Worn Magazine’s mission is to to bring greater awareness of local fashion and art to the District. We do this mainly through photography, so it’s fitting that we also feature local photographers who are teaming up with local designers to bring a fresh perspective to their designs and foster a spirit of collaboration. On that note, we’re happy to present to you Bo Zhang of Bo & Bro Photography, a DC-based fashion and editorial photographer who after traveling the world and earning two engineering degrees, finally gave into his artistic side to pursue photography full time. Bo is most known for his studio work and he recently teamed up with budding local designer Betsy Garcete to photograph looks for her upcoming fall collection. Curious about his studio technique and experience working on editorial shoots, we were eager to ask him a few questions to satisfy the photo nerd inside of us and find out what he thinks makes a great fashion picture.

1. Can you describe the process of working with Betsy and your models for this shoot?  How much of it was pre-planned and how much of it was spontaneous?

When working with a client, be it a model or a designer, it’s always important to get to know your client.  In this case, I met with Betsy to discuss her collection in terms of it’s signature features and key design aspects.   Betsy’s collection is very feminine and showcases an “hourglass” body shape.  I wanted to accentuate this by creating a simple, clean background, working in a “silhouette” style (heavy backlighting and only partial front-lighting). Betsy wanted these photos for her marketing material, so they needed to be interesting and eye-catching, not just gray catalog photos.  In order to highlight the youthfulness of Betsy’s collection, I added movement and motion to the shots to give them a sense of urgency and on-the-go “flightiness.”

Betsy’s debut collection actually features three different lines:  Alessandra, Marielena, and Glimpse.  The challenge was to adapt the shoot’s concept so that there was a link between all three lines while allowing each line to have its unique look.  To accomplish this, we decided to use changing colors.

I had also planned a certain type of lighting for this shoot, but that didn’t work out in the studio.  I had to be creative, using a mixture of hot lights and strobe lights.

2. I noticed on your Twitter you’ve largely switched to prime lenses away from zooms.  Assuming this applies mostly to your studio or location work, why did you change to fixed focal lenses?  (We have dual audiences of photo nerds and fashionistas, so you can understand the range of questions here.)

I have recently changed to prime lenses for the majority of my work in and out of the studio.  There are several reasons behind my move.

First of all, it’s about usability.  As a fashion photographer, I rarely shoot wider than 50mm, which renders many of my big power zooms less useful, as they waste a big 28-50 range.  So, now I carry a 50mm, an 85mm, a 105mm, and a 135mm and these cover most of my photo needs.  I’m in the process of acquiring a few more lenses to keep me covered.

It’s also about convenience.  The Nikon 28-70 is known as “the beast” because it’s a big hunk of metal.  It impresses others when you use it, but as a photographer, it’s more of a burden than anything else.  I feel I have more stability holding the camera when I’m using a small prime.

You also have to consider sharpness.  In the studio, I often shoot at f/8-f/9, where a consumer lens will be just as sharp as the pro primes.  My style often forces me to shoot rather wide open and the lens performance at f/2.8 or f/2.5 is crucial.  Zooms just cannot beat fast primes stopped down at this point.

Last and perhaps most importantly, it’s about forcing creativity.  Working with a zoom, I tend to get lazy and compose the shot so that nothing is missing and then re-crop in post-processing.  I also tend to stand at one stop and zoom.  With a prime lens, I’ve been forced to keep my composition in mind all the time and recompose each shot.  At the same time, I have to move around more, which keeps me open to new shot opportunities.

3.  Have you any tips for aspiring fashion photographers?

Fashion photography, unlike many other fields of photography, is about teamwork.  You are working with a team that includes makeup, hair, wardrobe, design, modeling, and artistic direction.  (This is what makes it so much fun.  Just imagine what you’ll produce when you have so many creative minds contributing on one project!)   It’s important to work with talented people, because, in a team shoot, your final photo will only be as strong as the weakest person on the team.  I understand that, for aspiring photographers, it may be difficult to pull a team together, but don’t despair.  Start small.  Work with a model first. Your team will grow as the need arises.

This last point goes out to all photographers:  go out and take pictures.  Spend time and money on your various concepts because it won’t go to waste; you’ll either come out with an amazing shot, or you’ll learn what doesn’t work.  It’s a winning situation either way.  Also, when you are doing something for yourself, shoot outside your comfort zone.  Do fashion instead of beauty or on-location instead of studio.  You’ll only improve when you shoot.  You can’t improve by reading countless magazines.  [With the exception of Worn Magazine, of course. – Ed.]

Photo Credits: Bo & Bro Photography

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