A few years ago when I just started college, I met a guy who I connected with right away. We spent all our free time together and became close friends. One day he showed me his professional camera and some dreamy photos he took while he spent a beautiful afternoon together with his girlfriend. The pictures perfectly conveyed the atmosphere of that day. How she looked at him, the gestures she made and the late afternoon light on her face. The photos were flawless and they gave me a feeling as if I had been there with them. From that day on I wanted to take stunning photographs of beautiful women and shared that beauty with the world.
In my mind I was ready to go out and take the photography world by storm. The only thing that was missing was an actual camera. Burt one lucky day before graduation, my dad took me aside and asked what present he could get me for that occasion. He wanted it to be something that I would carry around for a long time and that will remind me of the hard work I put into finishing my degree. My answer came swiftly: a camera was all I wanted. After reading about different camera models I decided for a Canon EOS 600D. Unpacking the gear was unreal and gave my an uplift of energy. And that feeling ist still the same, as well as the camera that my dad gave me. I still carry that model around with me whenever I expect to see something worth taking a photo of.
So I had a camera, but I was very far away from shooting beautiful human beings as I had anticipated for so long. Why? Because I had been in relationships back to back and did not have the guts to tell my girlfriend about my dream. Only recently did I get together with a girl that, if not supports, at least tolerates my wish to become a fashion photographer. And that’s when I got in contact with the first models that I did a photoshoot with. Now you ask: “This is my dream as well, I have a camera, the skills and the will to put in hard work and long hours. But how do I meet the models for my photo shootings?” That will be the topic of the first in a series of blog posts about how to become a fashion photographer.
My goal is to be completely transparent about how I started out and went from zero photos to a portfolio of amazing shootings that I did over the last year. I will write about the success as well as the set backs. I will write about the right mindset to approach this passion and also about methods that help me get out of the valley of sorrow when I hit a wall and think about giving up my dream. This is a journey that takes a lot of work but in my mind it is totally worth it as it gives you the chance to get out of your comfort zone and meet amazing people while doing what you love.