She cited a personal example of having carefully and thoroughly vetted a photographer. She looked through his port and all throughout his social media sites and saw nothing but extraordinary premium quality images. The photographer had been published multiple times in various magazines and had even been interviewed a few times by others as well as being a part time instructor. In other words the guy knew his stuff. But when this particular model worked with him, her pictures were amateurish at best. To be frank with her, I had to admit they were bad; very very bad. They appeared to not even have been done by the same guy. Had I not seen this sort of thing before I would not have believed her. What gives?
Well it could be several things that could have attributed to the problem. Some of them having very little to do with the photographer. Hold on now. I'm not suggesting he didn't screw up royally. He most certainly did fail miserably. After all the final call is often his as to what is and what is not an acceptable image.
As a photographer I can tell you that we are very finicky about our reputation. It was a simple exercise to figure out what happened in this case. I just applied a bit of deductive reasoning to her case. All things being equal, if every image of other people by him is stellar and hers is not then you can narrow down the problem by eliminating the uncommon potentials. Whatever remains is your culprit. In this instance we have the same photographer, with the same gear in the same location. What is different? The model is the only difference. Even that is to say that it may or may not have been her fault either. Maybe he was having an off day and just didn't care or couldn't focus. Maybe she was not quite herself that day either. But what happens when this happens over and over again with the same model? I'd say they're just not vibing. It happens to even the best people. There is simply no creative chemistry there. I see it happen most often when the photographer is accustomed to having most of the creative control or he or she has a stylist on their other shoots but instead on this shoot the photographer allowed the subject to dictate the creative and style direction of the shoot.
After talking more to the model I learned that there was very little communication or preparation prior. After almost bullying him to do a rare free shoot through dogged persistence, he gave in. I just don't think he was as committed to it and decided to forego his usual vetting and styling process to save time and effort. It would seem he normally shoots with models of a very certain type; young, signed, very experienced, tall and lean. She met part of that list but not all. That part is his fault. If you don't want it and you can't or won't do it well then don't do it. How did I know it wasn't styled or planned? She said as much and I'd seen her wear that same exact clothing with multiple photographers far and wide. It was just a tired and played out look with garments that quite frankly had no business on a photo shoot. She just doesn't know she's not a good enough stylist for this and he didn't tell her otherwise. Again. His fault.
After more questioning I leaned that they really hadn't planned on anything in particular to shoot. She didn't volunteer what she was bringing and he didn't ask. Even I don't meticulously plan out every single detail all the time but I do like to have a rough idea of what we want to accomplish if nothing else. If it's someone I know very well photographically then I will forego most if not all of that due to our familiarity but never on an unknown. But given this photographer's port I can't imagine he just wings everything given the detail and grandeur of every look from different models.
So whatever have here are several things causing her problem and less than stellar results from what is otherwise an extraordinary artist.
1. A lack of Trust - never worked with her before and didn't work to build any kind of camaraderie or familiarization with each other's style or experience. They were unevenly matched. If you have trouble completely relinquishing visual and creative control to another person then modeling may not be for you. Sure you can choose who and who not to work with. Once the commitment has been joined then you as a model have agreed to be shaped, molded and finessed often to someone else's eye depending on the project. The photographer as to give in to another's will often times when a creative director is present or if the model and the photographer have both conceived an idea to work together on. But when the time comes full and total trust that he knows what he's doing and she knows what she is doing is paramount. In short, you've established an understanding for the entire project.
2. Poor communication - setting expectations is a key component of every project. What are you trying to achieve? What would you like to get out of this? Where will these images be used? How much time are we shooting for? How soon can you arrive? Can you provide an example of your idea or describe it? What genre? Or are we just having fun and seeing what happens? Who will be doing the editing? Sharing ideas or asking for direction. Gauging the other's primary creative interests.
3. Resource management - what do we need to accomplish our goals? What are you bringing? Who will be responsible for what? Makeup, clothing, hair, accessories, assistants, props? What are we shooting?
4. Over your head - don't pretended to know when you don't know. Just because you think your clothing is bomb doesn't mean that it is. Ask the person who knows. If you're really going hard after a person whether or not you're the photographer or the model, it's important to know when you're outclassed and you may want to seek the other's advice on things like styling, posing or even lighting. But never invite yourself unless your opinion is welcomed.
5. Know your role - let people do their jobs. If you're gonna model then be a model. Don't start dictating to the photographer your best angle or how to place the lights. That's the photographer's expertise. That's why you're here remember? It's because they're the best and you want to work with them. If you want to be a photographer then be one but don't try to be both and frustrate the photographer by telling him or her what light works best on you or how to edit your pictures. Trust me, they don't want your opinion unless they ask for it.
6. You're not ready - sometimes you're just outclassed and not ready. Don't beat yourself up. There is a reason his pics are incredible or her port is amazing. Some people don't match or don't match right now. You may need more experience or better styling before you step up or accept a project. You should always strive to work with people that are perceivably better than your are. That's how we improve. We learn from others and apply those good attributes to our own process and style. Yet, sometimes it's best to just back off for a bit and get yourself primed before stepping into something or someone currently beyond your skillet.
7. You're not her - you've seen the ports and you have to understand that everyone is different. Everyone is unique. You're not gonna ever look like the girl in the picture because that's not you. You have a different bone structure, different hair, you're taller or shorter. You may be wider or thinner or even heavier. Be honest with yourself first. Set reasonable goals. She's 100 pounds and you're 150 or vice versa. Unless you're edited beyond recognition it's not happening. It's okay to use an idea but make it yours and put your own signature touch on it. Embrace your uniqueness and most often your results will exceed your original idea.
8. Trying to please - in a side example of what not to do I asked another model why she put an obviously less than stellar pics on her social media Pages. She admitted they were bad but didn't went to offend the designers or the photographers that produced them. Well that's on you in thought. It's your brand and your reputation. I quietly but vehemently disagreed. This is a business and if you're a model or a photographer it should be your goal to your brand identity with unrelenting diligence. I'd equate what she did on her Page to a restaurant serving contaminated food knowing it was bad but served it anyway because they didn't want to anger or disappoint their suppliers. That makes absolutely no sense to me but I let it pass because from that point onward I questioned myself on whether or not I ever wanted to work with someone who would allow such images right alongside my own. Does that not call into question her decision making and style acuity? Yes it does. It also undermines the very reason people come to me in the first place. We don't collaborate with just anyone and just because you're nice or sweet isn't reason enough to ruin my business or my rep. All it takes is one bad photo for people to say what was he thinking. I try to minimize those instances.
All of these issues that I discovered with her and many like her attributed to her problems. Even after all of that is addressed and considered some instances just don't work out. Despite how much I can like a person's style, how they look or even their current work, sometimes people just can't quite sync on a creative level. It's best to just let it go because every single bad picture you take is ruining your visual brand whether or not you're the photographer or the model. Digitally it will lasts forever and you don't want that blemish on your rep. Always choose quality over quantity.
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