My Absolute Favorite Model to Date

I received the most unusual question the other day. I was asked by an acquaintance of sorts, "do you have a favorite model? Who is he or she and why are they your favorite?" Several people came to mind but for totally different reasons. I had to ask myself if I had an all time #1 favorite model I've worked with. It's harder to answer than I thought. 

After being in and around photography for years you meet a large number of people. Some you hope to forget and others become very close friends. I've been lucky in that regard. I hold no ill will toward anyone. In fact, I'd even say that my instincts have done me well. Sure I have a couple of stories that began well but ended with frayed nerves and tension. Nevertheless, those are very few from my side. It's just the nature of the business. Therefore, it's best to get over yourself and develop very thick skin and chalk the remainder up to misunderstandings to get over. 

But having a favorite model is a different kind of question that required me to give the question deep consideration. Why? Surely I must have a favorite right? Well maybe but not really. You see, the very person who may be my favorite today may not be later. I learned that years ago. People move on and develop different tastes, habits and preferences and I'm sure some of those models have as well. But as it pertained to having single person that I'd publicly proclaim as my definitive favorite, I'm thinking no. There are people around that I have amazing creative synergy with. But to say they're my favorite might be inaccurate or more to the point, to say so publicly would be insensitive and unprofessional. Are there models i'd prefer to work with more than others? Absolutely!! But my projects are so specific that I always seek out the best person for the best look and not necessarily someone I personally like despite the look. I'd be doing myself and that model a disservice to not consider whether a look, clothing or otherwise is appropriate or consistent with my style of shooting or what I'm after or they want. No one would believe me if I said that I didn't prefer a specific person for a project over another on occasion and they would be right not to. But to say "favorite" publicly is a bold move I need not do. I only want the best for everyone and myself. Publicizing a list of Favorites isn't smart anyway. I praise everyone because quite frankly they're all magnificent men and women. Firstly, I'm honored to have an opportunity to create art with them. They chose to work with me and for that I'm fancied beyond words. 

The other consideration is why would I be so obtuse as to publicly declare a favorite person on anything in this business unless it's a celebrity model or someone I haven't worked with yet. Not only would I be alienating every other model I've ever worked with, it makes those models think I didn't appreciate everything they've done with and for me. It's just not smart unless I've decided to retire. Even so it doesn't look very professional. That's the kind of opinion I think should be kept private and discussed among colleagues. Should someone ask me privately I might share more insight. Or should I feel compelled to privately share with a model how I feel about his or her ability I will. But if you're out there saying this or that about your all time specific favorite anything in this business I think you're setting yourself up for some intense resentment. 

 

To clarify, my answer is NO but with a "however." I may have a go to model for sports photography, a go to model for lingerie, a go to model for fitness, a go to model for fashion and so on. But no one is better than another. I've help choose over a dozen cover models and select images for ads out of hundreds of pictures daily. Are they all my favorite? Is there a single one? They are or at least they were at that particular time for that particular project. They're different people with different gifts. Sure they'd be flattered for me to publicly call them my favorite but what about everyone else I've worked with? Would they be flattered? Or would they think "wow, what a bastard. I've worked with him six times this year and SHE is his favorite?" 

Now I know everyone reading wants me to just stop BS-ing and just say who my favorite model is. You've followed my posts, my blog(s) or other social media pages. You can decide for yourself who you think my favorite might be. But if there is a person that matters the most to me creatively and photographically, you better believe that they PRIVATELY know who they are and it doesn't help for me to publicly downgrade anyone by saying I have a singular favorite. It's just bad manners.

What studio strobes do you use and what should I buy?

I was recently asked, “what type of strobes do you use?” My short answer is, “anything it takes to get the shot and anything that is available.”

It took some time to develop a knack to adapt to whatever I had on hand; even so, a situation will arise on nearly every shoot where what you have isn’t quite doing what you need and you are forced rely on your creativeness and resourcefulness to get the shot. 

I’ll be honest, I did not always have the budget for quality strobes. Despite having obtained a few, I find them grossly overpriced. Consequently, I try my best to minimize my dependency on any particular brand as much as I can. You’ll find that that when you start buying that most of the connectors are proprietary and that you’re obligated to buy into a system of modifiers and attachments that won’t fit anything else. 

Back to the question at hand, “what type of strobes do you use?” I’ve used Elinchrom RX strobes, Canon Speedlites and something tells me I’ve used AlienBees before but I can’t remember where. Additionally, I must have used a half dozen third party cheap import lights over the years before learning that quality matters in color and power consistency. 

