Models

Not knowing how to pose a model is one challenge beginners can struggle with. It’s an important step to master, though. You need to know how to pose your model if you want to create perfect portraits. Below are some tips to help you get the right poses for each portrait you take. Remember that reading alone won’t immediately improve your skills. Practice makes perfect! These tips will only be useful if you actually practice them by taking plenty of portraits. Steven Ritzer – Jamy <3 1. Help your model feel relaxed. There’s a fine line between flattering and unflattering (or unnatural)...


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Seeing a random person on the street that you’d love to photograph can rapidly become one of the scariest scenarios out there for many portrait photographers as soon as they start to consider how to approach them.  With “Don’t talk to strangers!” being drummed into us from a very young age, it’s just one of those things which seems hard wired into our system. If the thought of asking a stranger if you can create their portrait puts you in a frozen panic, New York based portrait photographers Miguel Quiles and Jeff Rojas are here to help with some tips on approaching people you don’t...


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As an artistically motivated photographer, my goal has always been to showcase model subjects in a flattering way that generates viewer interest.  It’s the out of the ordinary, extreme and WOW photos that usually drive viewers to your Model Mayhem page, increasing image views, comments and general popularity. The best way to achieve this from a lens selection standpoint is to toss aside your standard and ‘kit zoom’ lenses and grab some super-wide zooms and telephoto zoom lenses (the more extreme the better).  When shooting at an amazing place, or in extremely cramped quarters, a super-wide...


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I’ve had a lot of inquiries lately from people wanting to model but unsure where to start. Making money freelance modeling can seem vague, confusing, and overwhelming for those unfamiliar with it. This is by no stretch of the imagination a complete guide to the intricacies of the business, but instead intended to be a clear point zero for aspiring professional freelancers to build from. Where to Start Model: Sierra McKenzie; Photographer: TrueLifePhotography Makeup Artist: Shiree Collier; Clothing Designer: Deanna DiBene Millinery Model Mayhem is a great place to start. Having an account...


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Volume Shooting Rewards Selectivity Volume shooting doesn’t mean you shoot willy-nilly and indiscriminately hold down the shutter release button. Rather, it’s about getting the most frames out of the most usable moments that your model gives you. Holding down the shutter release button will yield a frame rate limited by your camera’s ability to write files to your memory card (after you’ve filled the buffer); that’s not a very fast frame rate—at best you’ll get 1fps, maybe 2fps if you’re lucky? On top of that, you may miss some magical opportunities while waiting for the memory...


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I found this video on how to create beauty photography on a budget very useful. Minimal lights with maximum results! Enjoy! Tutorial by: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnvgtzmvlb6d58d9BbOKuMA


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At first glance, this picture seems both straightforward and complicated. Makeup is the key here—it’s all about cosmetics (the lighting only highlights this). Photographer: Neil Snape In order to make a dramatic image like this, especially one that looks decent on paper printed on a rotary (helio) press, a hint of hard light keeps the contrast believable and adds a bit of dimension. During my time at Publicis—the agency that does most of the beauty and cosmetics advertising in Paris—the chief art buyer told me that you need to make your pictures appear as if they’ve been shot...


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Beauty dishes are widely used modifiers in portrait photography and can help to create a number of key “beauty effects.” Rather than diffusing the light like a soft box, a beauty dish focuses harder light in the center, while falling off around the edges, creating a concentrated pool of light that can both soften skin and create beautiful shadows to sculpt facial features. Although there are many ways of positioning a beauty dish, it definitely has a “sweet spot” where it works best. The video below talks about some of the keys to finding that sweet spot: As you can see from the video,...


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Boudoir is all about the eye exploring the female form. In a boudoir composition, we want visual curves for our eyes to follow throughout the frame. Your subject has placed their trust in you to help flatter their form, create shape, and establish an alluring mood in their images. Posing becomes absolutely essential to successful images in boudoir. Although some rules are meant to be broken, here are 5 essential tips to help improve your boudoir posing. TIP 1:  IF IT BENDS, BEND IT! IF IT CURVES, CURVE IT! Straight lines usually work against us in a boudoir photograph. If the subject’s...


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A portrait can be quite a tricky thing to get right. You need to make sure that you have the balance between posing your subject to be interesting, and capturing what they are really like. Sometimes, the most successful portraits are those which are subtle. There is no obvious pose, no big gesture. Instead, it’s all about capturing that person and who they are inside. This is something that can really separate the masters from the amateurs, so if you want to know how to bring your game up to scratch, read on for some important tips. Create the setting The first big thing you have to work...


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