Get Yourself Prepared To Shoot Swimwear Model
We've had one hell of a cold, long winter this year here in North America. On top of that, I live in Houston, Texas, so this business of freezing rain in March can go die in a fire already. I enjoyed shooting moody styles outside during this extended drabness in recent months if I'm honest. However, sunny days are coming and I couldn't happier it because summer means outdoor swimwear projects begin, which is one of my favorite styles to shoot. However, having been so bleak for so long this winter, have you gotten yourself prepped for this most popular of fashion and glamour photography seasons?
I'll preface all of this with acknowledging that there is nothing more stereotypical than a poorly shot photo of a model in a bikini. The bottom line is, that is something you see way too much in our industry, often so frequently that you end up getting a bad taste in your mouth for bikini photos in general. But, it doesn't have to be this way - you really can make your swimwear photos stand out above the crowd if you take the time and effort to plan and pre-envision what you want to do.
While it's not quite warm enough, even here in south Texas, to start taking on outdoor swim projects, I reasoned this is the perfect time to go through my checklist of things to do to prepare for the season.
Location Scouting
Right off the bat, you need to know where your favorite locations are to shoot commercial swimwear work, be it in your city or town or anywhere in the world you travel to with any regularity. When the client calls on you, it's always best to have a handful of locations already in mind that you can recommend. And since you'll be shooting swimwear, your locations should ideally make sense with the world of bikinis and swimwear fashion pieces in general. Naturally, there are no hard and fast rules about locations for swimwear photography, necessarily, but having a varied set of options, up front, is always ideal since you sometimes don't have tons of time to take advantage of that perfect summer weekend weather when it happens.
Lenses, etc.
To me, outdoor portraiture of any kind comes down to lenses. Specifically, primes. I admit it openly, I'm a prime snob, and make no apologies for being so. But the benefits of prime lenses for outdoor portrait work are so immense, I simply won't choose zooms when shooting outdoor swimwear.
But why? Well, for one, prime lenses are far more along in their evolution than their zoom brethren. Some long-time photography veterans, such as my father (who started shooting professionally in 1972) will confidently pit their 1980's era primes against any prime from today, claiming that prime lens technology hasn't really changed much since then. In reality, this is, of course, not the case. But, all you need to do is spy a few medium format enlargements from 30 years ago, shot with top grade primes, and you will see intense sharpness, clarity, color and contrast that easily compares to today's primes in every way that matters.
Not to mention, if you are setting up your shot, in full detail, why bother with a zoom? Select the focal lengths you want (say, 50, 85 and 135) and run with it. There will be a delightful consistency to your work, and you won't get lazy on set. When you have to work to get the shot set up so you can use your 85mm or 135mm, you generally think it through in far more detail AND you benefit from the flattering shots you'll get. Why? Suffice to say, there is a reason 85mm and 135mm lenses exist - they just work so damn well in any type of portraiture.
Lighting
In recent months, when I shoot outdoors, I have been prioritizing natural light over mixed lighting as often as I can. I drag along various scrims and reflectors and explore positions, poses and locations that best suit a natural light shot whenever possible. I love large, thick scrims because of the softness they afford me, but I just have to consider the stop or two loss they cause when setting up sets. I also prefer white reflectors over silver ones most of the time, for the same reasons of softness.
Last summer I also shot part of a calendar and poster project for model Aneta Kowal while in Florida, and I worked hard to see how much I could do with natural light. I ended up strobing more than I planned on, but I simply had to improvise each set, each day, and craft the best shot I could envision based on location and conditions.
