Model Bitch: April 2011

Guest post by Stefano Brunesci: Beginning Fashion Photography

Stefano is one of my absolute favourite photographers, and absolutely lovely too. To get some more valuable, technical insight into the world of photography, I asked Stefano to provide some answers to commonly-asked questions. This is Stefano's first post in what will, hopefully, develop into a little series to help budding photographers.

I get a lot of emails and messages from new photographers asking for advice. Here are some of the most common questions and answers:-

Q: What equipment do I need?

A: Almost any modern DSLR with a couple of consumer grade lenses will be more than enough if you are just starting out. There are plenty of excellent photographers producing amazing work with ‘consumer grade’ cameras such as the Canon 450D and similar. Your main focus (no pun intended) in the first year or two should be on mastering the basics of exposure, composition, focal length, DOF and perhaps a bit of studio lighting. Camera equipment is one of the least important parts of the equation in the first few years. Once you have mastered the basics and are competent with your first camera then maybe think about upgrading IF you are being held back in some way by it.

Q: I have my first nude shoot soon – what do I need to do?

A: Keep your pants on, respect the model's privacy as much as is possible under the circumstances, turn the heat up and have fun!

Q: I don’t always get the results I hoped for – is that normal?

A: Everybody has shoots where things don't go as expected. I've had shoots where I've been miserably disappointed with the results but everybody else involved has loved them - but so far, not the other way around, thankfully. I'm sure every "great" photographer has a few stories of shoots that didn't live up to expectations. That's life. One of the things that makes a photographer "great" is the ability to shrug it off then go out and shoot something awesome the next day.

Q: How do you avoid dropping/damaging your camera?

A: Outdoors I keep the strap wrapped around my wrist. Indoors when shooting tethered I do the same but when I put the camera down I always put it on the floor. In fact I have a special 'camera cushion' that I sit it on. Much better that it's already on the floor than getting knocked there by some numpty (probably me) tripping over the USB cable and dragging it off a table!

Q: How do you get such great results from inexperienced models?

A: I generally just tell young/inexperienced models that I want them to goof about and try absolutely anything they like as digital is free and I'd rather get one great shot and throw away 99 bloopers than get 100 safe but boring shots. Music of their choice, also, often helps - in the UK get Spotify - www.spotify.com - and you can let them choose pretty much anything

Q: I only have cheap lights so I’m screwed, aren’t I?

A: No. Your problem is your attitude more than your lack of funds. Nobody knows when they look at a photo whether you used £10k of Profoto strobes or a couple of £50 work lights. All they see is what you did with what you have. If you really want a particular light or modifier for a specific effect then yes, save up for it and buy it, but generally speaking you will be limited by your imagination much more than by your equipment.

Q: What lighting do I need for Fashion?

A: There is no such thing as "lighting for fashion". It all depends on the look and mood you're trying to create. Whether your photos turn out as "fashion" or not will be more down to the styling, the models and your photographic eye than the lighting you choose to use. I was going to say "you can't go wrong with a beauty dish" but many people do so I'll just suggest using a BD or a single gridded strip softbox and maybe a reflector. You don't need all that much gear - keep it simple! Many of my photos were shot with just one light.

Q: Other photographers are doing so much better than me – what am I doing wrong?

A: Don't worry about what others are doing (or appear to be doing) - half of it will be exaggeration, spin and wishful thinking on their part anyway. I find other people's Facebook updates amusing at times - if you judge them only by that you would think everybody was already a megastar. Just keep doing what you're doing and keep getting better - it can take years to get anywhere in fashion photography, or it can take a week if you happen to strike it lucky and make one great contact! Maybe get a Facebook fan page and profile for your business if you don't already have one - the more people who have heard your name and can associate it with your photography the better

Q: I bought a new camera but I still can’t replicate photos I like – did I buy the wrong camera?

A: If you spend some money on tuition or even a couple of good books about photography, rather than just buying random equipment in the hope that it will improve your pictures, then you will be able to look at a picture and in many cases make an educated guess as to what technique/lens/focal length/aperture was used. However, if you just prefer to keep flailing around in the dark hoping for a quick fix by buying more equipment then carry on!

