Interview
Stylist magazine to shoot at a naturist swimming session. However, in order to undertake the commission, I had to be naked for the shoot too. It was a completely bizarre experience and one I’ll be laughing about for many years to come. PN: Do you always have a team of stylists andmake-up artists workingwith you on shoots? HM: Always! It takes multiple people tomake a fashion photo look great, the photographer is only one part of the equation.
any of our readers whomight aspire tobe fashionphotographers? HM: Shoot, shoot and shoot some more! Every spare evening and weekend should be dedicated to test shoots. Reach out tomake-up artists and stylists on Instagram and ask if they’re testing at the moment. Email modelling agencies and ask to test with their new faces. Everybody works for free but gets new images for their portfolios. Plus, this is a great way to find a creative team that shares your vision.
HM: I can’t actually overemphasise howmuch time, organisation and production goes into a shoot. Hours, days, weeks, sometimes months! Finding a location, hiring a team, casting, finding a date that suits everyone’s diary, coming up with a concept, developing a mood board, calling in all the clothes, ordering catering, designing the lighting… the list is pretty endless. That said, a shoot can be pulled together quickly, you just need to be organised! PN: What has been your favourite assignment to date? HM: I was recently commissioned by
wearing wonderful clothes, there are months of preparation by producers, agents and creative teams. There are 5am starts andmidnight finishes, worrying about location permits and clothes being delivered to the wrong place, rain ruining a shoot even though sun was forecast, lighting equipment not working, models using the back seat of a car as a changing room, and despite planning everything to a tee, the shot just isn’t working for some reason. There are very glamorous, luxurious sides to fashion but it’s 99% graft.
year and she is encouraging me to work with retouchers. Her point is everyone has their area of expertise and a professional retoucher can really elevate the standard of my work, allowing me more time to focus onmy area of expertise, which is taking photographs. Until I signed with her I was doing my own post-processing for the most part. PN: The world of fashion photography seems to be all about beautiful people, exotic locations andwonderful clothes – is this the reality or just our perception? HM: Ha! Behind every photo of a beautiful model in an exotic location
PN: Do your shoots take a lot of organising?
PN: What advice do you have for
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Issue 71 | Photography News 39
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