Is Fashion Photography A Lucrative Career Choice In India?

What Is Fashion Photography And Where Did It All Begin?

It was in the late 1800s that the Parisian Fashion Houses began considering fashion photography as an independent professional stream. However, it was regarded as an elite industry, and the perception went on for over a few decades.

In the last few years, due to the advent of social media and numerous photo-sharing app, it made its way into the other sections of the society. Traditional fashion photography, as a profession, is still going strong and is more sorted than ever!

Today, places like Paris, New York, Milan, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Mumbai are known as the fashion hubs of the world.

How Can I Get Started In Fashion Photography?

Here are some things you’ll want to know before starting your fashion photography career

1. Learn photography skills – Photography is a nuanced art that requires practical know-how of the equipment and lots of professional training. So, it is often recommended to get a professional diploma in commercial photography to kickstart your career.

2. Build your portfolio – Pull together a team of models and stylists, plan a theme & moodboard, and start clicking pictures. Select your best work and showcase it creatively through a professional website and physical portfolio catalog.

3. Network – Broaden your network and meet potential models and stylists. Also, get connected with senior photographers and people who have a foot in the industry. Social networking sites are the easiest way to connect with fashion photographers, fashion designers, makeup artists, hairstylists, magazines, and photo editors.

4. Start sending your work – Get proactive and start sending your best work/portfolio to photo editors of magazines and other publication and media houses. But, before you send in your work, research about their publishing styles and send the relevant images that will suit their vision to minimize the chances of rejection.

5. Develop your style – When you start shooting, you tend to get influenced by the experts. While it’s okay to imitate when you start but once you learn the art, start developing your style, and with time, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.

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What Are The Different Kinds Of Fashion Photography Projects?

Before we begin explaining the different photography projects that you can aim for, please remember as a general rule that compensation immensely varies when it comes to top fashion houses, media groups, or magazines.

Fashion/Beauty Editorials

These are the kind of projects people refer to when they talk about fashion photography. It includes fashion models with dramatic poses, aesthetics, and makeup. It sounds fascinating, but for a beginner, it brings more value to their portfolio than the wallet. It has little to no budget.

Spec Shoot

This needs to be orchestrated beforehand. The photographer must assemble a team of models, stylists, and decide on a theme and moodboard before portraying the thoughts through the lens. If it all comes together meaningfully, the concept is pitched to the publication house with a hope to get published. If you’re good at your job, you might get a great deal!

Commercial Photography

This type of project is specifically carried out to sell a product or a concept. Since this project brings in revenue for the organization, they usually have a lucrative budget for the commercial photo shoot. To get selected, you should either have a great portfolio or test shoots.

A test shoot is a process where the entire creative team, including the designer, stylist, model and photgrapherr, work as a team to do a sample shoot. This is done to understand whether they can work together as a team.

What Is The Scope Of Fashion Photography?

The fashion photography industry has witnessed a stark increase in its growth rate from 15% to 20% in the last few years. As per the Zion Market Research, the global digital photography market alone is expected to reach $110.61 billion by 2021. You can imagine the scope of work it presents to the amateurs and experienced professionals as the markets expand.

With the rise of digitalization, everything around us has turned visual, which means more opportunities for the right talent!

HERE IS A QUICK PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER GUIDE!

Payments

• Catalog photographers usually get paid monthly, and the payments are comparatively much lower than the fashion photographers and magazine photographers
• In India, you start working as an assistant to senior photographers, and the starting salary usually ranges from Rs. 36,000 – Rs. 72,000 per year
• Once you gain experience, the salary depends upon your expertise and work and can range between Rs. 120,000 – Rs. 360,000 per assignment.

Please note the above remuneration is a ballpark figure. Fashion photographers can earn much lower or higher depending upon their expertise.

Perks

• A chances to travel to exotic locations and lead a luxurious lifestyle
• Opportunity to work with supermodels, and best in class makeup artists, creative directors, fashion designers, publishing and media houses
• Diverse opportunities in terms of experience

Career Path

As a fashion photographer, you can choose to work as:

• Freelancer
• Self-employed/business owner
• Full-time employment with the magazine, media house, or clothing retailer

If you have an original style, can work independently, have a sense of creativity, and good people management skills – you can do extremely well in the photography career.  Above all, if you have an undying love for fashion and lens, enroll in the photography course today and weave the perfect story with your pictures!