Shooting Apparel In The Studio

The Studio Space
To show some techniques for photographing and styling clothing, we decided to go on location to a local Portland, Maine photo studio, where several photographers, including Mark Rockwood and François Gagné, do their commercial interior work. [figure 1]

NOTE: The soft box in the background of this shot is a Photoflex 7-foot OctoDome that is kept set up in the studio, as they use it frequently. Mark told us he loves the quality of light produced and has been using it for years.

We arrived at the studio at around 9 a.m. and brought in all of the camera, lighting and styling gear we would be using. All of the strobes, soft boxes, light stands, connectors and cables were packed in a Photoflex Transpac Multi Kit Case, the camera gear in a camera bag, and all of the styling gear in an oversized toolbox. [figure 2]

Once there, we took out the stands and cables and set them on the floor so that we could quickly grab them as we built the set. [figure 3]

Shooting Surfaces
Next, we set up a shooting surface for the sweater, the components of which were kindly loaned to us by the studio. We used a 4'x8' sheet of plywood-laminated foam board wrapped in duck cloth and supported it waist-high with two sawhorses. [figure 4]

Point-and-Shoot Results
For comparative purposes, we decided to place the sweater on the foam board and take an Auto-programmed shot of it with the built-in flash enabled. Note that the photographer here, Ben Clay, did his best to try and style the sweater so that it would look somewhat appealing to a potential buyer. [figures 5 & 6]

As you can see, the result was disastrous. The only redeeming quality of this snapshot is simply that it conveys to the viewer that it is indeed a sweater. But due to the poor styling and flat lighting, the result is unappealing and commercially useless.

Fortunately, we just so happened to have a professional photo stylist, Tamara Savage, with us that day to help us out of our sweater-styling bind. While she steamed the sweater off the set to eliminate its fold marks and wrinkles, Ben went about configuring the lighting for the set.

Building The Set
First, he attached a 300w/s StarFlash head to a medium LiteDome and mounted it to a Boom and Boom Stand. Once it was positioned where he wanted it, Ben discovered he'd forgotten to pack any Photoflex RockSteady Bags needed to counter-balance the weight of the box. Fortunately, there were extra weight bags in the studio and Ben held the Boom steady until an assistant brought one over to him. [figures 7 & 8]

The next issue Ben had to contend with was camera placement. With the set waist high, the camera needed to be mounted even higher to adequately capture the entire sweater. The tripod he had brought would not have been tall enough for this shot, but fortunately, there were two studio monopods available to use in the corner. Ben took the smaller of the two and rolled it over to the set. [figure 9]

NOTE: Many photographers, when faced with this height issue, simply opt to lower the set so that it rests on or near the ground. The main problem with this is that it makes it significantly more difficult for the stylist the do her work effectively. Bending over and crouching for hours at a time can wreak havoc on a stylist, physically. So if you, as the photographer, plan on shooting more than one shot, be mindful of this working condition.

After mounting the camera to the monopod, Ben grabbed a stepladder and positioned it right next to the monopod. He then raised the camera up on the monopod rail, rotated the camera so that its image plane was nearly parallel to the shooting table, and loosely framed the shot. [figures 10 & 11]

Ben also set up another medium LiteDome, this time attached to a 650 W/s StarFlash strobe, and secured it to a LiteStand. This light would serve as the right hand fill for the shot. [figure 12]

A Note On Power Settings
Because the overhead 300 W/s strobe did not have an accompanying power pack on the studio floor (these StarFlashes are monobloc strobes), the power settings could only be adjusted at the head. Since Ben set up this light overhead to primarily control the overall level of contrast, he knew that he would not need a lot of light output from this light and set the power to half strength. He figured that if he needed to make adjustments to the lighting ratios later on, he could do so with the other, more accessible, lights.

Once Tamara finished steaming the sweater, she brought it over to the set and began styling it. [figure 13]

Once Tamara was ready for a "first", Ben came in and framed up the shot. Sharp focus in a clothing shot like this is critical, so it helps to have adequate lighting conditions when dialing it in. [figure 14]

The Predominant Light
After roughing in the frame, Ben decided to set up his main light, a stand-mounted 650 W/s StarFlash with a 7-inch reflector attached. This "hard light" would be the predominant of the three lights in that it would determine the shape and flow of the shadows in the sweater. The other two "soft lights" were simply there to compliment this light and to help control contrast.

For comparative purposes, Ben first started out by positioning this hard light close to the set. [figure 15]

Once this light was positioned to create interesting shadows on the sweater, Ben was ready to take a shot. Since he was using a wireless transmitter and receivers, Ben decided to only trigger the hard light for this first shot. [figure 16]

The Working Distance With Hard Light
Although the light and shadows on this result show the initial styling in an interesting and natural way, there is one main problem with the hard light's effect, and that has to do with positioning. It is simply too close to the set.

