The December Cover Story: Shooting for a Magazine Like Bello Magazine

The cover is a layout, not just a photo

A cover for a fashion and culture title like Bello magazine starts as a template. Before any test shots, ask the art director for the cover grid: where the masthead sits, how much room the cover lines take, and whether the subject's head may overlap the logo. Then shoot to that grid, not around it.

Print the template on clear acetate or load it as an overlay in your tethering software. Capture One and Lightroom both let you place a layout over live view, so you can see in real time whether a hand or an earring crashes into a cover line.

Shoot vertical at the magazine's trim ratio and leave bleed on every side. Covers get trimmed, and an elbow too close to the edge can vanish at the printer.

Negative space and type

Negative space is what makes a cover readable. A plain seamless, a softly lit plaster wall or a deep shadow behind the subject gives type somewhere to sit. Keep the area above and to one side of the head clean; that's where most cover lines run.

Tone matters as much as space. White type needs a midtone or darker background, black type a light one. If the art director hasn't decided on type color yet, shoot a few frames on two backgrounds so the design team has options.

Direct the subject into the lens for the cover frame. Eye contact sells magazines on a newsstand; the feature pages can carry the profile and off-camera looks.

A cover is a photograph that has to share the page. Shoot it like you already know where the words will sit.

Holiday mood without the clichés

A December issue invites tinsel and fake snow, and most of it looks cheap on camera. Suggest the season through color and light instead: deep reds and greens in wardrobe, metallic fabrics that catch a hard light, warm practical lamps in the background, a single bauble used as a prop rather than a whole tree.

In Los Angeles, December light is low and golden by mid-afternoon. A shoot that moves outdoors for the feature pages, to a hillside in Griffith Park or a quiet street in Los Feliz, gets a long, soft winter glow that looks expensive with almost no lighting.

Team and timing on the day

Cover days run on the clock. A typical schedule allows an hour and a half for hair and makeup, a short wardrobe fitting, then the cover setup first while the subject is fresh. Feature looks follow, with changes scheduled around lighting moves so the crew isn't idle.

Keep the art director close to the tethered monitor. Decisions made on set, crop, expression, whether a strand of hair crosses the logo area, save hours of revision later. A stylist, a hair and makeup artist and a digital tech who all know the cover grid can catch problems before you do.

Shoot more cover variations than seem necessary: different expressions, slight changes in head tilt, hands in and out of frame. The editor may change the cover lines after the shoot, and a set of alternatives gives the design team room to move. A holiday issue for a title like Bello magazine sits on newsstands for weeks, so it's worth the extra fifteen minutes.

Building the cover story edit

The cover story is usually six to ten pages behind the cover. Plan a mix: one strong opener that echoes the cover, a couple of full-length looks, a tight beauty portrait, and details of styling that pair on a spread. Change setups, not just outfits, so the pages don't repeat.

Deliver the cover selects first, already checked against the template, with notes on which frames take type cleanly. For a December cover for a magazine like Bello magazine, the deadline usually lands in early autumn, so plan wardrobe and holiday props well before the season starts.