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Do you have to like the models you photograph?
I photographed a model last week who had the strangest personality. She was completely wrapped up in herself and it was almost like I was working for her rather than vice-versa. Her attitude towards me throughout was that she was taking a step down working with me. She insisted on wearing a very bad and very obvious wig which looked totally unnatural and she had to keep pushing into place. She spoke constantly about these other photographers and how much she knew about photography herself. One of the last things she said to me was (in precis) I’ve only given you 50%, you don’t get 100% out of me until we’ve worked together a lot more. The funny thing is, she was a fantastic model. She’s got one of the best portfolios I’ve ever seen, she has worked with a lot of extremely good photographers and there is a real consistency there - which suggests to me that the common denominator there is her. I can honestly say I learnt a lot. What decent photographer doesn't learn from working with a model that’s worked with great photographers? But… I didn’t like her at all and I don’t think she liked me much. Is it necessary to like the models you shoot? I don’t think so. I’d shoot this one again in a heartbeat. n.b. She’s not on Model Mayhem. Jul 26 15 01:22 am Link Nope. But you have to like working with them. Jul 26 15 02:13 am Link It is easier for me to shoot with a model that I like. Jul 26 15 03:01 am Link I guess I could set my butt hurt aside after being told I only got 50%, and being looked down upon, if I managed to get some great images. Liking the model helps me with my comfort level, which I believe can only help with the results. Jul 26 15 04:48 am Link I don't have to like the model but I can't work with someone whom I dislike. It's fun to work with someone who is pleasant but respectful and business-like can work. Her attitude and the wig by themselves are bad enough but the 50% thing is totally unacceptable. I'm too old and I respect myself too much to put up with such nonsense. Jul 26 15 05:33 am Link There were only a few I didn't like. When I would assist another photographer, many of the models pretty much wouldn't even bother talking to me. When I became my own photographer i think I had such low expectations of models I would be surprised if there was someone I liked. Saying that, I rarely found one I didn't like. Jul 26 15 05:35 am Link Not if I'm being paid to do it, however if it's for personal portfolio or projects then yes, I wouldn't shoot a model I didn't enjoy working with. Jul 26 15 05:36 am Link It really depends for me but sometimes a bad attitude can throw me off or make me rush through things. I've had some shoots with people I really didn't mesh well with that went amazing because everyone was still pulling their weight and committed to getting good photos and we were on the same page about what we wanted. I've had other shoots with people who will act like the photoshoot is a total inconvenience to them and they don't even wanna be there and that's really what I have trouble dealing with because I don't like feeling like I'm annoying people so I don't push them as hard to get a good photo. Jul 26 15 06:55 am Link Like them, no. Be attracted to them/intrigued by their look, yes. Jul 26 15 07:25 am Link GER Photography wrote: I am attracted to a model by both her look and personality. Jul 26 15 07:29 am Link At my age, I'm older than most model's parents, and in some cases, I'm as old as their grandparents -- we are not likely to become fast friends who hang out on the weekends. However, my goal for every photo session is that at the end of the session, all participants leave feeling respected & appreciated -- nothing else matters to me. If the pictures suck, I'm still happy when/if we treat each other well. To be honest, I sometimes have more difficulty working with models I really, really like. I need a little distance. Jul 26 15 08:19 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Now you know how us models feel when dealing with the all too many pretentious, arrogant photographers. Jul 26 15 08:34 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: what type of photos were these? Jul 26 15 08:38 am Link Mark Laubenheimer wrote: The shoot was of the genre some describe - including my model - as art nude. Jul 26 15 09:42 am Link Chemistry is great, but at the bare minimum some mutual respect is needed. I've worked with models where we just click and work in sync. Other times, not so much. But there is always a professional respect and we both do our best to churn out respectable results, as professionals. As soon as I get a diva attitude....I'm done. Don't care how great the model is. Had one recently in fact. She was a perfect fit for a campaign but right off the bat she was making demands and suggestions such that I knew she would not be pleasant to work with. Sadly, this cost her the campaign. Jul 26 15 09:43 am Link Shei P wrote: Not really, no. Jul 26 15 09:52 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Just because she said she gave just 50% doesn't make it so. Just a thought. Jul 26 15 10:17 am Link Depends on how mature you are..... and how professional you are. Personally I've always thought that liking a model and the model liking you makes the shoot easier and the results better. But... if she's such a great model and the results are more than you could have hoped for, then you have to decide if you're going to be grown up, suck it up and plow through to get the shots, that would be the mature and professional thing to do. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you have to be a whore for the pictures. You smile at them, kiss their ass, put up with their BS just to get what you want. Either way, you decide if the trauma and drama is worth it. Personally, I'd do almost anything to get the photo I want, until a certain point, then I just explode. Jul 26 15 10:36 am Link i think some people would be a lot more likable if they kept their mouths shut! if the goal is to make good pictures then it sounds like you achieved that goal. mission accomplished. but i imagine if you had to work with that person every day you might want to whack them with a tripod. Jul 26 15 11:44 am Link There's a difference between personally liking another and them being sufficiently professional to get the job done in a pleasant way. However, it's very rare that I haven't liked a model, as virtually all the models I've worked with have been a real joy and really personable and nice. May have something to do with how I source models however. Jul 26 15 11:56 am Link The 50% comment can either be off-putting or an opportunity. If you shoot again tell her if she is only bringing 50% then you will only pay half her fee. I would say that to a mechanic, painter, dentist, etc. Except the truth is I would never hire them if they admitted something like that. If she is not going to bring it, neither will I. Everybody has better things to do. Deliver the goods, bill accordingly. Jul 