Stefano Brunesci is available for 1 to 1 tuition at very reasonable rates – contact him via Facebook, MM or email info@stefanobrunesci.com for details and prices.

If you have any questions for future posts, ask them in the comments!

Focus on photographer: Catherine Day

Wonderful, clean work from a female photographer in Cheltenham.

Guest post by Vasilisa: How to arrange your book

Thanks to Vasilisa for this concise guide and images that follow up on this post.

Print your images as 9x12s - when testing, explain that you need them at this size so that photographers can bear that in mind when sending files. Some images just don't suit it - don't stress too much, just print it as 8x12. I used to print mine at Photobox but they screwed up a LOT. I've had good results with DS Colour Labs and Loxley. Be prepared to pay a decent amount for your prints.

A lot of agencies will give you a portfolio book - I have 3; one from MOT (the grey one in the images), one from Sandra Reynolds (blue and pretty) and one from Pina Zangaro for other agencies. It's really poor form to come to a casting from one agency with a portfolio from another, so if you have a few really make sure that you've got the right book and the right cards with you.

Put your cards in the pocket on the front in the inside - your book should have a pocket there. If not, make one. Start off on a headshot - mine's a commercial book, if you have a fashion book you can have an 'edgier' shot. Look at what your agency put as your main pic on your profile - you should really use the same image to start off your book. Make sure you include every image that's on the website!

(sorry about the sideways pic - blogger is playing up!) There are two main ways to display landscape shots; either print it out over 2 pages like a spread, like in the first one. Or, put it in the middle of a portrait image, put it on a black background and put it in your book that way.

Make sure that you're facing towards the gutter, not out of the page. I don't know why - it's just something I was told a few times and I think it does make it look neater.

Make sure that you chase up your tears and put them in your book. I have had a few that I didn't include because I just really didn't like the images, so you're not obliged to use them, but it's a good idea to.

I've had trouble with mini-mag images since they're so small. I tried to fit the whole thing on one page, which doesn't work with spreads. I think the best way to do this is to just treat them like normal spreads. I have tried 'layering' when it's not a spread (so putting 2 pages on one page, one on the bottom right and the other on the top left). It looks ok, but not ideal. Basically they're a pain, but if you get a spread in Glamour or something you don't really want to leave it out.

Model Mayhem and Purestorm comparison

This is largely what I believe the sites are good for - more informative (I hope) than the posts a few months ago, and just to help people decide which they want to use more heavily, if there's a preference. This is largely based on my own experience of the two sites.

Opening your legs: adult modeling

Your mum will disapprove, your boyfriend won't like it, your friends will think you've lost it - in some cases they may be right. The actual adult industry isn't as seedy as people may think - it's full of people who are just making a living selling sex. And sex sells, even in this economy.

Lets clear this up - I am not talking about modeling for GWCs. I am not talking about people who 'practice' their photography shooting pussies and assholes (great practice...I really love the way you lit the labia...). Make sure you look at who you're shooting with - do they have connections? Have they worked for sites/magazines before? Have they actually said that they're shooting for content sites and the like, or did they say 'MetArt STYLE' and 'FemJoy STYLE'. Those usually mean they'll light you poorly while trying to fight with their sweat and growing erection. Make sure you're actually shooting for the adult industry, and not one guy's spank bank - if you're going to open your legs, do it for the right person (your mum was right on that one!).

There's a lot of fairly softcore, well-shot content out there. Sites like MetArt, FemJoy, APD Nudes, Twistys, Breathtakers and the like are well shot by great photographers. The pay is good, and the standards are high - generally under size 12 (mainly very slim), natural breasts, beautiful faces, no tattoos, no piercings (ears and bellybuttons ok), no fake tans and lovely smooth skin. If you have the right look, you can make very good money with these sites and those similar. One well-known and respected photographer for these sites and magazines such as Mayfair is Iain Thomson - you'll find great advice and information on his site. A lot of models make exceptions to their levels for him due to his reputation and skills - and they're lining up around the block.

