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Imperfections and how to deal with them?
Hey Ladies and Gents... My name is Val and i am a recently started model discovered by NUMA MODELS. I had my first real portfolio shoot with them not too long ago and went to pick up my pictures the other day. What i found out when i looked at the best picked shots and compared them to the rest that i was shown, is that i have weirdness going on with my eyes.... BASICALLY my one eye is bigger than the other, i used to notice it when id take pictures at home and what not but i just thought "MEH, its natural and everyone has that" however now that i am in the industry i have to make sure my eyes are even... honestly i tried squinting one eye so that it comes close to size to the other but that jsut looked ridiculous, I've been even considering a facelift of some sort to maybe help my problem. IN ADDITION to that, i have one eye brow lower than the other, and honestly after getting those pictures i felt quite a bit discouraged and just dont know what to do ..  Dec 12 12 10:08 pm Link 1) be careful with NUMA, they're not really an agency, though that doesn't mean they won't be helpful and get you work. Just know what you're doing with them. 2) Meh. Imperfections are what make models interesting. Don't stress about it. Lighting can also make one eye look bigger than the other, make sure you're evenly lit if you think you may not have weird eyes, and try to aim for being lit on the "smaller" eye more directly if you do in fact have mismatched eyes. The freeing thing about being booked purely for your look is that you're selling exactly what you are. You can't change most things inherently useful about being a model, so just put it out there confidently and see what happens. Dec 12 12 10:37 pm Link From photographer standpoint, the beauty of a picture is the imperfections in it. Unless you're shooting glamor where one can have unrealistic expectation of a lady, in fashion/art, those should go unnoticed. This may limit your headshot opportunity, but that means you have one less field to worry about. Use your weakness as your strength. Try covering one eye with your hair. Pose sideways (where one would definitely expect one eye to be larger than the other, perspective rule). Shoot with eyes closed and have beautiful eyelashes. Just some example... Dec 12 12 10:45 pm Link Squinting and "trying" to equalize them won't work. Hiding them wouldn't work unless you like all your shots with one eye showing all the time. The best bet is what I use all the time. A good make-up artist with a great eye. They make small corrections all the time to facial features. Tiny "cheats' help a little. You can also help when you have an option - if you are being shot from the side and it's consistent with the shot, stand with the smaller eye toward the camera. A good photographer will know how to deal with it anyway. The main thing is not to be too worried so it causes problems with the feel of the shot. Dec 12 12 10:53 pm Link Perfect natural facial symmetry is a rarity and in reality it is that slight lack of symmetry that often draws a viewers eyes. Take a look at some images of the top models in the world, not the overly processed magazine ones, but the more natural ones. None of the photos in your port show anything that will prevent you from being successful. If you feel self conscious about this, mention it to the photographer, posing, lighting, makeup and as a last resort minimal retouching can all be used. But remember you still want the photo to look like you, which includes minor asymmetry Dec 12 12 11:06 pm Link one of my eyes is drastically bigger than the other, and they open and shut at different speeds. I just focus on holding them open, before every shot. Blink, refresh. Dec 13 12 02:54 am Link A models minor imperfections are easily dealt with via makeup or post processing. Yours are nothing. You would be a piece of cake to shoot. What we can't fix is a lack of enthusiasm or attention to detail to your craft. Watch the little things...Ballet fingers...not a claw. Nails done and all the other little personal details attended too. Work on developing your poses in front of the mirror. Bust your a$$ at the gym...It pays off! Study and understand your art. Eat sleep and drink. Work on keeping your shoot interaction with the photographer high energy, fun, and dynamic. If you suck at business or are easily swayed ask the advice of an established businessman you trust. Be careful of an organization the pretends to be more that they are...Just sayin'. Work on building a solid port. Peace out Dec 13 12 04:08 am Link Valentina91 wrote: Hello, it is natural and usually it helps to have the smaller eye closer to the camera if possible. You are not a freak and do not need surgery. Generally a photographer will already KNOW that everyone is like this a bit and will guide you away. Dec 13 12 05:55 am Link Are these things you're obsessing about, or things clients/agents have told you you should worry about? Depending on the type of modeling you do, the things you mention can be very important. Beauty is linked to symmetry. Sometimes our faces are "trained" to certain poses, when we