What's involved in the fashion photography set-up?

We're now half way there and I'm very much looking forward to the day when I actually get to take the photo. As the photographer and set designer, the process has already taken me three weeks...

I'm referring to my next fashion photography photo shoot in my Eastern Suburbs studio. It's a collaboration between couture designer Rosalynn Win and a "spiritual mermaid" girlfriend of mine, Blue Storm (but you might know her better as Blue MC from the band "The Potbelleez"). Together, the three of us are setting up a highly stylised image, where Blue gets to model a mermaid inspired bespoke dress made by Rosalynn and I set-up a fantasy underwater grotto, in white, to shoot her in.

Here's what the dress is currently looking like:

Don't pay any attention to the pins and the white exposed bit running down the back - this dress fitting is just one part of the preparation phase. The end result comes after the dress is finished, the set has been built, a further collaboration with the hair and make-up artist is done and the right lights to highlight the subject and the dress have been blocked. After the shoot, additional Photoshop elements need to be added and the image prepared for high-res pro-print output.

As the photographer and set-designer, it's very important that I be part of the preparation phase in this creative process, so that I can work cohesively with the other elements involved. We work together to deal with the issues that arise at each step of the preparation process, so we can quickly find solutions that don't impact on the final output.

The end result of any creative endeavour is always a variation on the original vision. I very much look forward to showing you the final outcome of this very creative project, so stay tuned for the output in mid-July...