Know the language and what you're agreeing to:

GG: You're interacting with a female model - this could be just being in the shot with them, through to various sexual acts. Be specific and find out exactly what's expected of you.
BG: You're interacting with a male model - again, this could be just in the same shot, or you could be expected to have sex. Make sure you know what's happening!
Playboy nude: Full frontal nudity, but you don't see pink.
Seeing pink: seeing the labia and pinkier bits of your vagina (not just the front)
Penthouse nude: Open legs, seeing pink
Hustler nude: Penetration
UK Magazine: same as Penthouse nude - seeing pink
US Magazine: Seeing pink and holding yourself open
Continental: Same as Hustler nude - penetration with fingers or toy
Gonzo/POV: You will be performing sexual acts on the photographer. These requests are explicitly forbidden on online communities such as PS and MM, but still take place.

If you did not feel comfortable reading or discussing it, it's not for you. If you plan to go into a career involving children, politics or being in the public eye at all, it's not for you. If you have a problem being seen as a porn star, it's definitely not for you.

Safety: if you are going into the harder side of this (i.e. having sex with models), make sure that you get STD check ups regularly and that people you are working with provide the necessary paperwork to prove that they're clean. No job is worth getting cervial cancer, becoming infertile or even dying for. It just isn't. Frankly, even if you're not in the adult industry - go get checked!

Age: a lot of models go into the adult market at 18, which is great if you know exactly what you want and you're confident. Model Bitch is by no means a conservative or an old woman, but I know that my mindset at 18 was very different from my mindset now. Think it through. I'm not saying wait or don't do it - just think. It's a big decision - don't make it for the wrong reasons.

You have to understand: these things will be on the internet. Forever. You can't get rid of them or make them go away.

Pseudonyms: a very very good idea. Use one - for all your modeling, not just adult. It's good to keep parts of your life separate.

***
There are a few photographers out there offering the world's most complicated, and worst deal to models, and they're shooting for a few content sites (apparently): you work for 4 hours and get paid for 2, you only get paid part of your fees and then you get paid more if it sells, if it sells for more than a certain amount and you also get 'prizes'. It's utter bullshit - trying to make rates so confusing that you don't realised you're getting fucked.

Remember that joke: A boy went up to his father and asked him, "Dad, what is the difference between 'potentially' and 'realistically'?"

The father thought for a moment, then answered, "Go ask your mother if she would sleep with with Brad Pitt for a million dollars.

Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars, and then ask your brother if he'd sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars. Come back and tell me what you learn from that."

So the boy went to his mother and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?"

The mother replied, "Of course I would! We could really use that money to fix up the house and send you kids to a great University!"

The boy then went to his sister and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?"

The girl replied, "Oh my Gawd! I LOVE Brad Pitt I would sleep with him in a heartbeat, are you nuts?"

The boy then went to his brother and asked, "Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?"

"Of course," the brother replied. "Do you know what a million bucks would buy?"

The boy pondered the answers for a few days and then went back to his dad.

His father asked him, "Did you find out the difference between 'potentially' and 'realistically'?"

The boy replied, "Yes, 'Potentially', you and I are sitting on three million dollars ... But 'realistically', we're living with two hookers and a homo.

Well, with the deal above, potentially you get about £400 for 4 hours work, but realistically you're getting paid less than half of what you should.

Do you work in the adult industry? Is there anything you wish you'd know when you started? Comment here and let people know!

Focus on model: Raphaella

It's been brought to my attention that another of the UK's best art models, Raphaella, has recently retired. An absolute loss to the community.

Marketing on social media and blogging

Since I use quite a few tools for this blog, and run 4 successful(ish) blogs at the moment, I thought I'd share a few tips with you that may find useful for your own blogs and social media efforts.

Keep your shit separate
Keep your business page separate from your personal profile. Keep your photography/modeling blog separate from the blog where you talk about your toe clippings and boyfriend's back hair. Personal does not belong on a business page. Even for amateurs - would a photographer want to work with an amateur model whose entire page is covered with emo updates about her rocky relationship with her boyfriend? Would a model want to test with a photographer whose entire page is covered with dirty jokes? It's just really a good idea to keep the two separate.