smile, laugh, etc. You can try to "retrain" your face with some work -- practice in the mirror to see if it's possible to get what you're looking for. Dec 13 12 06:09 am Link Your imperfections are your issues (in your mind). Most imperfections I come across are things people build up in their mind...but nothing I see issue with (yours included). Love yourself...and that confidence will show. Dec 13 12 06:10 am Link EVERYONE IS SO INCREDIBLY SUPPORTIVE!!! i did not expect so many helpful comments! Id take my time and respond to everyone personally but that will take a little while.. thanks everyone Dec 13 12 10:51 pm Link Just be you, no plastic surgery. Dec 13 12 11:03 pm Link I haven't seen a person with perfectly symmetrical eyes yet. I actually made a perfectly symmetrical face by copying a half of a face and flipping it in Photoshop. The new face looked like plastic doll's face. Post production is the answer for things you cannot change. Are there are exercises that will help you to loose a couple of ounces in one eye? Probably not. Dec 14 12 12:41 pm Link If you were to stare at me butt ass naked and scrutinize me.... 1. One of my eyelids is smaller than the other. I'm actually pretty sure that my eyes don't sit even - like one is higher than the other. I swear, I've stared for like ten minutes. No I wasn't drunk. 2. My eyebrows are never, and will never, be the same freaking shape. One is higher than the other... likes to raise up on its own. I think it's a different life form all together. 3. One of my boobs is slightly smaller than the other. :S WTH I already have small boobies. 4. I have an indent in the side of one ass cheek more pronounced than the indent in the other. I guess my muscles aren't evenly worked... or something... 5. One of my ears is higher than the other. 6. I'm 5'4". That's just a sampling of things that I COULD let myself get worked up over... And you know what? I really don't give a flip. Yes, I have learned to pose in ways to help minimize certain things I don't like about myself and take the advice of photographers who know their sh$t. Every llama should know how to deliver a solid image regardless at the end of the day... but... I am who I am. I am made the way I am and there's nothing I can do to change that and I'm not about to get surgery over it. Either they like it - or they don't. llamaling is partly a game of genetics. Can't really do much about that, ya know? As you llama you will meet a lot of girls who you would never guess are llamas, but on camera they come alive and nail it. One thing all of these girls have is an extreme case of confidence - because you bet they know they don't look like "models" yet they've thrown themselves out there and figured out how to get it done right. Confidence your individual look is really, in my humble opinion, where its at. At least to me - in a world of running around in undies or none at all, you have to have that confidence in order for everything else to follow. Just do you. You is fabulous. Dec 16 12 01:34 pm Link I have the same problem with my eyes. I try squinting or opening them rlly big, if i dont do anything, one is always more open then the other. If the photographer cant fix it (it amazes me how shitty some photographers are at photoshop, they can airbrush until im plastic but cant take the timeout to whiten teeth or fix stray hairs or obvious major imperfections) then ill usually fix it myself ( with permission) and make them even. If its only noticeable in pictures, thats what photoshop is for. Makeup helps a LOT. Especially curling yur lashes, it opens up the eye. Dec 16 12 01:44 pm Link Imperfections are another name for unique features. Sometimes what is a negative for one concept or style is a very big positive for another concept or style. For example, I shoot portraits; I love love love crooked teeth, irregular eyes, sticky-out ears, freckles, odd eyebrows, etc. The ideal model for me would be someone that might not be qualified for beauty work, and vice versa. I'll just echo the idea of loving yourself and accepting what you have, while learning how to utilize and minimize what you have. Dec 16 12 01:45 pm Link indefinite anomaly wrote: You have taken the words out of my mouth! A big part of the enjoyment, for me, of photographing nudes is finding those interesting elements that make each woman unique. So called flaws are elements to be celebrated. Dec 16 12 01:53 pm Link If this type of small imperfection bothers somebody then it can be edited...simple as that. Things like an eye being bigger or tucking in the back of an arm (or other similar things) are some of the easiest things to fix in photoshop. But I'm with a lot of other people too, for a lot of photography this won't even matter and will eve give your shots some charm. Dec 16 12 02:06 pm Link Valentina91 wrote: till this thread, this is the only time I ever heard "NUMA" Dec 16 12 03:50 pm Link Valentina91 wrote: No, you don't. I just looked at your portfolio and you look beautiful and I see nothing whatsoever wrong with your eyes. Nothing weird. Nothing uneven. You're seeing imperfections which aren't even there. You're gorgeous. Allow yourself to believe that. Dec 16 12 03:52 pm Link |
