Don't Shut Yer Yap!

I posted some fairly animated pics of Selena on the Glamour1 forum yesterday. One of G1's members asked me what kinds of things I say to the model to sometimes illicit such, uhhh... wild abandon in front of the camera. Here's what I told him:

"...encourage them to let themselves go and get "extreme," and "intense," stuff like that. I tell them not to think about looking dumb... that it might feel that way but it doesn't look that way. I ask them to "sell it" meaning to "sell" their sexuality and sensuality to the camera. I ask them to exagerate it... to oversell it... and "look like it hurts" or "look like it feels TOO good." I have them move slowly but not necessarilly to drop into a pose and hold it... that I'll keep up with them. I don't usually give too much specific direction in terms of pose while they're doing this. Maybe just directions like "throw your head back" or "cheat" this way or that. I just let them go and snap away. It takes a few minutes but as I keep encouraging them with "more of that" and "even more extreme" they start to get into it. Usually, I toss the first bunch of images until they become more relaxed and abandon their inhibitions. The worst I can do when I'm going for this stuff is to keep quiet. I'm constantly talking and encouraging..."

After posting my response, I realized the most--perhaps only--good advice I gave were contained in the last two sentences. It's not so much the exact words I use, it mostly matters that I keep talking.

When you're asking the model to go outside her typical posing comfort zone, it's even more important than usual to keep giving feedback and to keep a dialogue going, albeit a one-way dialogue. I think this is important when you're directing the model in traditional glam poses and even more important when you're having her put forth more emotion, more attitude, or asking more in terms of physical poses.

For the model, being in front of the lights and the camera can be a lonely, insecurity-inducing place. The shooter is the person who's going to help the model overcome her inhibitions and make the images work. No matter how much rapport you've developed with the model--I don't care if she's your significant other of 20 years--keeping silent on your side of the lens, for the most part, is way less potent a strategy in terms of getting the goods. You're trying to communicate something with your pictures, right? If you're not already doing so, how about communicating with the model while you're capturing what you're trying to communicate? Makes sense to me.

As noted, model is Selena. MUA was Lilian. B&W conversion courtesy of PS's Channel Mixer. Here's another...