Blogging

Consistency
This is more important for a business rather than a hobby, but your blog should be a living and breathing part of your website. If a business blog hasn't been updated in 5 months, people will wonder what's up. If you want regular readers, you need to supply regular content. I try to update Model Bitch on a daily basis...sometimes more, sometimes I miss a day. But if someone comes once a week, they'll have 4-8 new pieces to read. I update other blogs on a weekly and bi-weekly basis which is also fine, as people know when to expect content.

Interaction
I think a key part of a blog is interaction - I love comments and discussions, and think that they add a lot, both as a blogger and a reader of blogs. Allow comments, and make sure that you respond to them. Look at other people's blogs and see how they handle their visitors - if people feel ignored, they'll either stop commenting or stop reading...which isn't the idea.

Credibility
I don't write about shit I don't know about - unless I can stand my ground on the subject and give people new information, I won't talk about it. I was considering doing a quick 'lighting tips' post for new photographers as I've picked up quite a bit, but thought better of it since it's not my area. If something isn't your area, don't write about it. If you're writing an instruction piece or opinion piece on photography, make sure you can back it up, make sure you're happy to discuss it and justify your points if need be. This is the internet - someone will always think you're wrong. Offering quality, credible content makes your blog more valuable and interesting for people, and they'll keep coming back.

Monetising
This is tricky. I'll let you know my general opinion on this, but there are a lot of ways to do it. As a photographer, your aim is to provide information about your photography so people will buy from you, ditto as a model. That's your 'product' so monetising should really be secondary to getting people reading and interested. And getting links - links are sometimes better than money. You can also write ebooks (as I'm in the process of doing) as another product, but see the point on credibility for this.

There are a number of ways to advertise. Amazon associates is a good scheme, and you can advertise specific products that you personally use (again, credibility), and you get a generous commission. I don't like Google Adsense. I had it up on here for...oh....3 hours? I hated not being able to choose what to advertise and got rid of it the moment I saw a scam agency advert on my blog - again, credibility is crucial. If I'm offering advice for new models, and they click on it because it's my page (with lots of good advice), they've basically been scammed because of me, which makes me a total asshole. ModelMayhem has a lot of these ads - I have broached the subject with them on a number of occasions, to no avail. That's the main reason I steer clear of Google - that and the shitty pay.

Affiliates are great - you can get specific companies that you recommend personally and get a generous commission. TradeDoubler has plenty available from one place, with a variety of ad sizes and formats to suit your blog. My advice is don't advertise anybody you wouldn't personally recommend to a friend. People will trust links on your page because you put them there - don't compromise that trust by getting greedy.

Community
Just as interacting with people on your own blog is important...it's also nice to interact with other bloggers and other people in your industry. You're not alone, so why not create a little community? Link to pages of people you've worked with, link to other blog posts that you like, link to other photographers and artists that you like. It may seem counterintuitive, but it really depends on your business and your personality. When working, I often referred photographers to other models that I thought would benefit their work, and they did the same for me. If you don't do glamour, but you admire a particular photographer that does, why not mention them and link? They'll appreciate it, and it's not exactly taking money from you since you don't work in that area anyway. Again, this depends on your business, how you conduct it, your competition and a lot of other practices, but swapping links is a good way to get more traffic.

Measuring
This is a pretty crucial part of blogging if you want it to grow and be successful - you need to know who your audience are, when they're online, how many pages they go to...you just need to know what they need. I highly recommend Performancing Metrics for this! It gives a fantastic amount of information and you get a decent trial for free.

Social Media

What to use?
PS, MM, NM etc. can be classed as social media. Apart from these, facebook and twitter are the main ones, although Flickr is also great for photographers (be careful with the creative commons bit).

Facebook pages
Set up a page for your photography to keep it separate - you can also advertise on facebook and lead people directly to your facebook page. There are a few key things to remember for facebook pages:

Make sure you link to your blog/website/whatever
Update consistently!
Build a landing page with the iFrames app to brand it better and get the 'wow' factor the moment someone clicks on your page - it's far better for advertising your work than just using their standard format
You can use Networked Blogs to put blog updates on the facebook page automatically
Try not to update twitter and facebook with the same information all the time - the reduces the value of both
Enable comments
Get friends and family to add it as well - people need social proof, and nobody wants to be the first to 'like' something! It's just the Matthew effect...

