Lets Talk About; Models. Teen Models. Bikini Models.
down by the river, or on a 'Bikini Beach' location.
"Roger, where do you find these devine creatures", said Gavin Robinson, many, many, years ago and long before the days of the Digital SLR Camera, (in fact nearly 40 years ago to be more to the point)!
I was in one of London's top, (at the time), Model agencies, 'Gavins', in Bond Street , London, UK, together with a model 'wannabe' by the name of Jo Howard.
I had previously met and tested Jo some weeks earlier after her mother approached me at her school, which was the same school that my eldest daughter Karen attended.
Her Mom told me that her 16 year old Daughter was 'hell bent' on being a model and I had to agree with her, that she was stunning to look at, so I arranged to take her to one of the top model agencies in London.
She became so famous all those ago and was in all the UK newspapers, magazines and in demand by all the top London Fashion Photographers and Studios, including the Studios that I use to freelance with.
She was even booked for a fashion assignment abroad with me to shoot teen fashion catalogue and I seem to remember having to spend most of my free time rescuing her from the 'pranks' she use to get up while not working!
Within a few years, and after she had mixed with the rich and famous, she married one of the members of the 'Rolling Stones' Rock band!
She use to jokingly say, "I owe it all to Roger", and I got to thinking what it would have been like to have received, say 1% commission of the Stones for over three decades! WOW!!!
Today, there are many so called 'Super Models' that are not only beautiful, but bring a little something extra to the photo shoot or on the Catwalk. So where does that leave you when your looking for a model to photograph in front of your digital SLR camera.
Well, I have to say things have changed a lot over time, but at the height of my advertising fashion days, if you introduced a new wannabe model to an agency, and assuming they knew you well, they would look upon it as a recommendation and seriously consider her for their books.
However today, this is not necessarily so and however well known you become as a fashion photographer, it may not work that way anymore. So therefore a new Model 'wannabe' has to make it alone. But often a new potential model may be lucky and be 'scouted' by somebody from an agency of even a fashion magazine, if she is the right type.
On a previous page; Lets Talk About: fill-flash, Digital Cameras and Models, I wrote how I found a young teen model, almost by accident and you should be on the lookout for just such an opportunity, making sure of course you have covered all the legal requirements if she is under age 18.
I also previously written that if you are already an established photographer, you might well be in the position to pay for a model to work with you on an assignment. Perhaps you could offer the model agency to test new models as they become available and by so doing be able to set up a special arrangement for a camera shoot you may have in mind.
What kind of Teen Model Girl should you be looking for; Tall, slim, elegant and works well in front of the camera, with that certain something that sets her apart from others. Quite a tall order, but you know sooner or later you'll find what your looking for, even if you have to start paying a model fee and if she's new you should get that at a more favourable rate than when she becomes well known.
We have also talked previously about posing your model, but you know after working with a model for a time, it's your creative inner self that will guide you to get better images with your model. It's a worthwhile thing to invest some time working on this and remember to think how the model looks before you take the picture.
You should also be technically perfect with your knowledge of using your digital SLR camera and observe which time of day to be working with careful attention to lighting if your shooting on location for example, using the correct flash-fill ratio of 1 to 2.
Learn to master some of these simple techniques and you will have a picture perfect shoot every time.
Here are a couple of standard tips for shooting a fashion model or portrait; Full length or three quarter length fashion shot, camera height should be set at your knee height. Portrait close up shots look better if the the digital camera height is set just a little lower than the middle of the models face, using a semi telephoto lens of course, so as not to cause distorted facial features.
But if you ever check out a fashion magazine you will notice that today almost anything goes, but it's still important to know the basics so you can return to them.
If you look again at some of the pages on this site, you will notice that I like to shoot some images from ground level, this with a tight camera crop will bring impact to your shot and make the viewer look, it will also bring attention to the garment that the model is wearing.
Study the comments on this site well as it may just save the day on your photo shoot and there is always room for improvement, which you will learn as you progress.
Don't be afraid to take yourself to task if a photo shoot image or two doesn't work out and learn from it. Run tests and check what digital camera settings you should be using while on location.
And above all remember there is always something that is bound to go wrong, especially on location. For example: wrong flash setting, forgetting to switch on flash, wrong flash sync setting because the shutter speed is set too high. And the 'mother' of all cock ups, an incorrect exposure camera setting. So, remember check, check again and before you shoot, check again. Oh and also before you shoot, dont forget to give the model and the garments she wearing some attention as well. Good Luck!
On the next page: Studio Teen Model Shoot Do you have enough experience to shoot a young Teen Model Girl in a studio and pull off a professional style teen model shoot.
Roger Lewis © 2003 - 2010'
www.PhotoRog.com
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