For a person looking to buy strobes my top criteria would be to buy for:

1. Mobility - nothing more frustratng than lugging wires and huge heavy lights everywhere. Find a head with a built-in power pack or at least is adaptable to work with a power pack.
2. Price - Don’t ever buy what you can’t afford. As long as your strobes can produce consistent color and power you can become highly proficient in whatever you have. Even the least expensive unit can produce high fashion looks if you’re creative enough. I’ve often had to build my own modifiers, reflectors, or flats to shape the light.
3. Adaptability - sometimes you will need a beauty dish, a barn door, a soft box, a reflector, a strip box or an octabox. The more adaptable and configurable your strobe is the better off you’ll be in doing different types of photography . 
4. Cross brand capability - every single modifier you need may not be available in the brand you’re considering so consider a brand that has conversion rings and adaptable plates for moving from one popular brand to another on your modifiers.  
5. Availability - You need one more light but the local shop’s inventory doesn’t go into your setup or power needs. There are times you need to run to the camera store and rent another but they don’t carry a brand that matches your modifiers. Or the brand you have has been discontinued. Buy a mainstream top brand largely for it’s sustainability, it’s applicability to your shooting style but not because of popularity or price. 

I hope this was of some help. I can’t really say what I shoot with specifically because I’m always changing and adapting what I need to a given situation and a given photo shoot. 

How Many Images Should Be in Your Portfolio?

How many images should your portfolio have? I've been doing photography commercially as well as freelance for well over a decade and in that time this still seems to be something upstarts seems to struggle with. Every circumstance is different but there is a sweet spot; that perfect number that seems to be just right.That sweet port number is 15.

You can comb the Internet after reading this but what you'll find on nearly every blog, industry periodical or site are articles stating the maximum amount you should have and the minimum you should have. In short, if you can't say it visually in 15 images you'll want to call in a creative booking agent to show you how it's done.

What's the harm in having more? The harm is that you appear unfocused. You don't seem to know where you want to go or where you want to be. Additionally decision makers that hire from portfolios don't have time to look at your art nude pics no matter how good they are if you're trying to get booked as a hand model or get a gig as a product photographer.

In any creative industry where portfolios rule, one bad apple does spoil everything. As someone that still works as a commercial photographer and as a freelancer, I can tell you I lose interests beyond 15 images no matter how interesting that port is. It's a numbers game but with a higher number pushing me towards boredom. With editors or creative hiring managers having to comb thru dozens of submissions, or booking agents or directors needing you to get to the point they want your very very best images.

You think all your images are good. I can understand why you think so. Maybe they are but no one needs to see everything at once. Choose your absolute unquestionable best of the best and save the rest for your follow up. Everyone hiring or casting from a portfolio only remembers about 3, maybe 5 of your absolute top images at best. Furthermore, you have to be even more discriminating about your work than your potential target because you don't have another chance to make a first impression with them.

The first mistake is people tend to forget is that your portfolio is your resume. You have to tailor that resume to the clients that you want to attract. If you're a model and you want to do more catalog work then you show your top 15 catalog-ish images. You don't clog it up with irreverent data that detract from your skills. Therefore, NEVER EVER use any less than ideal image as a placeholder for your port online or otherwise. If you don't have 15 but only 8 high end images then show the 8. I often hear people say, "well I'm having some pro shots taken and will replace these when I get them." Or "my new camera is coming but I used my cell phone camera for now to get my photo port started." Bad move! Your creative reputation has already been tainted should that starter-port become public or get seen by anyone if it's anything less than ideal for your "weight-class" for lack of a better word. Why anyone would do that is beyond my ability to comprehend.

A portfolio says everything about you. It should say this is what I've done but more so this is the direction I want to go and this is how I'm beneficial to you. See my level of skill and how adaptable I am? I've done so many different things but my port is a perfect example of the type of artists you're looking for for your organization or project.

A resume does exactly that but with a port it must be done so in less than half of the time it takes to go thru a written resume. Just like a resume you tweak it for the job you want and for the collaborations you seek and it need not be 15 pages long no more than a good portfolio needs to be more then 15 images deep. In this business less is nearly always more. Of course there will be an exception or two where 20 might be best or even 10. But you have to understand the nature of the industry you're in and the processes of selection in place for visual fields. It's brutal and its immediate. My day tasks requires split second decisions from what can be dozens or hundreds of images. Only the absolute best stand out and when I get any group that goes beyond 15 my mind immediately goes blank after those first few pages.

