Gina Rules the World

It is not only possible but plausible. Gina could become one of the greatest Helios models ever.

It started some time ago; years that we first met Gina. Like all first shoots there was that slight but quieted anxiety in the air about what to expect. It's always that way with someone new. You just don't know what you'll get. I know that's how we felt. I'm sure she felt the same. Our anxiety proved to be unwarranted. Gina impressed us and still continues to do so. Even so, since then we've refined our casting process and usually meet prospective models first to eliminate that first few critical minutes of awkwardness. In other words we cast/interview to eliminate potential problems beforehand, discuss expectations, gauge interests and commitment. But I felt a creative kinship to Gina I rarely feel the first time out with anyone. There's just something about her I thought, just like "There's Something About Mary."

Now it's years later and at least three or four more shoots into our creative relationship. I still feel the same vibe. She's just "cool people" as it is often said. But very recently something changed. It was like an epiphany that elevates one's consciousness. Something evolved this last time around; an unwavering new confidence I've never seen her exude before. She was always good and I had no reason to believe she would get even better. She is already near perfect. Who is this new person because we're crushing hard on her?

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Fitness Model: Gina Perkins

She doesn't know it but she has always been my ace in the hole and one of my most desired people to shoot. Sure I say that a lot about many different people but Gina has always been a little different for me. She feels familiar and comfortable even if you've never met her before; like the friendly neighbor you grew up with. Everything is relaxed and unforced. But now Gina has positioned herself to take over my entire creative world. She exhibited a sense of boldness I've never seen since our first shoot. She was soft and yet strikingly fierce. She was poised and delicate but not vulnerable. She was ready for whatever I could dish out. You could tell she was confident and prepared and it was contagious. We were throwing around looks like confetti and she mastered it all with very little effort.  

I'd always gotten that from her. But this time she came with a fire I'd not previously witnessed. If this is what we can expect from her then I'm game-on for whatever whenever she wants. She scored serious brownie points for just being a bad-ass this most recent time around. 

I only wish I was more available to her. The only hurdle to our taking over the creative universe is scheduling. I'm not exactly walking distance to her and my time of shooting nowadays is limited so people have to get us when they can. When someone asks to change a booking schedule there are seldom any do-overs. It may be weeks, months or years to get back. That's a problem we will have to overcome. But you had better believe that the world is hers for the taking if I have anything to do with it.

The next person up for our "Denimism" series has a tough act to follow. Gina is no slouch on anything and she killed it. 

Married to a Model

It's tough being married to a model. They're always traveling. Your model/spouse always has dozens of people swarming all over them, inviting them to parties, shows, events and so on. They're seen changing in front of strangers, people they barely know - people adjusting and repairing wardrobe malfunctions. It's also not great having the feeling that some stranger on the other side of the city or the world knows what colors are best on her than you do. It takes a very secure person to be married to a model. Yet, the way to survive it is easier than you know. 

Despite often wondering when your super in-demand model/spouse is gonna give it up, you (the lonely at-home one) soon realizes how much your model/spouse loves it. You know that if you ask her to give it up and stay home, she'll likely hate you for it later; not now and maybe not next year but at some point it's likely gonna be some friction about it. You know it's best to let her come round on her on without any pressure from you. You may haven't realized it yet but modeling for her is in her blood. It's not a fanciful pastime. It's a passion. Once a model. Always a model. It's not switch that can be turned off which is why it's so difficult for her to stop. Despite her doing so for years, if she's honest with you and herself she doesn't want to stop; not ever. 

It's not her fault. She's good at it and she loves it. Don't feel bad. You're paranoid about her being alone or finding that her glamorous life will soon find you boring her to death when she finally makes it home for a minute. 

It's okay to feel a little threatened. She's around other beautiful people male and female everyday all day; people telling her night and day how perfect she is, people giving her gifts and exotic trips and spoiling her with affection in fancy bars, clubs, villas and cafes the world over. You're at home likely changing a pamper wondering who might be pawing on her next, or you're at a soccer game cheering your pre-teen on in a sole voice of familial support.

