Explore the creative process of professional photographers and filmmakers. Fashion photography: discover the composing project by Dixie Dixon 

CONCEPT 1 - MOVEMENT

This project is all about capturing a visual representation of Movement and Flow.  In fashion photography, it is important to not only showcase the fashion but to also capture a fleeting moment, a feeling, an emotion.  I decided to cast a ballerina for this project because of her graceful movement and her ability to create interesting shapes with her body. To exaggerate this feeling of flow, I decided to use flour to bring to life the magic of her movements.  I also decided to utilize a mirror in some shots to showcase interesting reflections and shapes.  I love creating personal work in studio!  It is such a huge part of fashion photography because the more you show the type of work that you love creating, the more clients will hire you to shoot those types of projects!

COMPOSITION

When starting a new project, I always search for inspiration in books, magazines, and online to find visuals that communicate the different aspects of my vision. Then I’ll gather those visuals together and create a mood board. A mood board is useful because it allows me to communicate to my Dreamteam exactly the vision we are working together to create.  So I’ll gather images that showcase the lighting I am looking for, the poses, the hair and makeup, and the wardrobe. 

These pieces together create an ultimate vision that is unique to my style of photography. Next I’ll consider what lighting will work best for this particular image.  My lighting tech and I decided for the mirror shots that butterfly light would work best which means that the light is directly facing the model.  On the movement shots, we decided that either backlight or sidelight would work best in this scenario so it would make the flour stand out beautifully. Backlight and sidelight work really well for bringing out textures. We used a couple strobes on Manfrotto Light stands in order to freeze the motion and capture that awesome texture.

When photographing this type of movement and fashion, a great tripod is a necessity. I used the Aluminum Pro Geared Tripod with Geared Column and the X-PRO 3-Way tripod head with retractable levers which is the perfect combination of sturdy and easy to use allowing me to explore the most interesting angles. I love how you can make micro adjustments on the fly. We decided to work on the mirror shots first and save the flour shots for the end since that is quite messy. 

For the mirror shots, it was a bit tricky to capture both her full reflection and figure in the frame so I ended up changing lenses quite a few times from the 35 to the 50 to the 85mm until I found the perfect combo with the Nikon Z 9 for each shot from tight to wide.  

Final shots 

The Manfrotto Pro Light Tough case allows me to easily swap out those lenses quickly.  Everything has a spot and they are super secure when traveling.  Once I nailed the mirror shots, we moved onto the flour movement.

This part of the shoot was a lot of trial and error with timing and the throwing of the flour.  I decided to go with the blue tutu and leotard so that the color would really pop in these images.  A normal black seamless paper backdrop was not wide enough to fit the movement so I was happy that we had the Manfrotto Panoramic Background to cover the frame from edge to edge.

FINAL RESULT 

The final result of this collection of images captures a wide range of movement with a bit of magic which is what I love most about fashion photography! My favorite image from this series is the shot where the flour movement creates an almost angel wing type of shape around the model. Those are the moments you can’t plan, those are when the real magic happens. It is always such a joy to create with the Dreamteam and such amazing tools- when everything comes together in a frame, that is the best feeling in the world 

Final shot

The second concept that I was excited to create was a black and white series of fine art images. There is such a mystery and intrigue to monochrome imagery because the viewer isn’t distracted by the color of the clothes. It is more about a mood, a feeling, an expression, and a shape. I found the perfect model for this series as she has such a timeless beauty about her. The dress we used, I had actually found in a little shop on a trip to Paris a couple years back and I have been dying to photograph an Audrey Hepburn style look ever since. It has nice lines and shapes when the model moves.  I also sourced gloves and hats online to create the perfect combo of fashion elements. 

COMPOSITION

I always carefully plan out the composition, hair and makeup, wardrobe, poses, mood, and lighting before I start each shoot but it is important to leave some time for play because that is when you end up with the best shots!   

When photographing in black and white, you can light quite a bit more contrasty than if you were shooting in color. We used strobes for part of this series and also decided to open up the windows to shoot some natural light as well. Experimentation is everything in fashion photography so we experiment a lot with the lighting.

For these headshots, I used the Manfrotto Aluminum Pro Geared Tripod with Geared Column and the X-PRO 3-Way tripod head so I could make micro adjustments to my composition.  This is my absolute favorite tripod head for shooting not only fashion but architecture as well. 

This collection of mages is a homage to Audrey Hepburn with a modern day twist. I love when my vision comes to life in a frame after so much planning, pre-production, lighting, setup and working with the Dreamteam. 

Dixie Dixon' gear

Dixie Dixon| author

Dixie Dixon is an internationally renowned fashion, lifestyle, and commercial advertising photographer and film director based out of Dallas, Texas.  She travels worldwide working with brands ranging from Disney to Virgin to People and has spent the last decade bringing creative visions to life for brands, ad agencies, fashion, and commercial clients. As a Nikon Ambassador of the United States, she is well known as one of the world’s best photographers.  Dixie’s style embodies an idealistic approach to photography and motion work with a touch of soulful realism.