Any good artist also will know that you can never have a single resume or port. You'll have maybe three or more all with slightly different things in them based on the work you want to get at that time. If you want to photograph products then your port should demonstrate photo compositions and lighting style skills needed for that industry and the evidence supports that number should be averaging around 15 images. If you can't show it 15 images then you may want to ask yourself if you're being redundant and whether or not you truly have your absolute incontestable best out front.  

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. 

5 Mistakes You're Making With Your Portfolio

5 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Portfolio

If you’re out there in front of the camera or behind it and just having a bit of compensation free fun then who cares, this will not apply to you. But if you’re serious about how your port is perceived, if you’ve devoted time to even having a port, then you owe it to yourself to understand how it might be perceived when these common mistakes are made. 

1. Too many selfies. If you’re serious about your port (meaning you really want to attract and land some high quality assignments or attention) dispense with the selfies. Put them on your Instagram Page, your Facebook personal account or whatever is being used to house your casual going ons. But a professional account or any page where you’re trying to bring in quality collaborations, you’re not going to get them with selfies. Sure, I know you want to show clients and other potentials your casual fun loving side. Trust me, they’ll get that when they meet you in person. The port is your resume and your first chance to deliver what you’re about and what you’re capable of. You will not be landing any big fish with selfies today.

2. Too much of a good thing. It doesn’t matter how hot you look in that dress, showing 15 different variations of smiles or poses in it will get you laughed at. It demonstrates a gross ignorance of the process of selection on the publishing and booking side. Agencies and booking agents want to see one and at the very very most two images of that dress or blazer you’re so proud of. If you’re booked for a job, they’re likely looking for one image of any given look (two tops if it’s catalog work) to sell or advertise what they need to. To land the big fish you need to understand the industry and the selection process of advertising and publishing. STOP WITH THE SERIALS of that same jacket, in that same scene with little to no differentiation between the shots. Even a catalog will show two maybe three of the garments they advertise so that you get a good viewing of the overall look, one closeup for detail and perhaps (very rarely) a third showing it in the context of use such as a lifestyle scene. Lose the serials. Even the best look can get boring after the third pic.

3. Too much emotional attachment. I know you really really love that designer. You’ve seen his or her work everywhere. Plus you have met them and have a deep friendly connection. You’re pretty much pals. But it might stand to reason that their particular garments do not suit you. Bad colors, poor fit and just cuts unflattering to your body. It doesn’t make you any less of a model or them any less of a designer. It just means it’s not for you. So while you might absolutely love that skirt in your port, to the unbiased eye it a horrible horrible fit. It makes you look plump, or anorexic, or just plain wrong. It also extends to photographers as well. You love this model. She’s easy  to work with, professional, always on time but the pics kinda suck for some reason or another. It’s not her. It’s not even you. It’s just poor creative chemistry but you really really like her cause “she’s good people” you say. Change the nature of what you’re shooting or move on and get it out of your port. 

4. Too much randomness. No direction. No clear objective. No clear path of what it is you’re trying to achieve. It’s great to have variety but you risk being a jack or jill of all trades and a master of none. I understand. You want to give yourself the broadest chance of being discovered. Look I can do all sorts of looks. Let me be honest with you, it doesn’t work that way. The same way you have to tweak your resume for each individual job you want, you have to tweak your port for each assignment you want to book. Some of the most popular models in the world all said their agents literally ripped out over half of their port pages and started from scratch because they were all over the place. Do yourself a favor a narrow your path and focus on your strengths. You’ll be better off and you’ll thank me later.

5. Too much of the same crew. You love your stylist. You adore this model. You want this photographer to shoot your entire port. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. By all means, do what I do and come back to them as often as possible for your more ambitious creative projects. Yet, when building your port which may include credits, you would fair best having some personnel differentiation. It proves you can work with different people in different circumstances. It also proves you can step outside of your comfort zone. When I see 10 out of 15 pics from the photographer in a model’s port I cringe. It tells me she’s absolutely brand new with zero experience and that this photographer may be the only one they’re comfortable with thus far. Not to say that he or she is but it implies same. It may also suggests you don’t get along with people or that you’re shy and unwilling to branch out. It’s a deal breaker.  

