are wearing to the shoot. I recommend speaking with your photographer about what you should bring in regarding wardrobe and accessories.

Even though you have a vision of what your photos may look like, do discuss it with the photographer. Be prepared to make adjustments on hair, make-up and wardrobe. Your photographer is knowledgable and has a creative eye to match up your look with wardrobe, lighting style, colors and will make suggestions.

If you want to have the best photos taken bring as much as possible and let the photographer work with you to mix and match you outfits. If you are a female bring nude undergarments that match your skin as closely as possible, or be prepared and adjust with recommendations from the photographer to avoid outlines that may be seen in the photo and could require retouching of the photos.

  Bring the following:

• Clothing selections ON A HANGAR – to avoid wrinkles.
• Jewelry and accessories for each outfit in a small plastic baggie attached to the hangar with the outfit.  It makes it easier to find at your session and saves time when changing quickly.
• Refreshers products for your hair – combs, brushes, etc.  I do not provide these as they are a personal item, so please be sure to bring your own so you can keep the hair looking tidy.  If you use hair spray, bring it along!
• Make up – even GUYS should think about at least chap stick!  Lip gloss or color for girls/women, matte powder to help with skin shine, etc.  Bring more than you think you’ll need just in case!  Watch out for blotchy colored skin, and shine on the face.  Both are difficult to compensate for later, so controlling them before your session will produce more desirable images. Keep it as natural looking as possible, whenever possible so you feel like you look like yourself.  If you would like the names of hair and/or makeup artist I am happy to provide some names of good ones.
• Nail Care – please pay attention to your nails and hands as in many poses they are seen.  So wear rings appropriate to the outfit, coordinating or muted nail color, and have nails manicured cleanly.  THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS SHOTS.
• Face & skin – if you have a sunburn or dry flaking skin your skin will not photograph well and you will not be happy with the results.  Try to avoid sun exposure that will result in sunburn for a week before your session, and if  you are experiencing unusual red splotches or dry flaky patches, be sure to use a good moisturizer and matte powder foundation to even out your skin tone.  Blemishes and light acne can be fixed in post processing, but the overall skin tone will be best if you have a good foundation color OVERALL.  This goes for skin shine also – if you are prone to shiny skin, be sure to use the shine off wipes available at most cosmetic counters to help control the shine for the best skin tones possible in your final images.
• *Wardrobe*: The photographer varies his style and alters settings so that the photographs do not appear too uniform. For this bring enough outfits and shoes for at least six changes. From that large a wardrobe selection you can match a outfit to any particular shoot location. When planning your wardrobe for the shoot remember to bring a lot of different clothing selections. On shoot day, the more clothing that you bring the better clothing options you will have to match or contrast with color and style with the different settings we may cross during the shoot. Most people bring a suitcase with a number of different options and a small carrying bag where they place one outfit likely to be used at one location.