Do you know where she is? Well after all the dancing, seasoning engagements, video recordings and posing is over and the lights are out and there are no more catwalks to be walked today, she's in some quiet hotel room thinking about you and how she can't wait to get back home. You're her rock. You're her support. You're a steadfast pillar to lean on and that consistent strength that allows her to do what she loves with vigor. That's why she's so good. That's why designers, stylists and photographers want her so. Your support gives her even more zeal to excel. The strangers don't know where her aura, confidence, talent and strength comes from. It comes from you - her foundation and the one she will always come home to. The one she loves and gives her unswerving loyalty. 

So the next gig that comes along don't scowl, don't fret or whimper. If she wants to pass on it let her make her own decisions. Instead offer her your support. Help her book the fare. Help her choose a bag for her pumps despite your color blindness and lack of fashion sense because when she's half a world away in a dressing room she'll be thinking about how bad you are with colors and laugh at your sad sense of style. She'll giggle about your thinking that gray is good with everything. She's thinking about how much you support her and then she'll get on her next catwalk or photo shoot and kill it. 

If you're truly supportive you'll see it in her face when she meets you at the terminal gates. You'll see how grateful she is that you're there smiling again with your pre-teen future soccer star; exactly where she thought you two would be. She'll be happy that life is truly beautiful because she loves what she does but she loves that you love her enough to let her.  

How To Get The Most Beautiful Talented Models.

We've been told a time or two that we seem to have cornered the market on some of the most beautiful models in the region. We hear it from prospective models, from photographers and the occasional observer. The question that frequently comes up is where do you find these stunning models to work with? 

I've always the found the idea of going around trying to find models kinda distasteful. I simply don't have the personality nor the patience for it. Additional is the fact that on a deep buried level it was too close to 'hitting on people.' "Hey, you're gorgeous. Wanna take some pictures?" That just seems weird to me. But some photographers have the gift and the personality to talk a complete stranger into just about anything. Maybe I'm just not as vested in any singular person to be that interested or maybe I'm shy. I have no idea. It feels weird to even consider trying and I've never been compelled to. 

If you're starting out you've also tried all the online sites where photographers and models meet and work out collaborations. Many many years ago I'd been there and done that. That's a hit or miss approach with a very low turnaround. It's mostly miss. If you want to photograph a ton of people then certainly websites are the way the go. If you want very very high quality collaborations and high quality models then you'll want a different approach.

Another way is to use an agency. Agencies are often looking for photographers to photograph their new models; to help those models get their ports started and to give them some experience in front of the camera. Establishing a relationship with an agency may be a great idea for you. You'll have to decide for yourself on that. Agencies are kinda... Well... Ambiguously beneficial at times to say the least. But there are photographers that have nothing but the best to say about their agency relationships. 

Over the years I've established my own personal way to get the absolute best of the best models. The trick to getting them for me is not to try - at least not a direct approach anyway. I found that by concentrating more on the quality of my work, higher quality models found me on their own. It seems so simple now but that wasn't always the case. It's a steep hill to climb but putting my efforts into turning out higher quality results eventually, albeit slowly, found the people I wanted to work with for me. More to the point, my best work with models has most often been a referral from another model, a photographer or a paid assignment. There is no higher praise than a referral. That means someone likes or loves your work enough to share you or to recommend you. That's bigger than anything. 

On occasion I'll still stumble upon someone when no substitute will do for a very specific look and I'll go after one model in particular. But over time I've learned that the models that have been statistically more professional, more communicable, more trustworthy, and more punctual tend to find us first. It seems that when you have to pursue them they're simply not as committed to the process or the project and the results are mixed at best if the model shows up at all. It's sounds too much like children dating and chasing each other around as if it's a "playing too hard to get" scenario. Well I'm too old for that so I turn back to what works for me. 

