Curiosity has a lot to do with why I will decide to ask someone to model for me. I was asked on my blog, not too long ago, how I go about asking a stranger on the street to model, and my reply had more to do with the fact that such a thing is rare, because it’s more than just a particular face that gets me to the point where I’m ready to actually ask someone, “Hey, can I take your picture?”
Definitely, it’s the face that gets the gears turning in my brain, but even now, after years of this, it’s not an easy thing for me to ask a complete stranger to let me take their picture.
Heart picks up speed, I get jittery, it becomes difficult to focus on whatever else I’m doing.
Lindsey was my server at a restaurant, and while it was her face that intrigued me, it was her attitude, a bit of sass, more than a bit of a sense that she was actually enjoying her job, that made me ask her after the meal was finished.
The technique, the actual “how’d he do it?” That I’ve detailed before, no need to go over that again.
Obviously she said yes.
Shooting a new subject is a lot like a first date. Matter of fact, the entire model-photographer relationship is like dating. The pressure of asking them, that’s first. The first shoot, seeing if there’s something between you, the subsequent shoots, developing what you saw that first time, digging deeper. If you’re lucky, you find someone you can work with for a long time.
But before all that, the first shoot. For me, at least, it’s as much about getting to know the model as it is about taking good pictures. Because one informs the other. Lately I’ve been doing the majority of my “first shoots” at my apartment. I’m familiar with where the light is at any time of the day, I’ve got an excellent backdrop in the giant hedge outside my window and the rest of the neighborhood is filled with great little spots to shoot. And I’m in my comfort zone, my walls covered in thousands of Polaroids.
This lets the model know I REALLY like taking photos.
When they show up, it’s conversation. Getting to know each other, though the focus is on me getting to know them. Warm things up. Find things in common, make some jokes, a bit of an interview, a bit of an icebreaker.
All the while, I’m watching their face as they talk, looking for expressions to photograph, the good angles, the flaws, the things I’ll want to avoid. What makes them look better, what makes them look worse? It’s an interview, but it’s also an investigation.
THEN we shoot. We’ll go outside, I’ll check the light, see where it’s playing on their face, where I want to position them. Stand them right in front of that hedge and start shooting. Still talking, keeping things light.
I’m not the kind of photographer that needs to have things Just So, it’s a rather loose thing, my photo shoots. I let the models move, not insisting, not resisting.
When I see something that really strikes me, then I’ll ask them to hold still for a bit. For some people, that’s an easy thing. Others, they got shpilkes, they’re jittery, they just gotta move. I try not to hem that in, too much, rather I try to slow them down just enough to get the shot.
Like I told someone the other day, it’s not about making them uncomfortable, getting the shot is not the most important thing. It’s about having fun and interacting with people.
Most of the time, that first shoot, I’ll just move the model around my front yard, playing with the light a bit. If that goes well, if we get along, if I like what I see later on when I’m looking at all the shots, if all that is Solid, then I’ll shoot them again.
Sometimes even if it doesn’t go well, sometimes I’m just not sure.
But most times, you know. I knew after shooting Lindsey that first time, we got along great, the photos turned out smashingly. And so I shot her again as soon as possible.
Because sometimes you’re not sure, and then there’s the other times, the times you want to shoot until you run out of film.
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