Twitter

Make full use of the profile features to brand your page (I have to admit, I haven't got round to building a background for mine yet!)
Follow people - nobody likes those people with 20,000 followers, only following 1 person - it's SOCIAL media
Retweet - it's easy content. You just need to press a button, and people love being retweeted
Use it to get more traffic to your blog
Tweet your castings!
Models: if you have new wardrobe or props, tweet it.
Make use of the pic facilities - people are more likely to pay attention to photos....I used to know a statistic for that but I've forgotten it...

Badges for my lovely readers

I promised these a while ago but just remembered to post - just right click and save if you want a super-cool Model Bitch badge!

You can put them on your forum profile, on your facebook page, you can print it out and make it into a real badge or even print out hundreds and roll about naked on them - the possibilities are endless!

Special thanks to my Nordic fairy for helping out with these - you know who you are!

Focus on photographer: Christian Hough

A very talented man, who doesn't mind bending the rules of a shoot to create something amazing. I only shot with Christian once, but created some of my favourite images in those moments - as with all my favourites, they were completely unplanned.

Model websites: the good, the bad and the ugly

It's good to have a website as model - it's good to have a link to www.yourmodelname.com instead of just MM and PS, its good to put on business cards, it's good for SEO and displaying your work, and it's good because it shows that you take pride in your work and haven't just uploaded some pics on a site and hope for the best. I like looking at model websites; it shows more about the person and how they choose to exhibit their work.

Having said that, there are some piss-poor model websites out there. Either because models try to do it themselves, and fail miserably, or because they got someone to make it for them and the webdesigner just wants to show off their skills rather than showcase the model.

Here are a few tips to help you get websites that market you properly, and will work to your advantage:

Keep it clean and simple - the images (i.e. YOU) should be the focal point. Not a jazzy header, 20 different typefaces and a video on loop that plays whether you want it or not. Don't frustrate people - the faster they can get to where they want to go, the better.
Have separate galleries for different work - do you do art nude and glamour? Keep them separate. Do you do fetish and fashion? Again, separate. Make sure your galleries are focussed, and don't have too many images - 10-12 per gallery is plenty.
Have no more than 3 typefaces.
Make sure links are clearly identified by making them a different colour to the rest of the text and/or underlining them.
Don't have too many landing pages. Possibly have one if you have adult content, but even then - your gallery should be in a different section so you can mention it on your homepage.
Don't have music. Just don't. You'll piss everybody off. Literally, everybody.
Don't use flash - it's slow and stupid.
Make sure the essentials are on the first page - what you do, where you are, what your measurements are and stick a headshot or figure pic on there.
Have a contact page with your email, possibly phone number (that's a contentious issue - if you're happy putting your phone number out in the open, do it) and links to your profiles on sites like MM and PS.
Don't have too many pages - it's just a gallery. Having home, 2-4 galleries, contact and a blog is more than enough.
Have a blog - it's good for your SEO, it means you don't have to change the images on your site as often, and it means people have a reason to keep coming back to your site.
Use a domain name that's got your name in it and model in it - if you're Cathy Hill model, it's no good having a domain that's www.cathnewcastleuk.com
Link to photographers who helped build your portfolio and models you like - it's just nice.
Put links to your website on all your profiles

The worst model website I've ever seen was clearly by a model who had far too much money, and a clueless web designer - it was pretty much all flash, with 3 landing pages, then a strange video and then terrible, cluttered galleries. It was truely awful, and no client would ever look at it. If it hasn't loaded in 20 seconds, the client is looking elsewhere.

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Guest post by Vasilisa: 20 things modeling taught me

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post on castings - today's post from Vasilisa explains what she learned in 6 years as a model.

