Learn This Boring Lighting, Make Nice Cash

Let’s be sincere: look e-book pictures isn’t glamorous. It gained’t get you a Vogue cowl or a viral marketing campaign, however it’ll get you paid. Repeatedly. Reliably. And when you’re good about it, it may possibly turn into one of the vital constant and profitable revenue streams in your pictures enterprise.

When I owned an enormous pictures studio in Los Angeles, I noticed shopper after shopper reserving my studio. I’d see the photographers create essentially the most uninspiring lighting, and it puzzled me. How did they e-book that many roles? It’s straightforward. It’s not in regards to the {photograph}—it is in regards to the clothes they’re pushing to department shops, on-line websites, and consumers internationally. That’s why I re-created the Banana Republic marketing campaign within the studio. If you be taught this lighting that I show within the video, you ought to be in your technique to profitability quite rapidly!

Look Book Photography is Profitable

Fashion manufacturers want look books each single season: winter, spring, summer time, fall. And while you nail the primary one, odds are they’ll name you again for the subsequent three due to continuity with the model and since you are straightforward to work with. That’s the magic. For the look e-book business, they are not searching for one thing out of Vogue journal. Quite actually, they need JCPenney-level lighting in a contemporary manner.

The lighting must be clear, minimal, and flattering. Not inventive. Not artsy. Not dramatic. This just isn’t the time to “show your range.” This is the time to showcase garments. You’re making a software that helps a model promote. That means delicate shadows, even publicity, and no moody distractions that cover the garment’s particulars.

Let’s speak about a lighting setup that will get you 85% of the way in which there each time. This is my 85% rule, and it is what I educate any of my college students. You do not need to copy somebody’s model 100%. You might be impressed as much as 85%, and the final 15% is your magic. Even with the boring look e-book pictures lighting, you possibly can usher in your individual model. The video reveals you ways to try this.

When you get it proper, you’ll see it: your shopper’s clothes out of the blue appear to be they belong in a Banana Republic marketing campaign.

Fashion manufacturers aren’t searching for lighting experiments. They’re searching for consistency, readability, and confidence. They need to flip by means of a glance e-book and instantly perceive how a garment appears to be like, strikes, and suits.

If your photos really feel editorial or overly stylized, they will’t make buying selections. Simple lighting builds belief, and it screams “I know what I’m doing.” And belief results in repeat work—particularly in vogue, the place campaigns roll out a number of instances a 12 months.

Master this setup. Tweak it barely for every model. Learn the way to maintain the lighting impartial however lovely. You don’t must reinvent the wheel each time. You must be the particular person they name each time. Watch the video to get a play-by-play of this Banana Republic–model shoot.