A Beginner's Guide to Shooting Fashion Projects

Fashion projects are a unique mix of creativity and strategy, where bringing ideas to life means balancing artistic vision with practical planning. Whether you’re shooting for a brand, a designer, or building your independent portfolio, it’s all about nailing the details—understanding the client’s needs, organising the logistics, and staying adaptable when things don’t go as planned.

To make it easier, we’ve put together a beginner’s guide packed with tips to help you navigate the process, from the first idea to the final shot :)

1. Understanding Client Needs

Most fashion projects start with the client reaching out. They often provide a rough idea of what they want, like a mood board, a reference video, or some visuals. However, clients may overlook the logistical and creative complexities involved in making their vision a reality.

Your job is to assess their input and refine it. Consider:

• Feasibility: Does their vision align with the budget and timeline?

"I've shared some references from Gucci & Louis Vuitton, we have a total budget of LKR 100,000, I hope that's sufficient"

• Logistics: Can the required location, models, and props be arranged?

"We want to shoot in a location that looks straight out of LoTR"

• Execution: How do you adapt their inspiration to practical, high-quality deliverables?

2.Planning Locations and Logistics

Location scouting a.k.a recce is crucial for fashion shoots. If time allows, visit the location beforehand to assess its suitability. Consider factors like lighting, accessibility, and frames for shooting. If pre-visits aren't possible, spend 30 minutes on arrival planning your shoot.

Location scout with Director, DoP and Photographer

Key things to plan:

• The Sun's Movement: For optimal lighting throughout the day. Understanding the sun's movement and key periods (golden hour, twilight) is essential to achieve the intended look and feel. These usually vary based on the month/season and your location itself (Europe would have different light conditions compared to countries closer to the equator). Here are two apps that we utilise to track the sun’s movement throughout the day as we go about a shoot one tracks the sun’s direction Click here; while the other tracks both the sunset and sunrise times. Click here.

• Flow: Map out how you’ll move through the location to maximise efficiency.

  

Here is a plan for an imaginary lifestyle shoot that is scheduled to happen in Galle Fort, with the sun rising from the right and setting on the left side of the reference map, our path allows for you to utilise the nice soft light we receive in morning in the beach front and then move into the streets of Galle fort in midday where the sun is high up on the sky. As the day progresses towards evening we can move to the west side of the fort once again, utilising the soft golden hour light.

• Breaks: Schedule breaks strategically, e.g. power naps during harsh midday lighting or power naps :)

3.Aligning with the Client's Vision

Clients often provide mood boards or sample visuals to convey the desired look and feel. While helpful, these references might need refining. Always shoot with the final result in mind.

• Lighting Choices: Use harsh light for dramatic looks or soft light for elegance.

• Colour Tones: Match seasonal themes (e.g., muted tones for autumn-winter collections).

• Styling: Ensure the models' outfits and settings align with the story being told.

For example, For the brand Miles & Miles, the shoot required images taken from various locations, while another project had us utilising one space.

4.Balancing Resources and Deliverables

A common challenge is managing high expectations within limited budgets and timelines.

• Set Realistic Goals: Communicate clearly with the client about what’s achievable.

  

• Segment Your Day: Break down deliverables into manageable time slots to ensure coverage, or create a basic call sheet which the team could adhere to. It's very common to spend a lot of hours at start of the shoot in perfecting something only to rush through rest of your schedule which would create inconsistency in what you are producing, Having a teammate to keep track of time and progress is always an added bonus in finishing shoots on time (which would never happen but you can minimise extension :D)

For instance, a shoot requiring 100 photos and 20 videos in one day might need compromises on quality. Focus on delivering consistently good work rather than stretching too thin.

5.Gear and Crew Management

The team and equipment should match the project's scope.

• Crew Size: Keep the team lean if the project demands speed but ensure adequate help for efficiency.

Our crew from "Thyaga" Commercial - Some projects demand a lot of manpower in executing the plan with a lot of moving pieces that needs dedicated people to oversee.

Our crew from "Miles & Miles" Production - sometimes it only takes a handful of people to make things work.

• Gear Selection: Prioritise versatile and essential equipment overhauling unnecessary items. Sometimes having a wide array of gear/equipment options might put you into choice paradox or yield diminishing returns whereas having limited equipments may push your creativity further.

  
  

• Consistent Framing and Composition: Use appropriate focal lengths for the desired style (e.g., 50-85mm for portraits), as well as choose your angles and composition techniques very precisely. e.g., using an ultra wide angle lens for close ups would instantly make your content look quirky and fun but is it part of the concept or treatment?

  
  

6.Flexibility on Set

Fashion shoots rarely go exactly as planned. Be prepared to adapt to unexpected challenges like weather changes.

• Embrace or Adapt: Rain, for example, can become part of the shoot’s aesthetic or prompt a break to wait it out.

• Improvisation: Find creative solutions for unforeseen issues, like using a backup location or adjusting the schedule.

  For example, a large-scale shoot for multiple outfits involved splitting our team—two focused on photos, two on videos, and others handled styling and coordination.

  
  

7.Building a Story

Fashion projects benefit from having a narrative, even if it's subtle.

• Create Continuity: A simple storyline, like our talent entering a cafe, taking a seat, ordering coffee and while reading a book might be a bit more engaging than putting together a montage of freestyle shots.

• Plan Transitions: Though transitions usually come to life in post production, it's always ideal to take your shots with transitions in mind. This allows for the final results to be more seamless.

  
  

8.Refining the Final Look

Post-production plays a critical role in achieving the intended aesthetic.

• Colour Grading - Ensure every step you initiate when editing has the treatment in mind, it is also vital to create an edit style that works throughout the project rather than doing justice to just one image.

  
  

  

Fashion shoots demand a balance between preparation and adaptability. While having a plan is essential, flexibility and problem-solving are equally critical. With these tips, you’ll be better equipped to handle the unique challenges of shooting fashion projects :)