A Guide to Photographing and Creatively Directing a Fashion Lookbook

When working within the fashion industry -- whether as a photographer, creative director, or maybe even a brand owner yourself -- one of the most common concepts you'll come across is a fashion lookbook, which involves a series of images designed to promote the clothing of a brand or clothing collection.

Within this class, I'll be providing you with a guide to apply to your own shoots, walking you through the pre-production process as well as tips for shooting your lookbook, referencing a real-world example of a recent lookbook that I photographed for a well-known sports retailer.

What You Will Learn

We'll be exploring the steps you need to take in order to produce, direct and shoot a fashion lookbook. I'll be walking you through the pre-production process, from trying to understand your brief, to choosing your models and locations. Next, we'll be diving into the production process and exploring the best practices when it comes to being on the shoot.

We'll be covering:

• What a fashion lookbook is and what it's used for
• How to understand a brief (and what a brief should include)
• How to choose your locations for the shoot
• Best practices for organising and scheduling the shoot day
• Considerations on styling
• Tips for shooting your lookbook, focusing on on-location shoots
• How shooting in the studio differs from shooting on-location
• A photo review of a lookbook I recently shot for a well-known sports retailer

Who is This Class For?

This class is aimed at photographers but is also useful for creative directors and producers, as well as clothing brand directors.

• Photographers who are looking to start shooting fashion lookbooks and campaigns
• Creative directors and producers who want to start organising and designing fashion shoots for brands
• Clothing brand directors or owners who want to start commissioning photoshoots for their brand

Extra Resources:

If you're struggling to understand colour theory and how to use it in your shoots, you can explore more in my Skillshare class How to Use Colour to Enhance Your Photography or, if you want more details on how to plan your photoshoots and find inspiration for them, you can find more in my class Portrait Photography 101: Transforming Your Vision into a Workflow.