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Do you have to like the models you photograph?
I've never had this experience, but, if the images turn out good, (the models part, I have to do my part, of course), and the price was right... The short answer is: no, you don't have to like the model, but I always have, in the past. -Don Jul 27 15 10:23 am Link I only had this kind of experience at a group shoot when I was a beginner at model photography 5 years ago. There was one very physically unattractive model who was arrogant, impatient, demanding nothing pleased her. The group manager asked me to photograph her. I cut it off after a few minutes and told the manager that I would never work with this model again. What I don't understand is how you got any usable images when the model was wearing an ugly unnatural looking wig? Jul 27 15 10:41 am Link Do you have to like the models you photograph? No- but it probably makes things easier. As others have mentioned, as a hobbyist I can afford to be a LOT more choosy about who I work with- Since I do this for enjoyment, I want to get the most out of the experience- From coming up with a shoot concept, thru searching for and negotiating with a model, the shoot, the post, and any communication afterwards, I want to enjoy the entire process. I have been very lucky- the vast majority of the models I have worked with from MM have been delightful, with enough professionalism to put up with me, and pleasant working personalities. If a model told me she was only giving me 50% because that was all I "deserved"--- I would boot her ass out the door INSTANTLY. I would never even consider asking her back, regardless of the images we were creating. While it might damn well be true I only "deserved" 50%, I sure as hell wouldnt hear that from a model who had a shred of professionalism. Jul 27 15 11:42 am Link No, I don't like most people. Jul 27 15 12:09 pm Link Herman Surkis wrote: There was a Russian model I had worked with on runway shows for a few years and did a few shoots with her for designers and jewelry. Jul 27 15 12:10 pm Link I had a shoot last year with a girl, she was so miserable, horrible character even after making me hang around for 3 hours (It was cool, I would have gone home if some emergency didn't happen and got the pleasure of shooting fire brigade lol) Would I shoot her again? Hell no.... way too many nice models for me to spend any time on people like that. There isn't a girl on earth who's so good that they can have that attitude and be brought back onto my set, I rather shoot apples on a table top. Jul 27 15 12:12 pm Link Herman Surkis wrote: Exactly. Jul 28 15 02:58 am Link Nogawd Photography wrote: This I can relate to. Jul 28 15 08:49 am Link udor wrote: The disasters stand out, because thankfully they are rare. Jul 28 15 08:55 am Link I arranged a shoot with one well known model, when she was renting a place in West Hollywood. As I drove up, I saw her standing in the street shrieking into her phone and weeping copiously. Not a good start. I guess I could have just carried on driving. I didn’t. After about 45 minutes she’d calmed down enough to start to get ready. Which was another story. She didn’t believe in wardrobes and all her clothes were kept in little piles on the floor. She told me she'd found many of them on the streets. Maybe she was joking but some certainly didn’t look like they’d been laundered recently. It didn’t seem important. She was better without clothes. And she was an incredible, totally intuitive model. She obviously had a whole range of issues but as soon as she stepped in front of the camera, she was absolute magic. Jul 29 15 01:21 am Link There’s a corollary too. Sometimes one can end up liking one’s model a little too much. Sometimes models - women (or men) who take their clothes off for a living, can be really unusual, singular people. The kind one just doesn’t run into every day. Like most photographers here, I try to have a professional, focussed attitude at all times. But I am not made of stone and I have most of the same range of emotions everyone else has. So is it better to not like them, like them a lot or neither like or dislike them? Jul 29 15 01:33 am Link I don't even like the person I'm sleeping with. Photographing a live model is a transfer of energy. With a poorly performing model, all of the energy is sucked out of the shoot leaving me exhausted and drained. With a great model, energy is put into the shoot to create images which are transcendent. My best shoots, hardly any words are exchanged. I just twitch my head, point my nose, raise an eyebrow and the model reads and reacts to my facial expression like they are reading my mind. Those a great days. Jul 29 15 03:42 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: Herman Surkis wrote: I think Herman nailed it. Jul 29 15 04:33 am Link Derek Ridgers wrote: To be 100% honest, I wouldn't work with her anymore and wouldn't recommend her to anyone else. Jul 29 15 04:58 am Link Ive worked with models that I didnt hire, the client hired and in that scenario I dont even get to develop an opinion. I always stay professional (do this do that, walk here there, smile and so on) and they always stayed professional too so Ive never had a bad experience on that scenario. When I do online castings I usually get a sense of the type of person by the way they present themselves (even in writing) so if I notice something rude or arrogant I simply pass the page (or email) and go to the next one, so Ive never had a bad experience with somebody I hired personally either I doubt that if I do the casting I would hire anybody who has a bad attitude. Im a very easy going person who likes to smile, be positive and get along with people, I think that contributes with the fact that I never had a bad experience with a model or most people in general Jul 29 15 04:47 pm Link A picture is worth a thousand words. So I've heard and seen. I've not yet worked with a diva or a very difficult model, but I aspire to it if it fills the coffers. Bonjour. Jul 29 15 06:08 pm Link Derek Ridgers wrote: If you'd shoot her again in a heartbeat then there was something there that you did like. See how you feel after your second shoot. I personally would not shoot a model like that, no thank you. Jul 29 15 06:28 pm Link I no longer do commercial or publication work, and my (now) rare photosessions are as much for the experience as for the final images, so the interactions and collaborations with the models are important. Don't necessarily have to like the model, but do need to feel that we're both on the same wavelength to get great photographs. (It IS better, though, if we like each other and have a nice comfort-level.)  