Links

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PERSONAL LINKS

Here's a link to my photographic Web site:

http:\\roneggersphotography.zenfolio.com

It details the various photographic specialties that I get involved in, including

Travel & Transportation
Sports & Recreation
Fashion & Lifestyles
News/Features


I also have specialty Web page set up for specific purposes. Since I do quite a bit of work with models, here's a separate link to some of that work.

www.modelmayhem.com/12170

I'm doing very little general test shooting now a days, but I do still do trade offs with models for personal projects and to add to my stock image library.

I've also set up a special Model Mayhem for working with younger models. (It includes some of the same information that I have in the blog post here about working with younger models.)

www.modelmayhem.com/1189662


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USEFUL INFORMATION FOR MODELS 

There's a considerable amount of information available for models on the Internet, anything from Youtube instructional videos to blog posts (such as this one) to professional development courses. While a lot of it is very good, unfortunately, a lot is incomplete, even incorrect. And a lot of it is designed to sell models something, be it portfolios, job listings, classes and memberships to job listing web sites.

While there's nothing wrong for models to be spending money on career development, models who don't know what they need are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. All the different offerings and activities can get expensive for models that don't know what to watch out for.

As I come across them, I'll add individual links that might be beneficial, with a brief note as to why it might be and the pros and cons of the information. (I have not checked the accuracy of specific information the sites.)

The list is just starting out. It's going to take me a while to get it populated to the point that it will actually be of some use to modes. If you come across links that might be beneficial to aspiring or working models, let me know and I'll take a look at them.

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Modeling 101 - A Model's Diary with Dania Denise

http://amodelsdiary.blogspot.com/

Lots and lots of good information about all aspects of modeling... it's been going for years and it's frequently updated (some 36 posts in the first half of 2013 alone).


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Modeling Jobs HQ

http://www.modelingjobshq.com/

Not particularly well written, but has some interesting information for models, including a list of agencies. The job postings are minimal.

http://www.modelingjobshq.com/tag/tween-models/

Targeted at Tweens interested in getting into modeling.. has some good points, but poorly organized.





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Being Prepared

BEFORE THE SHOOT

Both models and photographers have to spend time before a shoot to get ready. For most photographers, it probably takes an hour or two to get all the gear together and make sure it's working properly.

While they do have to do some things to get ready for the shoot, photographers spend much more time after the shoot organizing and optimizing images than they do on the shoot itself. For me, it usually takes about twice as long to work on a selected set of images as it does to take them.

In spite of what some photographers claim, that they can shoot so well that their images don't need optimization, every image that comes out of a digital camera can benefit from optimization. Sometimes it's just something minor. It could be something as simple as running a slight sharpening filter or adjusting contrast. On the other hand, an image might take major work, with skin tone correction, burning and dodging, correcting white balance for multiple light sources, cropping, and numerous other adjustments. And to do it right takes time, sometimes lots of time after a shoot.

An hour is also about the amount of time that most models take to get their things together and put on their make up. In many situations, it should take considerably longer than that for a model. Interestingly enough, for models, getting ready for a shoot is more involved, and more important, for general trade shoots than for commercial shoots or agency test shoots.

For professional shoots, there's generally a team hired by the client, responsible for wardrobe, hair styling, make up and anything else that might have to be taken care of. With agency test shoots, many of those things are also taken care of, either by the photographer or arranged through the agency. In those cases, a model doesn't have to bring much more to a shoot than herself and a good attitude.

That's frequently not the case with trade shoots. With most trade shoots, particularly trade shoots involving models just starting out (which means they're generally working with less experienced photographers, who generally don't know how to put creative teams together and might have more limited resources to do so), models have to select their own outfits, do their own make up, style their own hair, and make sure that all other details are taken care of, exactly at a point in their careers when they have the least amount of experience and are least capable to handle it.

Unfortunately, most models come unprepared for trade shoots. Even after telling them what to bring, I've had models tell me they forgot it; thought they had it, but didn't; didn't have time to find what they needed; or decided at the last minute that they wanted to change the concept of the shoot.

Often times, they'll grab a suitcase or roller bag and pull things indiscriminately out of the closet. I've actually had models open up a trunk full of clothing and tell me to pick out what I want her to wear. There's no way of knowing how any of those items might look if they were pressed, let alone, actually on the model. When I mentioned that that wasn't a good approach, she became quite indignant, saying "All the other photographers I've worked with have done it this way." I guess three or four months of experience had taught her everything she needed to know.


WARDROBE PREP

When doing a trade shoot where they're going to be using their own wardrobe and are responsible for their own makeup, what a models should do is style two or three outfits per hour of intended shooting. For a two hour shoot, five or six outfits would be good. Consistent with the concept, if it's a fashion shoot, the outfits should be stylish, they should fit properly, they should be color coordinated and they should have accessories such as jewelry, scarves, shoes and other accent items.

Putting a selection of outfits together takes a lot longer than just an hour or so before the shoot. In fact, an hour might not be enough time to do a good job on the makeup. For a shoot to go real well, a model probably has to invest a good part of an afternoon a day or t of the shootwo before the shoot to get everything together, and then spend the hour or so before the shoot to do the makeup and pack everything up.

I've actually had a model tell me that the terms of our trade shoot were unfair. She had to use her own clothes. She had to put all this time and effort out to put her wardrobe together. She had to do her own make up.. and all I had to do was bring a camera and take some pictures.

She obviously had no clue in what was involved in test shooting for the photographer. First is the financial outlay. Models do have outlays too. Clothing and make up are expensive. But, in most cases, these are items that the model uses every day anyway, not just for modeling. Professional photographers spend thousands of dollars on equipment specifically for shoots.


PRESHOOT MEETING

A preshoot meeting significantly reduces cancellation, sometimes makes it clear that a shoot wouldn't result in any major mutual benefit and, when the shoot goes ahead, it frequently makes a model feel more comfortable already knowing the photographer.