Thinking warm thoughts can actually warm you up...but there's a limit.
Discomfort, cold and outright pain are just the price you pay to create art - it's worth it!
Receipts, notes and invoices are actually useful.
HMRC don't fuck about.
Nipples aren't that fascinating or precious - if you disagree, it's unlikely I'd want to shoot with you.
Having a life-sized bronze statue of yourself beats being on tv, hands down.
'No' is a very important word.
Modeling is lying. It's fakery and illusion - a lot of people don't seem to get that.
I definitely don't need to feel sexy to look it. In fact, it helps to feel a bit uncomfortable and ridiculous.
Just having your photo taken can make you a figure for hatred of idolatry. It's odd.
I'm far more vain than I realised.
And that's not necessarily a bad thing if it just means taking pride in yourself and your work.
You need a lot of tolerance to be a model (mine ran out!).
You will never, ever be to everyone's taste - just deal with it. It's not personal.
Pretty means very little, even in the most shallow industry in the world.
'Pretend the camera is your boyfriend' makes me irrationally angry.
Saying 'I'm a model' is a lie: you're a marketer, accountant, CS rep, shoot co-ordinator, and sometimes you get to model.
Sometimes you take your clothes off for art. Sometimes you take them off for money. The longer you do this, the more that line blurs.
Some of the best images do 'just happen'.
Modeling is addictive; it'll change your comfort zones, the way you think and the way you see yourself. It's very hard to stop!

Guest post by Vasilisa: Intrested, is it payd?

This week we have a treat of 2 guest posts by former model, Vasilisa. Today's focuses on how to respond to castings, and tomorrow Vasilisa will talk about the things modeling taught her.

'Intrested, is it payd'

Apparently those 4 words should get a model a job. They should convince a photographer or client to part with their hard-earned cash (or hard-won budget) and pay the model a few hundred pounds for a day of work.

I'll start with the part that pains me the most; spelling. Only 50% of the words in that 'sentence' are spelled correctly. And the 50% that is correct only contains 23% of the letters in that 'sentence' (you have to be a pretty special child to misspell 'is'). So essentially, the first 4 words of your interaction with a potential employer are comprised of over 75% fail. You suck. If you think that 'payd' is a word rather than an initialism, you do not deserve the job.

Not only is it poorly written, but it also shows that your reading comprehension leaves something to be desired; castings usually say whether or not the word is paid. Sites like MM and PS have little sections that photographers fill in when they place the casting - these sections say whether the work is paid or tf*. Isn't that nice.

Finally, you clearly can't be that 'intrested' if you are only moved to type 4 words in your abysmal attempt to get paid work. I'll explain how to actually respond to a casting later.

There are some instances when it is ok to respond to a casting with 'I am interested':

The casting explicitly says to just state interest and provide no further details
You are on your phone, and will follow up later with a proper email
You're incapacitated in some way, but will recover enough to shoot by the date mentioned in the casting
You're just that awesome (NB. 99% of people are not that awesome)

How to actually respond to a casting

Your response to a casting should be like the cover letter that you send to a potential employer - with internet modeling, your tone and presentation can be less formal, but that's essentially what it is.

Begin and finish the email properly
Use full sentences
Make sure you've read the casting and you're actually suitable for the job, and available on the date mentioned
Make sure the fee is something you're willing to work for; don't respond to a tf* casting asking for paid work, or a casting that offers £20ph asking for £40ph. it's just bad manners
Explain what qualifies you for the job - what's your experience, how do you fit the brief, what props or make up ability do you have that would benefit the photographer/client
Add links to your website/other profiles/blog if they have more images
Make sure to note anything that may cause issues for the photographer (tattoos, piercings, etc)

It's really just common sense, and will make you seem more attractive as a model if it sounds like you know what you're doing and you exhibit basic courtesy.

Behaviour and shooting at group shoots: how not to piss off models (again)

I've already written a very general post about shooting for new photographers, but group shoots are slightly different so I thought I'd broach this topic separately. I've been to 3 group shoots in my years as a model: one was fantastic, really fun, the other was neutral as I only worked with one photographer and didn't really interact with anybody else, and the last was absolutely terrible (one of the few times I considered walking out of a shoot).

A lot of this is common sense and decency, but some people seem to have forgotten what those phrases mean...so lets recap.