Jul 29 15 06:35 pm Link hbutz New York wrote: This is true. We are creating something with someone and there is an exchange and interaction. Jul 29 15 06:40 pm Link Derek Ridgers wrote: I'm just an amateur who shoots photographs and models as a hobby, so my view comes from a person who doesn't make a living or earns money from photography. To me photography is something I enjoy doing and should be for everyone involved. Aug 01 15 08:21 pm Link I think the best case scenario is when one works with someone who is likable. However, that isn't reality. No matter what there will be times when you simply don't like someone but you have to do your job and make them look their best. I have two examples. First a TF one. So I did a shoot with this guy once at his place. Shoot went great, he was a tiny bit moody but he seemed to respect me and my time. We worked again another time, TF again. We worked and hung out for 5 hours. For this one he was started acting a bit less friendly and more demanding. I shot with him once more after that and this one was horrible. He acted like he didn't want to shoot the ENTIRE TIME. I wanted to tell him off and go home but I didn't because I kept telling myself that there will come a time when I'm doing paid work and totally dislike the person I am working with but I will still need to get the shoot done. So I stayed there and did my job. When I sent him the pictures he complained and complained and then stopped talking to me and didn't even take any of the pictures. A few weeks ago though he contacted me to say that he was a dumb ass, that the pictures I fixed were great, and then he asked me to send them to him again. All I said was "here" and included the link. That was the end of that. I would never work with him again. I then got a paying client. Shoot went fantastic. She paid me on time, all was good till I fixed the pictures and sent them to her. She said she wanted me to tone them down. So I did. It got to the point where I toned them down to basically original form and she was still sort of not happy which made no sense since she made her selections from the originals. She then ended up paying me for extra images and changed her mind and used many of my full retouches. I spent days on that, maybe even a week. Didn't get paid extra either. Would I work with her again? Yes. Why? Because she was new at the whole photoshoot thing. I understood that she wanted to see what the pictures looked like at all levels. I got that she wasn't used to seeing herself that way. Was I annoyed as hell? Hell yeah but my job was to make sure that she was happy and to understand where she was coming from. Had I not gone through what I did with the TF shoot I mentioned I would have never had the patience to sit on my butt and deal with this paying client enough to understand why she was acting the way she was. So yeah, I might not like someone, but sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and try to get into their brain first before dismissing them and if that doesn't work try talking to them about it. And if THAT doesn't work still and you feel like you have taken enough and for no reason then run from them as fast as you can lol. Aug 01 15 09:33 pm Link I don't need to like a model to shoot with her, but odds are I'm not going to ask her to shoot if I don't like her unless it's earning me money. There's actually one model in particular that I think is pretty good looking and she'd be good to work with for things like Zivity sets and the like, but she's annoying, makes odd requests, annoys the crap out of my girlfriend and doesn't understand the concept of professional boundaries (actually, I think that's 95% of the reason she annoys my girlfriend). Because of this, it's nearly impossible to work with her. Aug 01 15 09:54 pm Link Yajhil Alvarez wrote: As someone who has spent quite a bit of time photographing famous actors in hotel rooms whilst they’re promoting their latest film, one finds this all the time. Seldom does one find one’s subject genuinely wants to be there. Aug 02 15 04:21 am Link HobbyistPhotography wrote: This is a very interesting point but why stop just with those? Why not include people who don’t adhere to your own social, political or religious convictions too? Aug 02 15 04:24 am Link I've liked some and liked others less, but I'm always professional about things, I believe this is the key for developing a good reputation in the industry. There are some I've gone out for drinks with and then gone on to become friends, while there are a (minute) few divas I could care less if I ever saw again in this lifetime. Overall, I like most people, I like hearing their stories, or at least listening to what they have to say about life. I find it really surprising what a camera can do for opening up a conversation with most people. Aug 02 15 05:35 am Link Dear OP: What on earth kind of question is that? You're a grown up, you really should't have to ask if you have to "like" someone to work with them. Of course not. Counter to what some photographers think, you don't even have to "like" working with someone, especially if the relationship is very beneficial/profitable. Every photographer has his or her own limits as to what they can or are willing to tolerate. I couldn't care less if a model has a horrible personality as long he/she is generating what I need. I don't care if I "like" a client, as long as they're relatively easy to work with.. the more they pay, the higher my tolerance for the ridiculous. Many photographers feel differently. If you're behind the camera in attempt to make friends, then that's one thing; but if you're behind the camera to pay your mortgage, then it's more about conducting business and getting paid.. and less about a model or client's self-absorbed personality of all things. Aug 02 15 01:02 pm Link My models are often first time clients. I don't know them, so I cannot know if I would like them. Time is limited and all filled with making the portraits they want. Sure, I do get something of an idea of how she of he behaves is the real world. But I don't give it another thought. My job is to make the images they paid for. I do like all my models and MUA's that I use for my workshops, though, very much even! Aug 02 15 01:38 pm Link I don't have to like them, but it helps my mental state while retouching if it was an enjoyable experience. Aug 02 15 01:44 pm Link I'm still trying to wrap my head around what happens when I get paid to photograph someone truly despicable and make them look gorgeous. I know, we're pros, that's what we're supposed to do but sometimes I just want to take a shower afterwards. Aug 03 15 09:55 am Link |
