I found this documentary about the costume work done in Bram Stoker’s Dracula the other day, and it really reminded me just how crazy the costumes were in that movie. The only thing I could remember beforehand was how good Gary Oldman was, and how terrible Keanu Reeves was in it.
Costuming and Makeup is an area where I really struggle as a photographer. Mostly because I don’t know anything about either of them. When I’ve done shoots that have a makeup artist involved, or someone keeping an eye on the fashion, things all seem to go so much easier in general. I should definitely try and grow in that area though…. I think of making pictures as a long chain of things that you do. Kinda like this:
Idea – Concept – Gathering materials – Lighting Test – Makeup – Clothing – Shoot the model – Review files – Edit / Retouch Final Image
That’s my usual chain of events for a photoshoot. And the cool thing about examining it this way is that if you want really exceptional images, you should work on improving each step of the process. I usually tend to put most of my time and effort into Ideas, Lighting Tests, the Shoot, and Retouching. So that’s where I’m strongest. But I’m really weak in Materials, Makeup, and Clothing. If I wanted to make my pictures better then that’s where I should focus my efforts.
I used to rate myself on a scale from one to ten on all these different categories…. Lighting, Retouching, Model Directing, Concepts, Ideas…… and then I’d choose the one that had the lowest rating and say “Okay, this is what I’m going to focus on for the next couple of weeks”. If it was retouching then I’d watch a lot of retouching tutorials and practice on old images. If it was Lighting then I’d spend more time practicing setting up lights and work with modifiers. Somehow makeup and clothing never made it onto that list. So they’re still a huge weakness for me, and one that I should work on fixing.
Documentary on Costume design for Bram Stoker's Dracula
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