Notice how the light falls off fairly quickly as it travels from the upper left shoulder to the bottom right sleeve. Without getting into the specifics of the Inverse Square Law, this essentially is due to the fact that the hard light is so close to the set. Think of the sun, 93 million miles away. If by chance we were able to open a curtain in the studio and have the sun's rays illuminate this sweater in the same direction as the hard light, you would see that the light is even across the sweater. [figure 17]

To keep it simple, just remember that by increasing the distance between a hard light and the subject matter, you will be better able to minimize the effects of perceived light falloff.

To lessen the light falloff here, we simply turned up the power on the main light and positioned it further back at the same relative angle. Once this was dialed in, we took another shot. [figures 18 & 19]

While not perfect, the main light now illuminates the sweater with much less falloff. But keep in mind that as we add lights to this shot, the falloff will become increasingly unnoticeable. That said, remember that additional soft lights can only enhance, but not substitute for, the effects of the main light.

Accentuating With Fill
With the main light positioned and powered where we wanted it, we then enabled the overhead and side soft lights to fire on the next shot. [figure 20]

As you can see, these fill lights really helped to reduce the overall contrast in the sweater and even out the light somewhat.

For an added touch, Ben held up a piece of white foam core to bounce some of the main light into the bottom areas of the sweater and took another shot. [figure 21 & 22]

Readjustments To Styling
In reviewing the shot, Tamara felt that she wanted to restyle the left arm, as it wasn't flowing as well as the rest of the sweater. After a few moments, she was ready for another shot. [figures 23 & 24]

The result was much improved. Now the folds in the arm were more interesting and blended nicely with the rest of the styling.

Reducing Overall Contrast
After reviewing the image, Ben then decided to reduce the contrast just slightly, as well as brighten the overall image. So, first he opened the aperture 2/3 of a stop and then turned the hard light power down by 2/3 of a stop. By opening up the aperture, he was able to brighten the exposure of all of the lights by 2/3 of a stop. But then by powering the hard light down 2/3 of a stop, he was able to keep it at the same exposure level as the previous shot, thereby decreasing the overall contrast.

Once these adjustments were made, and Tamara had made some final styling touches, Ben took another shot. [figures 25 & 26]

The shot was really coming together. The styling looked great, as did the lighting. Ideally, the photographer and the stylist work together to balance and accentuate the lighting and the styling. And keep in mind that each article of clothing is different and will require different treatments each time.

For a final touch, Ben decided to bring the bounce card in just a little tighter to fill in the dark shadows near the bottom of the sweater. With everything in place, he took his final shot. [figures 27 & 28]

Upon reviewing the final result, Tamara and Ben were both happy with the shot. It was just 11 a.m. Including the time it took to unpack the gear, set up the lighting, steam, style and light the sweater, it was just under two hours. Had they needed to shoot another sweater or article of clothing, it would have taken significantly less time to create to produce another final image. Ben and Tamara both agreed it would take about a half an hour to complete the next shot.

Enhancements in Photoshop
Afterward, Ben downloaded the final result and opened it up in Adobe® Photoshop® for some final image editing touches. Using the Pen tool, he drew a path around the sweater, eliminated the background so that the sweater would rest on pure white and added a drop shadow that mimicked the quality and direction of the hard light. [figure 29]

To learn how to use the Pen tool and other functions in Adobe Photoshop, sign up for access to the Digital Editing section of Web Photo School.

Comparisons
And now for the comparisons: here's our final shot next to the first point-and-shoot/poorly styled shot Ben first took. Hardly looks like the same sweater, doesn't it? [figures 30 and 31]

As is obvious here, the styling of a clothing shot is paramount to its level of success. Without it, the shot can only go so far, even if you've created the most dynamic, visually stunning lighting possible.

The same is true in reverse. Excellent styling with poor lighting is also a wash. For example, just look at the results below. The first is the raw capture of the final result, and the second was taken only moments later, but with just the built-in flash activated. [figures 32 & 33]

It's important to add that the success of a commercial clothing shot is not only contingent on the work of the photographer and the stylist, but from the client and/or art director as well. This particular sweater was styled and lit in a very classic, contemporary way, which worked well for this lesson.

But keep in mind that different art directors/clients may want different treatments to their shots, so it's best to practice and experiment with lighting and styling methods as much as possible.

Have Gear, Will Travel
After we captured the final shot, we packed up all the gear and threw (well, not exactly threw) it all in the back of a Saturn Vue. As you can see, traveling with a full lighting and styling setup is really not that involved! [figure 34]

As always, remember to experiment while you work on your techniques and have fun!