Aesthetically I’ve always been inspired by a mix of old and new. It’s the blend of vintage and modern that lends a sense of both familiarity and freshness to an image. This is a theme I explore throughout my work.
In the last few years, the 1970s and disco vibes have been ‘in fashion in the world of editorial fashion photography and pop culture. From Miley Cyrus to Migos to Vogue fashion editorials, you can see themes of 70’s color palettes, star filters, and vintage styling of the disco era.
In this shoot, I use simple and inexpensive elements to create a 1970’s inspired fashion shoot by combining cheap styling, DIY background, and a carefully selected color palette. I used certain vintage elements (sequins, colors, star filter) but add a modern twist (subject’s hair, jewelry, etc).
The sequin shirt was a lucky find at the ‘last chance’ section of a department store (approx $15) and the background was just $9 metallic tinsel! Add in a star filter to make the background sparkle and some yellow/orange gels, and suddenly vintage vibes are vibin’!
Let’s take a look at my lighting setup:
Light 1: Background Light
– Bare bulb
Purpose: This helps to illuminate the metallic tinsel background (linked below). It gives it a warm orange color plus the reflections that will create the starbursts once the star filter is applied.
Light 2: Main Light
– Beauty Dish + grid
Purpose: This light creates a beautiful flattering quality of light on the subject’s face. By adding a grid, I prevent too much spill of this light on the background tinsel.
Light 3: Fill Light
– Bare Bulb
– Yellow Gel:
Purpose: This helps to fill in the shadow side of the face, creates a metallic sparkle on the cheekbone, plus adds more warm tones to the shot.
One of the things I liked about this lighting is that I could turn the subject in either direction, and the results were still pleasing! This gave me a bit more variety to play with and more posing options!
To create these images I used a Canon R5 and Canon RF 50mm 1.2 so that I could shoot at wider apertures. This allowed me to blur out the background slightly to be less distracting after combining the highlights, gels, and overall texture.
Want to check out some other fashion shoot ideas? Take a look at these guides on 42 West:
- 3 Best One-Light Fashion Setups
- 3 Tips for Your First Fashion Editorial Shoot
- 5 Fashion Photography Tips From the Pros
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