Assignment 4 – Fashion Photography

Alpena junior Nathan Bauer poses on a garbage bin in an back alley on Nov. 6 in downtown Mount Pleasant, Mich. Bauer likes to play around with different styles of clothing but he keeps his punk style as a reminisce of his high school style. “I had a phase in high school where I wanted to be different. Everyone where I grew up with was always showing off high end brands but I was never a part of the crowd,” he said. Bauer prides himself in being able to put together any outfit in any style.

Rochester Hills senior Scott Schlagel poses on Nov. 7 in the Oak Ridge Apartments in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Schlagel will be graduating in December and moving on to graduate school to be a Physician Assistant in the future. However, before going back to school next fall, he will travel to various countries in South and Central America. “I just want to find my calling somewhere away from Michigan. My goal is to go to a Spanish-speaking country and working there,” he said. Schlagel also studies Spanish at CMU and plans to become fluent in order to make his traveling easier.

When I first heard about this assignment I was very nervous. I had never done anything like fashion photography so I felt like I would not be able to do well or even like it. However, my perspective has made a 360 degree turn and I really enjoyed the freedom it gave me.

The first step for me was deciding what I wanted to do. Going through a magazine made me decide I wanted to do two very different pictures. I decided I wanted to photograph a punk style and then an underwear model. Then I thought about who to use for models and thankfully I have amazing friends that are willing to do anything from wearing eyeliner to taking their shirts off for a camera.

I definitely did a lot of research after I decided on the pose and location. I followed a ton of photographers on Instagram and drew inspiration from their work. I also took a day to drive around Mount Pleasant and scout for locations. Finally I decided to do one on location and one in a studio, which ended up being my apartment.

I had so much fun for both of the shoots. Working with gels is definitely a new favorite thing for me. So for Nathan’s photos I went gel crazy since it fits the overall theme. For Scott’s photos I went the complete opposite direction and decided on black and white. As I was editing I realized the brand kind of got lost in the black and white to I left the red strip of the underwear for a pop. His shoot was a lot harder than I expected but I had the best time figuring it out.

It was a personal challenge for me to accomplish two good pictures in different styles. I learned a ton about lighting on location versus in a studio and how different it is. I also learned how crucial it is to have good models that are willing to let lose. I t was very helpful to play music they like to make them comfortable and treat them with a level of seriousness to keep things going, especially since they are my friends. Overall I think I achieved it because I like both photos equally.