Do not touch models. DO NOT TOUCH MODELS. DO. NOT. TOUCH. MODELS. They will be perfectly entitled to punch you square in the balls if you do - I hope that they do.
This is not the opportunity to get together with the other photographers and chat about who has the best tits, best ass, wierdest labia...(yes really, I have heard of this happening)
This is not the opportunity to take someone elses shot from over their shoulder - set up your own
Do not poach models if someone is clearly in the middle of shooting them
Do not push levels - just because there is more than one model there does not mean that you can pester for GG...yes really. That's not the point.
Be clear in your directions - if not, you'll just end up getting stock poses, and stuff that every other photographer there has got
If you have had the lighting set up for you, make sure you state that when you put the image up on your profile. Don't just fill your portfolio with images where tutors or studio owners have set everything up for you, and then ask for tests based on those images. Until you can replicate them, don't try to use them to sell yourself.
This is a chance to learn and experiment - use it!
Get the models to work to their strengths - if it's a glamour workshop or model, don't try to get fetish or art nude shots, they won't work as well, and they won't have the props for them anyway.
Don't be afraid to bring your own props.

And for the models:

Be firm - if there's a problem, tell the photographer immediately (whether that's stepping in and taking you from someone mid-shoot, or something more serious), also tell the studio owner.
Bring a variety of props and wardrobe items
Think about what's quick to change, what's slow, what leaves marks etc - if you're mainly nude, but have a corset with you, putting it on will waste quite a bit of time, and you'll be left with marks for the next person's set as well, which they won't appreciate. If you want to wear things like corsets, save them for the last hour or so of the day and let people know that.
Try not to just do stock poses - if you have something to pose around, use it!
Communicate well with the photographer to see what they want

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Focus on model: Manko

I first noticed Manko when I was an SG member - her sets were always so well executed, thought through and clearly involved a lot of skill and effort. They actually had a story - not just a chick stripping. She's a truely versatile model, and absolutely stunning.

Open discussion: When is a photographer ready to teach?

As I'm lucky enough to have a lot of opinionated readers, I thought it would be nice to have a weekly discussion about some key topics. I'm going to post these on Tuesday afternoons (this one's a tester ;)) and see how they go.

This is something that I've been thinking about lately - when a photographer can teach. I don't mean teach college kids a photography course - more along the lines of one-to-one tutorials. I know a lot of photographers who do this, and are well worth the money - they deliver the goods and really help photographers learn quickly and up their game. There are tutorial sessions, however, that I have modelled for and really thought that the photographer there had absolutely no business teaching anything to anybody (due to their ability, manner and knowledge base).

I guess the easy answer is 'when you have something to teach', but that's pretty subjective. I don't want to say something like 'when they're a professional' or 'when they've been published'. First of all, those people can teach marketing, business practices and how to approach publications for work, not necessarily photography (I'm not disputing that they're important things to learn though!). Secondly, it really depends on your definition of 'professional' too; do you mean it in the HMRC sense of the word, or in the basic essential meaning, as when someone can profess, and speak at length on the subject of photography. If you take the second meaning, I'm a little more inclined to agree with you.

This doesn't necessarily mean in paid tutorials either - what about in critiques? Is a less-able photographer in the position to critique a better photographer (or is a less-able model able to critique a better model), or should their advice be disregarded on the grounds of their ability? I'll admit, I gauge how seriously I take a critique or advice on the body of work that a person has - if they can not follow their own advice, or can not create something that I would aspire to, I'm not really likely to listen to them. What about you?

So I'm opening the floor to your opinions - do you think that anybody is entitled to give a critique and be listened to equally? Do you think that there is a set specification that photographers need to meet before giving tutorials? Do you give tutorials? If so, what makes you qualified to give them?

I don't have a set opinion on this, so am very interested to find out what you think.

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If you're posting anonymously, please number yourself (i.e. if you're the first anon. person to post, start your post with 1), if you're the fifth start it with 5)) so that people can respond to you specifically if they choose.

