I’m a hobby photographer, no where near professional. I enjoy the challenge of dialling into my camera to capture what I think is interesting. I mostly like wildlife photography for this reason. My friend has asked me to shoot her as she wants to get into modelling and also build content for social media. I’ve never tried this before which I have told her but I’m open to do it. Just wondering if there are any tips when working with a model? I can look up poses and stuff on google but it’s more the interaction between us I’m worried about so any tips in that regard are greatly appreciated!
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ideal is to buy a book such as
Read this if you want to take great photographs of people by Henry Carroll
second choice would be youtube vids on glamour photography or on photos during golden hour.
pretend she’s a human being and not just a model. It works wonders.
Nah, I tease, but it’s also kind of true. Start by deciding where you’re going to shoot. Discuss what kinds of poses and what wardrobe she’ll be using. Set a time (“let’s take 2 hours on this”) so you both have an idea, and then go about doing your research. Don’t pose her - ask her to pose or change or move this or that.
It’s all very straightforward if you just treat the model the way you’d want to be treated, were you in their stilettos.
Well, there are many things to consider, but I will list a few on example.
First, explore the location. Be it a beach, a garden, an abandoned building, make sure to cover several angles and landscapes to fully max your experience.
Then, as for the model, tell her to makeup and use nice outfits. Many models make the mistake to not bother with makeup or clothes, but those details are not easily fixed in post-production. So tell her to makeup as if she were going out with friends. In a model photoshoot, we want the model to stand-out; her face and expression must have something the others don’t have.
Take a few example shots in your smartphone. Ideas for poses, but don’t try to replicate everything. Just the pose and feeling to get you both inspired, and you do the rest.
Now, about your gear, since you didn’t tell anything about it, I will just type some general tips. Make use of bokeh, if you have lenses for it. Use the maximum aperture available. 1.8? 2.8? But if you happen to have a telezoom lens (200, 300 mm) that could work too, if you shoot her from a distance. Just need to have a steady hand and a LOT of light. Don’t be afraid to shoot her portraits (face only, or waist-up only) with that type of lens. If you don’t have a prime lens with a large aperture, these focal lengths can get you a similar effect.
If your lenses are limited and you only have the stock type 18-55mm, zoom up to 55 and use that for closeups.
Final: shoot RAW, if you don’t do it already. It will allow you to adjust under exposed, and over exposed images with ease.
Thanks! Fortunately I do have a 50mm 1.4 and a 70-200 2.8 and I do love some bokeh. The limitations of my gear is lights. I don’t have any so I’ll experiment with natural light mostly. The understanding between us is it’s an experiment on both our parts so hopefully we have fun and get some good shots.
The make up is a good point. I don’t think I’ve seen her in any before so I would have easily overlooked that. Thanks for the advice
Just wondering if there are any tips when working with a model?
Don’t act like a creep and don’t touch the model.
If they bring a friend or escort, don’t get weird about it. If they feel like they need someone with them, it’s going to make them more comfortable. They don’t need to be in the same room as you and the model, but if they aren’t disrupting anything, it’s usually not a big deal.
Hash out before you take any pictures what you both want out of the session, and what each person can do with the pictures afterward.