A fashion photographer is a person who professionally takes photographs of models and other subjects typically aimed at highlighting clothing or other types of fashion accessories, often for publication in fashion magazines and journals.

What are the different kinds of fashion photography?

Fashion/Beauty Editorials

This is often what people think of when they hear the term “fashion photography.” These are the layouts you’ll find in fashion magazines, with the models in exaggerated, eclectic poses. Unless commissioned by top fashion magazines, these shoots generally have little to no budget, meaning that you’re unlikely to be paid for your work; instead, these shoots are better for your portfolio than your wallet.

Spec Shoot

For spec shoots, it’s really the photographer that has to take the initiative to get his or her team together — instead of being asked to produce something for a publication, spec shoots are orchestrated beforehand and later submitted to publications in hopes of being published. Not only must the photographer gather a team of models and stylists, but they must also have a vision in mind before the shoot. While it’s not guaranteed that an indie magazine will pick up the shoot, the internet has made it much easier to showcase these specific kinds of shoots and garner attention without a publication’s name attached.

Test Shoot

For test shoots, photographers, models, and a creative team gets together to test out concepts or their ability to work as a group. While these shoots are unpaid and generally aren’t shown to the public (except perhaps on social media), they’re generally used to help pad portfolios or build modeling books.

Commercial Photography

This shoot is designed specifically to sell a product — usually clothes, makeup, or accessories. Because these shoots are often used to bring in money, they’re generally budgeted better than editorial shoots. This means everyone, including the photographer, will most likely be paid for their work — in fact, it’s perhaps the most profitable type of fashion photography. However, photographers generally aren’t immediately hired for this kind of work and are instead chosen for their portfolio of editorial work and test shoots.