Setting Expectations For Your Creative Collaborations

Establishing and maintaining a high level of quality with so many new faces entering modeling and photography every single day is challenging. It can be difficult knowing what you’re going to get and what their level of talent is. Often times this new wave of models and photographers can sometimes set themselves up for problems later on. But there are a few habits we’ve developed for ourselves over the years that has help improve quality immensely. The key is setting reasonable expectations of quality and putting in place a mechanism to insure that you meet them. 

Here’s a moment where you want to slow your roll. A new model has entered the scene. You have been receiving praises and compliments galore about how beautiful and high quality your work is in this email from him or her. Then at the end of the email the model says I’m available tomorrow afternoon. Then the model says, “I can come in later today if you need me to.” Whoa! Pump the brakes. First let me look at your port and see if there is anything implying that we have mutual collaborative benefit. Let me see the other photographers you’ve worked with and what they’re shooting to see if you’re consistently shooting with quality photographers or choosing at random to get your port numbers up. Let me determine whether or not you’re skilled and talented enough to go through the looks and challenges. Let me take a moment to read your profile and see if there are complaints you’ve made or an endless list of things you don’t want to do as a model before I even decide to consider working with you. Maybe just maybe I want to write one or two of the photographers and see how you were to work with. How did you interact with makeup artist and stylists and so on? Were you shy, condescending, rude, timid bold and/or confident? I also would want to see if there is a style or type of image you’re seeking to get in addition to seeing if I even need or want that type of collaboration. In other words, we need to establish mutual creative want or need.

Now let us change the scene. You received an email from a photographer near you. His or her profile picture on their port is amazing. He says he’d love to do a trade with you. Why? He says you’re perfect, beautiful, gorgeous and you have a great port. He also says he’s available tomorrow or this coming weekend despite it being Thursday night. He even says you can bring an escort if you want. You swiftly look thru his port and you’re nodding your head “okay” not Vogue but it will do. Besides you’re thinking I need the new pictures anyway. “RED FLAG” moment; the photographer never asked what you’re bringing to the shoot. Expectations and limitations were never discussed. The when, where, how and why were never addressed. More importantly, skimming thru the port more thoroughly would have revealed that there is no real consistent quality and no sense of fashion or beauty being emphasized. Is there a lighting style that appeals to you as a model? Or are you so focused solely on that gorgeous profile pic and thought, Wow! that’s a beautiful image - failing to see or realize that the image was likely taken at a Photography Workshop where the photographer didn’t even set his or her own lighting. More to the point, the photographer was likely under instruction on how to set said lighting, put the looks together or build the set. You didn’t really look deeply into the port to see if all the images were consistently as awesome. More importantly, does anything this photographer has done or will do by your estimation further your modeling career ambitions? Will they make your port incredible or are they just more pics to fill up space? Did you ask how the images will be used or if you’ll need to sign a model release? If so, did you ask for the gist of it or are you planning on just showing up? 

These are very common scenarios that always get photographers and models in trouble. Misunderstandings occur - arguments ensue and no one gets the product or service they intended to get. The result - mediocre to very bad images, upset models or photographers, image misuse, copyright violations or a lawsuit threat. Why? Because no one practiced due diligence in setting expectations of quality and behavior. It doesn’t mean that misunderstandings won’t occur. Despite the fact that you take every conceivable precaution, you will still have a few hiccups along the way. 

The questions I would expect from a model or photographer are as follows: Where is the shoot? What time is shoot? Will there be a makeup artist or hair stylist or should I come prepared? Are escorts allowed (if applicable)? Is clothing, shoes and accessories provided? What should I bring? What kinds of looks are we shooting? Are we shooting lingerie, fashion, beauty, nude or implied? If so, should I send an example or image of the clothing, makeup or styling I have or expect? Or will there be a mixture of styles? Will I need a model release or do you have your own? How will the images be used and how will I receive them? What are the rules on image use? Will we be shooting in a studio, home, on location, outdoors or other environment? If you’re a new model and you sent this to me as a list, I would probably block you and consider you difficult to impossible particularly when you haven’t established yourself at all as a model. This applies to photographers as well. Yet, most if not all of this information is derived over the course of the conversing via email, phone or text messages. If not there, then most certainly on a CALL SHEET; which we almost always do as of late. I may tick off a few photographers when I say that if I were a new or experienced model, paying client or basic creative collaboration, I would seldom if ever consider a project where a photographer I’ve never worked with didn’t ask me what I am bringing to the shoot or at least briefly discuss what we’re shooting or want to see some sample of it. It doesn’t make sense to me to not be at least mildly prepared for what I’m to shoot.

