Fashion catalogue photography - Tools needed?

[ElChapo]

Hi everyone,

I'm completely new to photography so posting here in the hope of some personal advice from this fantastic community.

The purpose of my photography endeavours are primarily to shoot some photographs for my clothing company. I have purchased a Nikon D3300 as my first DSLR and have been watching some online tutorials from photographers like Lara Jade (for fashion-related info) and FroKnowsBest (for general photography understanding).

I'm ok for now with my lighting setup, it's more the lenses which are my point of confusion so if anyone can offer some assistance it would be massively appreciated:

The lens which came with my D3300 was a 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 G VR lens.

However, from the test shots I've been doing the lens doesn't really seem to encompass full outfits etc and something about the photos seems a little off.

The lens recommended by Lara Jade for beginner fashion photography was a 35mm so I'm looking at a NIKON AF-S DX NIKKOR 35 mm f/1.8 G SWM Standard Prime Lens. This doesn't seem to be VR but I'll be using my camera only on a tripod so does that make much of a difference?

Here's some pictures of the type of photos I'll be looking to create (both full-body and detailed close-ups mainly). Is upgrading the lens a good idea or should I stick with what I have?

Thank you all massively in advance!

 

[Frank F.]

get further away from the models to avoid geometrical distortion.

Better take a bigger room and shoot an 80mm to 120mm equivalent

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I´d say the lens to use would be dependent on how your "studio" is set up. the more space you have (the length front to back), the longer the lens I´d choose and step back.
For the shot below I used a 70mm lens on a full frame body. That would be approximately a 50mm for your camera.
The wider the lens you use, the wider your background has to be. But for a single person shot, that is usually no problem.
Does that help?

 

[Designer]

The lens recommended by Lara Jade for beginner fashion photography was a 35mm so I'm looking at a NIKON AF-S DX NIKKOR 35 mm f/1.8 G SWM Standard Prime Lens. This doesn't seem to be VR but I'll be using my camera only on a tripod so does that make much of a difference?

Here's some pictures of the type of photos I'll be looking to create (both full-body and detailed close-ups mainly). Is upgrading the lens a good idea or should I stick with what I have?

I agree with Frank F. (above)

I don't understand why someone suggested a 35mm lens, as you probably should use a longer lens. If you have the room to be farther back, you will get a better field of view using a longer lens. If your space is cramped, then you might have to use the shorter lens, but it's not the best.

As to VR, you won't be using it anyway as long as your camera is mounted on a tripod, so VR is irrelevant.

PS; get your model to pose with more "life".

 

[ElChapo]

get further away from the models to avoid geometrical distortion.

Better take a bigger room and shoot an 80mm to 120mm equivalent

Hi and welcome to the forum.
I´d say the lens to use would be dependent on how your "studio" is set up. the more space you have (the length front to back), the longer the lens I´d choose and step back.
For the shot below I used a 70mm lens on a full frame body. That would be approximately a 50mm for your camera.
The wider the lens you use, the wider your background has to be. But for a single person shot, that is usually no problem.
Does that help?

I agree with Frank F. (above)

I don't understand why someone suggested a 35mm lens, as you probably should use a longer lens. If you have the room to be farther back, you will get a better field of view using a longer lens. If your space is cramped, then you might have to use the shorter lens, but it's not the best.

As to VR, you won't be using it anyway as long as your camera is mounted on a tripod, so VR is irrelevant.

PS; get your model to pose with more "life".

Thanks for your replies guys.

Sorry for me saying 35mm, the beginner lens for studio shots she's recommended was actually a 50mm 1.8. Seen this recommended on quite a few other beginner tutorials, too.

As for the studio set up, I have an arctic white background paper which is around 2.5m wide. I can get further away from the model if needed, so length to step back can be interchangeable depending on what's best. I'm currently at around 10 feet distance away.

@photo1x1 your shots look awesome and would be something I'd look to replicate for sure.

So if I were to purchase a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR f/1.8G ED Lens - 50 mm, would this be more likely to produce better results than the standard kit-lens I'm currently using?

Also, just to clarify the images I attached were not my shots and are more so examples of what I want to achieve. They'll be placed on my e-commerce site and social media. They don't need to be majorly high resolution etc., just attractive enough to capture the details and create appeal.

 

[Designer]

So if I were to purchase a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR f/1.8G ED Lens - 50 mm, would this be more likely to produce better results than the standard kit-lens I'm currently using?

Since the 50mm focal length is covered by your current lens, I don't know why you think you need a 50mm prime. What exact "better results" are you needing? If you wish to have a different field of view, then you're going to want a lens with a different focal length.

 

[ElChapo]

So if I were to purchase a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR f/1.8G ED Lens - 50 mm, would this be more likely to produce better results than the standard kit-lens I'm currently using?

Since the 50mm focal length is covered by your current lens, I don't know why you think you need a 50mm prime. What exact "better results" are you needing? If you wish to have a different field of view, then you're going to want a lens with a different focal length.

Ok, I'm starting to understand now. So on my lens it has a range of options: 18 - 24 - 35 - 45 - 55. Placing it between the 45 and 55 options would be basically the exact same thing as having a 50mm lens then, right? Sorry, I understand this sounds well below basic understanding but I'm still brand new at this and everything is pretty mumbo jumbo.

Regarding the 1.8, mine being 1:3.5 - 5.6, is that also the same thing as having the 50mm 1.8 lens?

Thanks for your patience and answers.

 

[tirediron]

Regarding the 1.8, mine being 1:3.5 - 5.6, is that also the same thing as having the 50mm 1.8 lens?

Thanks for your patience and answers.

That is not, no. Your maximum lens aperture at 50mm is probably f5 - f5.6 vice 1.8, BUT... you're VERY unlikely to ever shoot this sort of work below f5.6, so....

 

[photo1x1.com]

You shoud set your lens to 55mm, that would work pretty fine.
There are differences between kit lenses and better prime lenses. One of which beig how much flare you get from shooting against the light, resulting in less contrast.
Shooting on white background is essentially the same as shooting against the light. But while those advantages of prime lenses are there, they get less if you close the aperture.
If your lights are powerful enough (flash, no continuous light), you can set your aperture to f10, that will close the quality gap between prime lenses and kit lenses.
If you use continuous lights, you may need the f1.8 aperture of the prime lens, because f1.8 lets 4x the light into your camera than the lowest setting of your kit lens.
How high is your ceiling and how is your exact light setup? We might be able to help you further. But of course, getting to know the basics of photography would help you understand what you are doing.

 

[fmw]

The lens you need depends more on the size of your studio than anything else. It is the lighting that really matters, not so much the lens. I tend to shoot this kind of stuff with a 300mm lens outdoors where there is lots of room and 1/2 that in my studio - even wide angles from time to time. Get as far away from your model as you can and use the longest lens that will frame the subject correctly if you want traditional perspective.