26 15 12:28 pm Link Derek Ridgers wrote: I hope that you gave her only 50% of her fee. Jul 26 15 12:50 pm Link Although it's not necessary, I think it's helpful if you have some sort of rapport with the model. When both parties are comfortable it's more likely you'll get good images. I guess it's a question of how much drama you're willing to endure in your quest for good images. If I think a model is weird I won't work with her again. There are plenty of highly skilled, down to earth professional models out there so there is no point in dealing with weirdos. Her comment about only giving 50% would really put me off from working with her again. Jul 26 15 01:04 pm Link I spent three weeks in the desert shooting a model for playboy, who was a foul-mouthed bigoted, angry young woman. My job was to be there and create photos . . . it's not a popularity contest . . . nobody looking at the photos will ever know what an uncomfortable time my crew had in dealing with her. I was sent to take photos suitable for publishing . . . and thats exactly what we did. Nothing more, nothing less . . . . If you get too rapped up in things, and take other peoples bullshit to heart, you have only yourself to blame for your misery. KM Jul 26 15 01:59 pm Link No but I usually do. If I was just shooting for my book or for an editorial I probably would not book someone I did not like for a second time if I did not like working with them. I think I have only actively disliked a few clients (two were not models), I felt onemodel just was kind of cocky without reason and we just did not gel and then I had a model steal wardrobe. That was a drag. But most models I have worked with have been total sweethearts. Jul 26 15 02:04 pm Link While I think it's better, in general, if you do like the model, I also think it depends on the situation. As Ken Marcus put so succinctly, if you are there for a job, then it shouldn't really make a difference. In my case, where I am shooting strictly for my enjoyment and hopefully for something both of us can use in our portfolios, then it makes a bit more of a difference if I don't like the model. If I don't like them, it usually means that I didn't enjoy the experience, in which case, I would not shoot with that model again. Part of me liking them would be a reflection of how much or little I enjoyed the experience as a whole. Jul 26 15 02:24 pm Link If I'm collaborating with friends, then yes I enjoy working with them. I also enjoy many of my paying clients. At the end of the day, I have a job to do & rent to pay. I care more about paying my bills then being friends with a collaborator. It is a job, I know that acting like we all want to go out and do this again tomorrow is part of the job. I don't need to like you to be able to model for you, or photograph you. I just need to get the shot done so I can get paid. Jul 26 15 03:39 pm Link Blonde Pony Photography wrote: Models KNOW this, this is why GREAT models are able to turn on the charm and let you think we love working with you. Jul 26 15 03:41 pm Link Looknsee Photography wrote: Me too. Jul 26 15 06:24 pm Link Shei P wrote: There is such a thing as pretentious, arrogant photographers? Jul 26 15 06:26 pm Link Ken Marcus Studios wrote: If I am being paid, then i would take your attitude, and I have done. Jul 26 15 06:33 pm Link I guess if you feel you have learned something, then at least that's something. But...if you are paying a model you should have a plan and a good idea of what you want. I'm talking theme, poses, setting, and lighting. The model should not be insisting on a wig you don't want in your photograph; you must direct. And then, you never know, sometimes after people get to know each other with a little time, respect and at least a professional friendship develops and things start to click much better. Most of the models I have worked with have been pleasant, and some fabulous. I don't run across anything as extreme as what you describe here but I have had a few that were difficult. I find I don't enjoy or want to view the photographs of those unpleasant models afterwards, even if they turned out well. I rather admire the images of the nicer people. Jul 26 15 08:09 pm Link At one point, I was working on a series of photographs of people I didn't want to photograph. Exes, guys I fought with in high school,and so on. I got some good images out of it, but not good enough to continue working on it when I got rid of my studio. It was hard enough convincing those people to come to the studio - I'd never get them to come to my house. Jul 26 15 08:49 pm Link The longer I do this, the more it matters to me how I feel about the shoot and less about the images. It's possible that I've improved about as much as I'm going to improve technically and now I'm just in it for the social interaction and the charity of it. This is not to say I'm amazing and my images can't be better, just that I think I've reached a plateau and I don't get the joy of learning a new technique or set that invigorates me as an artist. The fun of this is now shooting new people who are really pleasant and appreciate of me and what I can do. So, to answer your question, if I don't like the person, I see no point in shooting them. Clearly, once being paid to do something is in the mix, then the question changes dramatically. Still then, if I don't like the person, I think the job would suffer at some level. I've probably only had about 10 shoots total where there was just a total dislike for the person and I couldn't end the shoot soon enough. But in the last year or two, if I don't like you, we don't shoot. Jul 26 15 11:06 pm Link Derek Ridgers wrote: In total, I have had only a handful of models whom I have not liked, but none were sufficiently talented to warrant working with a second time, so your question has never arisen, but I doubt that I would waste time on a model who insisted on wearing an inappropriate wig or who exhibited some of the other behaviours that you describe. Jul 27 15 05:35 am Link Thankfully because photography is my creative outlet & not my primary source of income, I don't have to - nor am I willing to work with ANY model who makes me feel like I'm wasting either their time or mine. Jul 27 15 05:48 am Link Carle Photography wrote: You were great! I never realized it. The photos also turned out great. One of them in my portfolio has had 10,955 views. Jul 27 15 06:51 am Link Without the model's buy in my conceptual work fails miserably. So I really respect the models who can nail the concept that, until the shoot, exists only in my weird imagination - I've been lucky in that respect. This is why I tend to work long term with the same 4-5 models who I respect, like and relate to. Jul 27 15 07:18 am Link I don't think you need to like people to produce something good together. But I don't want to spend my hobby and free time around people I can't stand so I'd prefer to get along with the team. Jul 27 15 09:29 am Link Shei P wrote: Lol ... so true, models have to put up with photographers more often then vise versa. Jul 27 15 09:59 am Link |
