Working With New Models
I love having the pleasure of being the first photographer that somebody books; to me it means that they not only admire the visuals I produce but also my ability to capture my subjects’ natural look. My original plan for this blog was going to be a “How-To” but I decided to restructure it and make it a story about a recent shoot. If you’re an aspiring model, I suggest you also read this article (about how to pose and what to avoid) by my friend Annabelle, a fashion blogger and Instagram influencer.
Hippie Robin$on, an aspiring photographer, decided he wanted to get in front of the lens for a change — and reached out to me to photograph him. We decided to go for a professional look and chose WeWork at 1900 Market Street as our location.
When he arrived, I gave him a little tour of the building and let him get a feel for the environment and let him pick any specific locations that he wanted to shoot. We started shooting at this table with a couch and a few chairs surrounding it. I let him get comfortable and just do whatever he wanted to do before trying to direct him at all. This was the result:
There was a small end table next to him, so I asked if leaning his one arm on it felt like a comfortable position… it was:
After this shot, we decided to switch it up and he mentioned wanting to use some props. We spotted some books lying around and decided to flip through them:
Next, we moved to another spot in the office, where we came across a chess board. After getting all the pieces organized, I figured we could try to get some shots with an interesting play on perspective. I asked him to grab some pieces and move them around so I could capture him as if he was actually playing a game of chess:
We ended our shoot in the atrium, surrounded by a koi pond and waterfall. The waterfall has a black backdrop and we both figured the colors would play well with his outfit. Once again, I let him do his own thing and get comfortable before trying to do any directing. After a few standing shots I asked him to sit in front of the waterfall to get a new position to work with. I find that as long as I keep a model moving (from one spot to another, from standing to sitting, etc) they will usually come up with some new poses. This was the result from our last location:
A great photoshoot is the result of a balance and union between the photographer and model. A great photographer can only do so much directing and a good model can only come up with so many ideas on their own. It takes good chemistry and teamwork to make a great photoshoot. As long as the flow of ideas is continuous, and both people are contributing, the photoshoot will be successful.
David Bara
