Photographing New Models

Photographing New Models

I often find it more refreshing to shoot with new models than those with a lot of experience. They are often more open to suggestions and can often give you non-poses that are so totally off the wall and cool, even if that was not their intent.  New models heavily rely on your input or lack of it. When I say lack of it I mean, telling them to do what ever they feel is appropriate and attempting to capture them in the non-pose before they are about to attempt to strike a pose.

This non-technique is something I love to employ when things are going a bit stale. I will look away from the model for a second or down at my camera so that the model thinks I am not ready to shoot. It is at that moment that I often get my best shots. They are honest and in my opinion capture the true essence of the moment.

One technique I employ on occasion is I have the model concentrate on a point of their body by saying, “pinch your forefinger and thumb together and put it behind your back or apply weight to your big toe of your right foot without making it too obvious. That exercise often renders some very captivation facial expressions.

My philosophy of late has been “Less is More” and thus, I generally give the models Carte Blanche to Fly. Of course if they are totally ridged, that is where I attempt to guide them, not by strict posses, but buy attempting to invoke an emotion in them that can hopefully be realized.

Always give a briefing before the shoot and let things go where they may, as long as they fulfill the objective of your project.