Watermarks (otherwise known as 'quit fucking up your photos')

It's a digital age, there's lots of theft going on - how better to protect yourself, than with watermarks? You'd think that people would put thought into these, but a lot of photographers seem to want to cut off their noses to spite their faces. This post is largely from a model's perspective - what you do to your own images is really nobody's business but your own, but you can really put models off testing with you by using the wrong watermark.

Watermarked images are useless to agency models. Useless.
Agencies and their clients have absolutely no interest in seeing your name scrawled across an image - it won't endear you to them, and it definitely won't get you agency work. However, supplying agency models with usable, hi-res and unwatermarked images for their books could potentially get you the option of testing with their new faces (whether or not that's paid depends on the agency, how good you are and how you play it). Instead of forcing your mark on the image, just send the model a watermarked image for online use, and a large, unwatermarked image for her to print for her book. If she's with an agency, it's worth giving them a call, explaining that they have your work on their site/in their model's book and offer them your services.

Watermarks on edges can be cropped off.
Adding your name onto the corner or edge of your work isn't doing to dissuade anybody from stealing it. Or stop a model from getting rid of it if she doesn't like it. The best watermarks are somehow integrated into the image itself.

Integrate your watermarks into the image.
This doesn't mean changing the font, design and everything about your watermark with every single image. Usually just the colour and the positioning would be fine. I've seen watermarks on book spines (very cleverly done), in subtle colours on the model's clothes and almost blended into the sky or floor in an image. Those are the watermarks that work best - you can't crop them off, they don't take over the image, but they serve their purpose as marking the image as yours.

Do not put your watermark:

Across the model's face
Across the entire image
On a line that fights the natural lines and curves of the image
In colours that are too contrasting and draw your eye from the image, to the watermark (i.e. don't stick a white watermark in a dark shadow on the image)

Disagree? Do you have more pointers? Have you recently changed your watermark and followed these tips? Let me know!

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Guest post: 'You can’t be a serious photographer unless you have the right gear'

Welcome to Model Bitch's first ever guest post, kindly written by Mr X - a man of many talents.

Out there in internet model/photography land there are many of you who have decent gear, have a good understanding of exposure and all the other technicalities associated with a ‘good’ photograph yet constantly turn out absolute shit. Why is this?

I don’t mean shit as in underexposed or blown or limbs cropped off below the joint. In fact in the vast majority of your work you have thought about all these matters and adjusted accordingly. Perhaps not as accurately as you could have but you are there or thereabouts. I know your lens has a better handling of chromatic aberration and is a tad sharper than the more affordable lenses out there – in fact you never stop telling people about that on the forums.

You are a semi-pro of some 30 years standing. You know what you are talking about (actually you have no clue, but the camera club constantly vote your ‘nude against the tree’ the best in its class so you feel you do). You offer critique in the forums to ‘lesser’ mortals kindly pointing out that the shot would have been better if the background was in focus too or that on camera flash is a no no.

You could bore me to tears as to why the sensor in your new fujikon 39878DMK8 gives a superior result to the one in the MK7 but it ain’t gonna matter a bit in your next full length nude of the bored model with a selectively coloured rose between her arse cheeks. Yes I am sure you could blow it up to billboard size without loss of quality – but do the world a favour, and don’t.

You don’t understand why the finalists in the Taylor Wessing prize made it that far - after all, your shot of xxxmisscrackingrackxxx in the wicker chair is better exposed that a lot of them. You look at photographs taken by the ‘leading’ internet photographers and get frustrated why models want to work with them and not you. Their work is blown in places, they have used on camera flash and god forbid that shot is blurry!! They don’t understand the ‘Rules’.

They do my friend. They do understand the rules. They understand them more than you. They understand that they are guidelines to be moved in order to create the shot they envisaged. You see that is the difference between you and them. They have creative vision and could turn out a “wow” shot with a plastic polaroid (some of them quite often do), that would break every rule in the book and have you tearing your hair out at the technical inadequacies as you would see them. Yet people seem to love their work.

A good photograph isn’t the result of a superior piece of equipment - it’s knowing what to do with the equipment available to you.

So please – stop harping on about your gear and get creative.

As someone once said when asked what the best camera is – “The one I have with me”.