Stephen Walton Photography Workshops

If you want to kick off a little side business or just dip your toe into portrait photography then working with established models is a smart move – let me tell you why.

Whether you’re hiring a model for a straight-up test shoot (i.e. a shoot that is just for your own learning/experimentation) or something else (i.e. a commission where you’ve been hired by a brand for certain work) then having a seasoned model in front of the camera can really make the job easier.

Some will say that new photographers shouldn’t work with established models. While I understand that you may feel out of your depth and overwhelm with expectations I think there is another (more helpful way) to approach this.

Upon contacting your chosen model(s) then let them know your level of experience and that you’re looking for help on how to direct, pose and understand models for future projects.

Models and photographers do clash sometimes (for lots of reasons) and it can paint the shooters in a bad light. Anything you can do to improve relationships and standards as a photographer is a great thing.

Communication is Key

Giving clear starting times, locations, clothing, and prop advice is really important. Even if you’re not perfect at posing people try to do everything else as well as possible. Give all the information that you would want if you were the model. Send it a few days in advance and follow up the night before to make sure everything’s OK.

Give them Space

Similar to my next point, making sure the model has a private place to change and refresh in between costume switches is a matter of decency. If you’re in a studio or shooting a home, make sure you designate a room they can prepare in privately – would you want to strip down to your pants in front of a stranger?

Models are People – Respect Them

Don’t touch a model unless you’ve asked, agreed on the context and reason and they’ve accepted. There aren’t many reasons as to why you’d need to touch a model either. I’m sure anything you want them to do you can either tell them or better still demonstrate it yourself.

Just because they are ‘muses’ for the photo it doesn’t mean they are objects and therefore feelingless.

Ask for Help

As I said before a seasoned model should know a range of basic poses that they can reel off one by one so you can concentrate on your composition and settings. Ask them to go through a range of different expressions and body positions.

If you’re doing this for the first time then don’t worry about the calibre of the content, just get yourself comfortable shooting and chit-chatting with a live subject – that’s not an easy thing for some new portrait photographers (and why some fail).

Have Fun!

You can have a laugh you know! It doesn’t have to be all super-serious. Models need to be relaxed, especially when shooting with a new photographer. We all have our own style/quirks so it can take models a few minutes to warm up and understand you. If you get a little stuck for conversation then ask them about their modeling career;

• ‘How long have you been modelling for?’
• ‘What got you in to modelling?’
• ‘What’s your favourite area of modelling?’
• ‘What are your aims?’

These are just a couple of jump-off points for conversation to blossom and show interest in them. After all, models talk. Not in a rude way but with non-agency models then it comes down to online recommendations as to how good you look to other prospective models you might want to hire.

Getting a good review about your decency, interaction, helpfulness, and direction (which will improve in time) is really important. Look on sites such as PurplePort and ModelMayhem if you want to reach out to non-agencies models in your local area to arrange a shoot.

If you have any other questions or tips then drop a comment and let me know!