Working With First-Timers

While I was in Vegas this past week, a few of the models I shot were first-timers. To be sure, working with first-timers can be a lot of fun but, for pretty girl shooters, they sometimes present special challenges.

Here's a couple of examples:

The Deer Caught in the Headlights Syndrome: Models beset by this affliction step in front of the camera and, although they may each have been Little Miss Personality while getting ready for their shoot, they suddenly go stiff, become filled with anxiety and dread, and begin posing as if a taxidermist had arranged their bodies and molded their expressions.

The I've Watched Every Episode of America's Next Top Model Syndrome: These first-timers know it all. They paid close attention to every bit of advice Tyra Banks and her panelists and co-hosts offered to every contestant ever appearing on the show. They won't make the same mistakes those (losing) contestants did! Unfortunately, they're working too hard at putting the knowledge they gleaned from Ms. Banks' TV show into practice and their poses and expressions are way over the top.

The I'm Not Really a First-Timer Syndrome: These models have spent some serious, quality-time in front of cameras. But the people holding the cameras were boyfriends with point-n-shoots and cell phone cams. And while these first-timer's boyfriends are all, according to the models, extremely creative--after all, they're someday going to be "A" List actors, superstar rock musicians, or celebrated poet rappers--they weren't able to produce work that matched their creative prowess due to the limitations of their gear. (Not, of course, due to the limitations of their skill and talent as photographers.)

Yep, working with first-timers can be a challenge. My best advice: Spend less time focused on craft (i.e., the photography tech stuff) and more time focused on the model. (That's why the craft stuff needs to become automatic and second-nature.) Keep the communications between you and the model going at all times. Give direction. Gain rapport. Build her confidence. Stroke her ego. Pay attention to details. Don't wait for the model to trip and fall into a decent pose and sell herself to the camera. Shooting pretty girls ain't gambling. Good captures don't happen by accident. Well, sometimes they do. But don't count on photographic lightning to strike when you want it to strike. It's lonely out there, in the lights, with some photographer pointing a one-eyed contraption at you. You want to kill the moments you hope to capture? Stand there, silently paying more attention to your camera and what you see in the viewfinder, while an inexperienced model emotionally squirms and melts in the lights.

The first-timer pretty girl at the top is Tina. MUA was Eva. Tina started out the set with Deer Caught in the Headlights Syndrome. Fortunately, she wasn't too difficult to loosen up. Image captured with a Canon 5D, 85mm f/1.8 prime, f/5.6 @ 125. Three source lights--a 5' Octodome and two strips--and a reflector were used.