Question new and in need of models. How do I get models to work with? I know there are tons of people that have had horror stories and hate dealing with some pervert who bought a camera and wants pretty girls to take pictures.
So how do I not being that guy but only have a few pictures of myself or my wife get started? I have been taking photographs for families and weddings and such for some time now and have some very nice photographs but can't really share or market these or even show off my skills.
So I spent the time and money and built a very nice home studio invested in strobes and such. But still can't find models to work with?
KonstantKarma
Posts: 2,071
Asheville, North Carolina, US
You will have to pay.
TF for new photogs with no real pictures is a serious crapshoot. I did not look at your current portfolio yet so I'm making a blanket statement.
Models are not going to shoot with you for free if they don't know for sure you're going to give them something decent to put in their port. Models who will are as desperate as a new photographer and the result won't be pretty. We all start somewhere.
Look for experienced models whose work you like in your area using the "browse" feature, send them a polite email explaining you're a new photographer and would like to know if they'd be willing to work with you, and what their rates are.
Browse for models in your area that inspire you to want to photograph them. Message them with your intentions. They will either say yes or no, (or nothing at all, which you should put in the same category as 'no'). That's pretty much how I've been doing it for the past five years.
Oh yeah, you might want to browse meetup.com for local photo meetups, where you can shoot models in a group situation. Depending on the size of your local photo community, it's a good way to network with other photogs/models/MUAs.
Justin Bonaparte wrote: Browse for models in your area that inspire you to want to photograph them. Message them with your intentions. They will either say yes or no, (or nothing at all, which you should put in the same category as 'no'). That's pretty much how I've been doing it for the past five years.
Oh yeah, you might want to browse meetup.com for local photo meetups, where you can shoot models in a group situation. Depending on the size of your local photo community, it's a good way to network with other photogs/models/MUAs.
Pretty much this^
Expect a no response rate of 80% or more. Try not to get discouraged, it's a numbers game. Just send messages to models you're interested in and wait. Also, meetups and group shoots are good to get your portfolio more diversified and you get know others and others get to know you.
Justin Bonaparte wrote: Browse for models in your area that inspire you to want to photograph them. Message them with your intentions. They will either say yes or no, (or nothing at all, which you should put in the same category as 'no'). That's pretty much how I've been doing it for the past five years.
Oh yeah, you might want to browse meetup.com for local photo meetups, where you can shoot models in a group situation. Depending on the size of your local photo community, it's a good way to network with other photogs/models/MUAs.
+1
Check around for a camera club or artisan group that does modeling work. Need help finding one, go to a local camera shop.
KonstantKarma wrote: TF for new photogs with no real pictures is a serious crapshoot. I did not look at your current portfolio yet so I'm making a blanket statement.
I disagree. I had pictures of other stuffs than portraits on my website, and I did some TF shoots that came out pretty well (cf. my portfolio).
Though I get your point : you won't get experimented models doing TF with you. I tried to target less experimented models at first).
TF for new photogs with no real pictures is a serious crapshoot. I did not look at your current portfolio yet so I'm making a blanket statement.
Models are not going to shoot with you for free if they don't know for sure you're going to give them something decent to put in their port. Models who will are as desperate as a new photographer and the result won't be pretty. We all start somewhere.
Look for experienced models whose work you like in your area using the "browse" feature, send them a polite email explaining you're a new photographer and would like to know if they'd be willing to work with you, and what their rates are.
Best,
KK
don't we all have friends?
no need to pay. find a friend and ask them if they'd like some photos of themselves for their facebook, etc. practice on friends, and then practice on models here on the mayhem.
keep practicing. i 've always been able to find people that need photos of themselves, and i've photographed well over 160 different people here on model mayhem, many more than once.
Jay Farrell
Posts: 12,522
Nashville, Tennessee, US
Show the world what you can do with Ed next door, and escape the self limiting notion that you have to have a model to make a great photo. As you build a body of work, you will build a following and clout.
When I first started I put an ad in the local Craigslist (new, aspiring or would be models), I explained that I had been doing photography for years and was looking to broaden my field. I offered $10 an hour. I received 24 responses in the first day. I found several that turned out to be quite attractive and good subjects and I used these to develop my skills in posing, composition, lighting, etc.
I'm new to MM, but from my short experience on MM, I have found a number of beginning models (and some with limited experience) who have been excellent subject.
David Nelson Photograph wrote: When I first started I put an ad in the local Craigslist (new, aspiring or would be models), I explained that I had been doing photography for years and was looking to broaden my field. I offered $10 an hour. I received 24 responses in the first day. I found several that turned out to be quite attractive and good subjects and I used these to develop my skills in posing, composition, lighting, etc.
I'm new to MM, but from my short experience on MM, I have found a number of beginning models (and some with limited experience) who have been excellent subject.
Lying? I did say that I had been primarily shooting landscapes and was looking to broaden my experience. Lying is, almost, never a good idea and lyers will quickly find themselves alone with their camera.
I suggest you ignore the "you must pay" "dont pay" debate. its like every other debate on here (mac vs pc, raw vs jpg, natural vs fake, ford vs chevy etc etc). There are fanboys to be found (binders full of them). Concentrate on just finding the models. WYFIWYG. what you find is what you get. If in your area the only models that are willing to work with you are paid only, then you pay. The key is finding the models, not how much (or not at all) you are going to pay.
next debate: ignore the whole "the internet is a scary place" debate. the fact that you have limited images (I didnt look) does not make you a rapist or even a tax fraud. It just makes you relatively inexperienced. You can't prove you are not a rapist. Don't get sucked into trying. Someone will figure it out. The ones that don't trust you are simply ones you don't shoot with. Don't sweat it. My first model had 4 years of experience and had worked in Miami and Vancouver. you might not be so lucky. or you might.