The point is, you need to be reasonably prepared. No one expects you to ask everything. Besides, that would come across as snooty and a bit pretentious. The best models and the most booked photographers produce consistently high quality results while also being easy to deal with (in that order). Personally, I would never take on a project of any sort without first having at least a vague idea of what I’m shooting. How could I possibly prepare and expect to deliver the quality you deserve? If we’re shooting dresses then I probably need a different lens or camera for that. If it’s lingerie then I may need a different type of light modifier. If I am to do beauty shots then I would need a different style altogether for that and potentially different backgrounds. How could I possibly set an expectation of quality and delivery that to you without asking a couple of questions first? 

But keep in mind, we’re not production shooters either. I don’t yell “NEXT” for the next person to enter. We prefer the carefully crafted projects designed to maximize the best of a persons attributes and gifts. We’re plenty spontaneous when we need to be. There are a handful of models that could call me tonight and say “I’ll be there tomorrow if you’re available. I have this great idea we need to shoot now and you’re the guy or team to do it.” But that’s after a history of established trust and still I may want some brief idea of what preparations are to be made and what we’re shooting. If you think I’m being overly cautious then take a visual surf around ports online. All things being equal, you can probably tell which images were taken with little to no prep; images where few to no questions were asked or images when a new model and a new photographer planned carefully and took amazing images together. 

Today anyone can take a picture which is why the industry is overflowing with both unqualified and highly skilled talent of both sides of the camera. But those that stand out have highly recognizable refined styles that make them considerably more successful. You might say they have the eye for art, or great lighting skills or even natural ability. But I would say that somewhere along the line they did a bit of sketching (even if last minute) to know how to set their lighting, the get the right color balance for the environment and chose the proper equipment to give you that quality you deserve. Even if minutes before a shoot they took a look at the wardrobe and laid it all out, developed a shooting sequence and lighting style on the fly. But that takes extensive skill and years of experience coming from both sides of the camera to master. I know a few models that I could easily do that with and we work with them repetitively. 

I’m far from an expert but if you’re starting out, I hope you can take away some of my counsel. Avoid the pitfall of being overly eager and set yourself up for success by making reasonable choices and setting quality expectations for yourself and your collaborations.  

Thursday Rant on Kim Kardashian

My Thursday Rant: Thousands or perhaps millions of views, comments, hits, shares and posts. What is the obsession with Kim K? When did she become the moral compass (that's how she's treated) of society and when did society become so obsessive so as to ignore our own personal principles and focus so much on someone that doesn't even care if you even exist?

Her antics really are just that. Antics. If you don't like it, then don't look, don't buy it and don't share it. Those that continue to badger her and her lifestyle are simply looking for affirmation of their own. Furthermore, you're really giving these attention thriving alleged celebrities exactly what they want; press, controversy, media attention and ultimately more money and status. 

You're all being played. The message here is get a life. Kim will continue to do what she does and the Internet is raving about it like crack addicts (pun intended). 

Let me clue you in on something IT'S JUST NOT THAT BIG A DEAL. Why do you care what she does? You should be getting your morals at home and not on television or social media and quite frankly it's not Kim's responsibility to tell you when and when not to look. She's just putting it out there. I saw it and five seconds later I forgot the picture or that Kim K even existed. I moved on with my life. But because it's an ongoing trend to literally gang up on these celebrities as if they're priest and schoolteachers compelled me to write something. 

I don't necessarily agree with it or disagree with what she does and I will never call it art. It's the same trend being perpetuated over and over again by the same select groups that have nothing better to do. There was a Miley Cyrus episode, then Rihanna, then J Lo and now it's Kim K. Tomorrow the cycle begins again. Who cares?  I just don't really care what she does or doesn't do. What I will call it is inconsequential. These people have a platform because society at large gives them one. Just like "if you build it they will come." If you ignore them they will eventually fall away into obscurity. Her looks and her more than modest derrière are likely her greatest assets so I say "whatever" because despite all this nonsense she "made you look." You're either titillated or disgusted. Either way she got paid. 

I didn't get my sense of morality from social media or the Internet. I got mine from my parents. So while you're blaming her for flaunting the bottom that you either want or that you are disgusted by I don't think she even cares. I don't cause I don't know her and I'm not in a position to judge. 

http://www.fhm.com/girls/news/its-official-builders-bums-are-sexy-85578