It all brings me back to my original method - concentrate on quality and when you get your model whether it be a male or female spoil them senseless. They will always recommend like minded beautiful and stylish people like themselves that cherish the high quality results you repeatedly give them. Once you hit referral stage you will never have to go out looking and you'll always have professional talent. I've actually had models come up to me and say "you absolutely have to work with my friend or this other model I just met because she's so talented and beautiful and she would compliment your style very well." That within itself would be a huge compliment and a testament to the kind of work you put out. For us, we concentrate on quality and from quality comes all the work we can handle. That's how we get great models.  

Modeling and Age Discrimination

About three weeks ago I worked with a model I’d never worked with before. She is gorgeous in every way. Polite, intelligent, beautiful skin, gorgeous full and shiny hair and an amazing fit body. As long as a person is of legal age I don’t really care how old they are. If they suit the look I’m going for then I really could care less beyond getting the job done. But I was stunned by what she told me. She mentioned that in her experience many people were turned off by her age. She perfectly recalled an occasion, when a photographer she had just finished shooting with asked her age. When she told him he visibly expressed shock and immediately became dismissive and treated her horribly. I personally just don’t understand the obsessiveness with age. Clearly this model was perfect before the photographer knew her age. I was appalled and very disappointed in this photographer’s behavior. It makes the entire industry seem so very very superficial.  All we really want or really need is a competent and talented subject to meet the criteria of the task. 

I might have known that something was off when she asked the average age of the models I typically work with early in the photo shoot. She was unnaturally interested. When I mentioned all ages she was visibly but pleasantly surprised. I clearly remember saying, “I don’t have an age limit. I only have qualifications. If a person suits those qualifiers then I don’t care. If she is slightly older then all the better since statistics tend to suggests that more mature models are more reliable.” Then she told me her story. I couldn’t get over how someone calling themselves a professional could behave in such a manner. In her estimation, anyone over 30 years of age was at a horrible disadvantage. Clearly she had been shaken and somewhat discouraged by her experiences and given her talent and her looks I was simply baffled why anyone so beautiful might have developed such a distrust and negative attitude about the industry at large.

It didn’t take me long to realize she was not alone. I did a bit of research and spoke to a few colleagues and other models. While there are certainly more mature models working, many have experienced some form of push back when they revealed their age. It wasn’t because they didn’t look the look, walk the proverbial walk or that they didn’t meet all the criteria of the task - NO! It was only because of their age; a simple number that often disqualified them from further consideration.

When did we become so shallow a society to care how old or how young a person is if they perfectly suit the task at hand? In fact, I have argued that on occasion it might be more attractive to seek out a slightly more mature model because of their attention to detail, their work ethic and dedication. Paid or unpaid, collaboration or commissioned, I have never had a model over 30 years of age not show up. From a marketing perspective, any smart person would know that models in their 40s, 50s and 60s is a rapidly growing and sought after group due to the amount of products and services seeking that demographic. More specifically, the amount of quality images needed to promote products to that group is rapidly expanding. It is quite simply, a smart move to work with this rapidly expanding market. If anything, this photographer should be bowing and pleading for the pleasure. But even that is not really the argument here. The lack of common business sense is argument enough for the imbecile that has a problem with age. But what truly perturbs is the fact that this age-nazi expressed no problem whatsoever until he or she actually learned the model’s age. It’s baseless and ignorant to age discriminate for any reason short of not being able to perform the task and that can be true of any person at any age. 

This photographer, whomever they are is simply a fool. It was a tactless thing to do, a blatant lack of professionalism and it shames me to know that someone as kind and as beautiful as this model has to endure such ridicule for being who she is. 

Lucky for me I did photograph her and quite frankly I loved every second of it. She was perfectly qualified, punctual, experienced, respectful, communicable and gorgeous. What else could I possibly want? All things being equal she was perfect and I don’t care how old she is beyond being of legal age.