Experienced Models?

Remember my post Ingredients of a Photoshoot? I think the model is the most important part of the shoot… While this is obvious, the question is: what model traits are really important? For example, there is the looks, of course - but also, there’s the model’s ability to grasp the concept and to impersonate it… there’s the model’s ability to be creative in what poses and facial expressions to use to convey that concept… there is her communication and attitude… there is her commitment and professionalism… I am sure there are many more.

As a beginner, I did not think about any of these traits. And if the notion of one crossed my mind, I’d say we can always figure it out on the way…

To be practical, for somebody who’s just starting, it is hard (impossible?) to watch out for all these variables. Nonetheless, it’s still good to understand the impact of each, and to make a slightly more informed decision with every new shoot.

Let’s take posing as an example. An experienced and talented model can do a lot of really good poses in a very short amount of time with almost no direction. This can be a great help for a beginner photographer so that they can focus on something else they are learning. The downside for that is that the photographer does not get to learn how to pose people - whether it is understanding why the pose looks good, how to fix a pose, or how to communicate with the model to begin with.

So, as a beginner photographer, which should one start with? It is up to you - if you want to practice posing people, you might want to work with an inexperienced model. If you want good poses while you are focusing on lighting (for example), you might want to work with an experienced one. Here’s a hypothesis: alternating would be beneficial so one becomes a well-rounded photographer that can work with anybody! I wonder what the more experienced photographers would think about that…

One of the shoots that I felt the model is ‘taking good care’ of the posing with no minimal direction was with the Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn showed a very wide range of emotions and postures that served the concept very well (the concept was ‘conflict with oneself: should I let go?!’). She effortlessly moved from one expression to the next, from one pose to the next, and the only thing that stopped her is us running out of time! We ended-up with many great poses that it was very hard to pick one over the other. Kaitlyn made my respect and appreciation for acting go much higher :)

Model: Kaitlyn - Photographer: George Mileka