Photography Tips – Working With Models
May 21st, 2009
In most cases, when you put a person in front of a camera that they’re aware of, they don’t automatically open up and reveal their soul for you. Many are harboring deep-rooted insecurities, or they simply lack the experience to understand how to pose and how to smile naturally. When I asked my long-time friend Annie to model for me, her initial reaction was skeptical. “I’m not photogenic!” I told her I’d make the best photos of her she’s ever seen or I’d eat my shoe, so she reluctantly agreed.
Annie can be a bit of a tom boy. She has spent her recent days digging around the guts of her car. She doesn’t have a huge wardrobe, rarely wears dresses, and owns very little makeup. She’s about as far from the model world as it gets. I wanted to expose her feminine side. I think we found it.
When you’re working with a model who isn’t a model, be prepared to put some real time into the shoot, and make sure that you don’t bury yourself in the camera and forget to engage with them. Here are some tips to get you started:
Avoid criticism – Nothing can shut down a model faster than criticsm. Instead of being critical of what they’re doing, give them direction. Ask them to do something new. Change things up.
Praise them – If you get a great shot, smile at your model – let it show that you like how things are going. They’ll be excited about the pictures, and they’ll relax and open up more.
Keep them engaged – Don’t loose yourself in the camera. Keep your eyes on your model as much as possible. Maintain eye contact. Let them feel like a collaborator. It has to be more about them than you.
Spend time with them – I spend a lot of time talking to the models before the shoot. I’m involved in the makeup, styling, and wardrobe phase of the photo shoot, and if I’ve never met the model before, this is the time I spend getting to know who she is. You can gain valuable insights about the model’s personality and interest that will help your creative process. I like to spend a lot of time shooting, too. The shoots themselves generally last at least a couple hours once the model gets in front of the camera. Eventually they forget the camera is there, and you get to see glimpses of real personality.
Watch for key moments – Keeping up your guard is hard work. Everybody drops their guard now and then – sometimes only for a split second. If your camera isn’t ready or you’re spending all your time looking at your previous shots, you’ll miss them. Capturing unguarded moments is what portraiture is all about.
Once you get your lights right, it’s time to stop thinking about technical issues, and start thinking about the person in front of you. In the end, it’s not about the light, or composition. These are just the tools we use to capture the subject.
Come learn more about portraiture at the Southern Utah Location Portrait Workshop June 11th-14th near Zion National Park.
I’d love to participate in your Zion photo workshop – however, I cannot make it! (I teach mid. school.)
1. Are you doing any follow up workshops – same topic – location?
2. Looking to learn more about backlit, no flash photography. For example: shooting in synagogues where you cannot use a flash. Yes, I know iso, aperture, etc., however, images are “noisy”. There is only so much I can do w/photo editing. LEt me know if you are doing any of this type of workshop.
3. Any info regarding purchasing better equipment? Looking at Nikon d300 and d700. Is the 700 really worth the extra $1000? I’ve heard the d700 is equal in many ways to the d3 – but don’t want to spend that much.
I’m not planning another workshop in the same location. The next will probably be Wyoming. Also planning a Maui workshop. Maybe Miami, too.
Backlit and no flash is pretty much a non-starter, depending on the intensity of the backlight. You’ll either get a silhouette, or the backlight will wash out the frame due to lens glare. Can you use a reflector, or change the angle of the camera in relation to the light source?
Basic technique: Use a fast lens wide open (small f numbers), such as the inexpensive 50mm f/1.8, shoot with a shutter speed as low as it will go without causing motion blur, and then bump up the ISO until you get within about a stop of a perfect exposure. With most cameras, you’re better off under-exposing and boosting in post than you are raising the ISO gain – even on good low-light cameras like the Nikon D90 – D3 series.
I have a friend who owns both the D3 and D700 – really loves it. The D90 is cheaper than the D300 and performs significantly better. The D700 is full frame – D90 and D300 are crop-sensor. The full frame camera performs better, but your lenses will act different on a full frame camera. You’ll lose some reach in the focal lengths. Just something to be aware of.
Hope that helps!
WOW, I’M IMPRESSED !!!! You have to be one of the very FEW photographers that take so much pride in what you do, to actually take and consider the person you are photographing and truly want to bring out the best in everyone!!! I have a daughter 22 that was asked to get into modeling way back at the age of 7 and her father stopped us.. I wish I never would have let that happen, she is beautiful and the pictures that she has even just taken herself to put on her my space, show her true flexibility and variety that she can offer.. I have another daughter 13 who was with her sisters in San Clemente, CA today and approached by someone from Elite Model Management.. She too can just photograph amazingly and with such variety… It sounds like you work with Elite in Salt Lake City?? My 11 year old has a great singing voice and I’m trying to give her the encouragement also to pursue her dreams to sing…We live in Heber City, UT and if that is true, I would hope that if my daughters are serious about auditioning that they would be fortunate enough to have a photographer like yourself that TRULY CARES about the person wholeheartedly such as you…. I’m SO SORRY about the long message, I was just EXTREMELY impresssed with your suggestions to others, YOU ARE AMAZING!! Tami Linn Rundell
Hi Tami,
Thanks very much for your comments. I have done some work with Elite, and Elite models, but I am not an official representative. Pulse Management oversees the Elite Model Management satellite office here in Salt Lake City. You can learn more about that relationship from my blog post about it: “Elite Model Management Breaks Ground in Salt Lake”
I am happy to report that many of my model friends signed with Pulse have also signed contracts with the Elite office in New York City, and a couple have walked runways for major designers, photographed in New York, Paris, etc… IMO, it’s the best opportunity in the state of Utah to launch a successful modeling career.