One of my long time business colleagues (and partner in fashion photo crime) has been Inez Lewis; I caught up with Inez in Los Angeles and asked her top five tips for creating mind-blowing, thought provoking fashion photography. Here’s her advice:

1. When it comes to lighting and background, you have to plan out shoots as much as you can.  If you don’t have the right lighting, you don’t have anything. Get samples of the clients vision before the shoot. Having a client do a bit of home work to show you visual inspiration will make for a much more successful shoot.

2. Consistency is key. It’s a professional fashion photographer’s job to make sure his or her client’s hair and makeup, styling are consistent with the client’s vision and goals.

3. Story boarding is a big help to organize shoot day(s). Create a flow chart of the models, their time scheduling and outfits. It’s okay to take rough digital photos of what models are supposed to wear and how they should pose. It cuts down change time during the shoot day(s). If you’re working with a videographer, make sure they understand the day’s flow so that photography and video shoots are lost.

4. Be prepared for things to go wrong.  Make sure you have extra light bulbs, fuses, lenses, directions for everyone, backup models, a list of makeup artists and assistants to call.

5. If you are not working with a professional stylist; have a representative from your client on on hand to be the extra eyes at the shoot.  The photographer can not see everything. From twisted straps, wrinkles, smudges, a sleeve folded the wrong way, there is a lot that needs to be paid attention to while shooting.

Extra Tidbit: When shooting jewelry something as simple as a small pocket flashlight can give that gem the extra twinkle it needs to stand out in the photo. Add it to your professional kit!

Inez Lewis is a professional photographer in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. You can find out more about Inez Lewis on her website or her blog.

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