SO:
casting call on here.
craiglist.
cold calls.
expect 90% rejection on your cold calls. dont let it bother you. you only need one or two. you don't need 30 models to start your port.
have an idea. it doesnt have to be even a really good idea. it doesnt even have to be a good idea. but if you post a casting call that says something like "eating cupcakes on train tracks" it sets you apart from the totally clueless. besides. nobody can resist cupcakes these days. Crumpler named a camera bag the cupcake.
you have to promise to post back in this thread once you shoot and have more images in your portfolio. I'm not going to look until then
Lying? I did say that I had been primarily shooting landscapes and was looking to broaden my experience. Lying is, almost, never a good idea and lyers will quickly find themselves alone with their camera.
you wrote that when you just started out you put an ad on craigslist stating you had been doing photography for many years.
KonstantKarma
Posts: 2,071
Asheville, North Carolina, US
To clarify, when I said he'll have to pay, I was meaning in reference to MM models. If a girl is willing to show up to a TF shoot for free with a photographer without a portfolio, she's probably not going to be experienced enough to offer good posing, work with light, etc - Blind leading the blind.
But yes, Facebook etc. is a great place to start, I was lucky enough to have naked women around who didn't mind being practice subjects.
Carl Blum Photography wrote: You got a Faceybook? Use it. I am not talking about some Fan page...
Make it a Photo type faceybook page..
Hit Up every model within a 100 mile radius.
Once you start getting some friends on there.
Ask one for a shoot.
i.e. I been at this for years.. 2 weeks ago, I posted up a thingy on the Faceybook. "I want models who need some new photos for their portfolio"
about 20 responded, I had 5 girls show up for a 2 hour shoot.
Three days ago, I Posted up: " I need a girl with Nipple Piercings for a fun shot" Got a bunch of replies, Shot the Shot yesterday.
John M Hoyt
Posts: 284
Greenville, South Carolina, US
YRG Studios wrote: So how do I not being that guy but only have a few pictures of myself or my wife get started? I have been taking photographs for families and weddings and such for some time now and have some very nice photographs but can't really share or market these or even show off my skills.
Great question... I'm new too, but not new to photography, only to reaching out and shooting people I have never met, have no connection to.
Here is what I have done since oct of last year...
Finally stopped lurking on MM and it an account, the got active. Reading everything I can, and daring to get involved in forum conversation.
Then, I hit up friends, and told them that I would like to shoot their friends.
On FB, I messages some people and said I would like to shoot them.. For free.
I posted a blurb on Craigslist.
Now, I have people calling me. I'm doing up to three shoots a week, for fun. Nothing outstanding here. I am simply trying to shoot a lot, and often.
When can I monetize it? Soon? As soon as I can produce more decent shots than duds. Once I am consistent. And once I have a strong port. Not close enough yet.
Just network, a lot! Search for models near you on MM, MSG them, friend them, whatever.
Oh, and be HONEST, a seasoned model can smell BS a mile away.
John M Hoyt
Posts: 284
Greenville, South Carolina, US
twoharts wrote: 1) pay them
2) pay them
3) pay them
4) have hot friends who will pose for you
5) get insanely good
6) look for meetup.com or other group shoots
that's all i know. i find trade shoots very iffy. i do better if i meet the model away from model mayhem (even if they are on model mayhem. go figure)
Heading over to meetup.... Didn't think about that for photography! Have used it for my music / band before though.
OP i see a post on your page from Dan Doyle/Anthony Neste for the group shoot in Florida near Daytona Beach, if you were closer you really should go to something like that. Actually I should go to it myself!
Why not take a one-on-one workshop with a talented photographer? He can set up all the details and you will learn a bunch too. Model, MUA, all taken care of. You will learn more in an intensive 4 hour sesson that you might otherwise learn in months.
Or, if that idea is not to your liking, simply reach into your wallet and hire a seasoned model. He or she will know their stuff and be able to actually improve your game that day. Seasoned feeelancers have no issues dealing with newbies -- newbies tend to be a large portion of their client base.
Derek Ridgers
Posts: 662
London, England, United Kingdom
Without getting into the area of critique, your biggest problem is what you are showing and then what you say about yourself in your profile. If I was a model, I don't think I'd be falling over myself to work with a photographer who's been on MM for nearly four years and only able to muster up six photographs. And one of those being a close up of a woman's boobs might, to a female model, send out the wrong signals too.
What I would do is, first of all, get someone else to write your profile for you with an aim to making it a little more realistic.
And then I'd just look around my home town area, in the places that the kind of people I wanted to photograph might congregate and then try to approach them there. Always depending of course on how charming and friendly you can be, you may have better luck finding models that way. If not, supplementing your portfolio with a few interesting and original street portraits might be a big help.
Derek Ridgers wrote: Without getting into the area of critique, your biggest problem is what you are showing and then what you say about yourself in your profile. If I was a model, I don't think I'd be falling over myself to work with a photographer who's been on MM for nearly four years and only able to muster up six photographs. And one of those being a close up of a woman's boobs might, to a female model, send out the wrong signals too.
What I would do is, first of all, get someone else to write your profile for you with an aim to making it a little more realistic.
And then I'd just look around my home town area, in the places that the kind of people I wanted to photograph might congregate and then try to approach them there. Always depending of course on how charming and friendly you can be, you may have better luck finding models that way. If not, supplementing your portfolio with a few interesting and original street portraits might be a big help.
After viewing your profile, my best advice would be to evaluate the images you're showing and perhaps choose others that would be more appealing to the type(s) of models you're looking for.
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