there must be passion in an image for it to be considered a success. Passion is
simply a necessary ingredient for a photographer. You must love what you do
and you must do it not for the money or the travel, but for the work itself. If
you don’t have passion for the work, it will show in your photography. If you
don’t like women, that dislike will come across in your images of models. If
you think fashion is stupid, boring, and phony, you would be better off get-
ting into a different line of work. Photographers should not allow themselves
to be trapped in a field that they consider mundane or boring. If you are not
enjoying what you are doing, it becomes just another job rather than an ex-
citing, creative career.Photographing Models.
When I started out in photography, I wanted to be a landscape photogra-
pher. However, with subjects that change very little from year to year and the
need to build an extensive stock collection before you begin receiving com-
pensation for your efforts, I soon decided to take my career in another
direction.
I decided to start shooting fashion, model, and talent photography be-
cause there is a constant influx of new people and creative ideas in that field.
Fashion and model photography allows you to work either with a client/
modelseparately orwithagroupofother creative people,like makeupartists,
designers, location specialists, and agents. Their goal is to create a powerful
visual experience: the still image. In addition to providing ample avenues for
creativity, you are paid at the time of delivery.
As a fashion photographer, you are a problem solver. Your job is to show
the clothing or product in the most appealing way. You must create a mood
to make the client’s product sell to a potential buyer. When shooting for a
model’s portfolio, that same idea applies—but the model herself is the prod-
uct. The same procedures and thought processes are used, but now they are
focused on making the model appeal to the portfolio’s viewers: the model’s
potential employers.
How do you show the model’s best attributes? Creativity. As a model pho-
tographer, it’s your job to design images that will stimulate the viewer of the
portfolio to hire the model. To succeed, you need to possess the precise tech-
nical skills of the commercial photographer, the creative eye of an artist, and
the sensitivity to the human condition of the fine-art portrait photographer.The Rewards of Model Photography.
Creativity.The rewards of model photography are immeasurable. It is a cre-
ative occupation where you are involved in every phase of the process—from
the concept to the completion. Creativity is encouraged and rewarded, and
you are also given the opportunity to work with other creative individuals.
INTRODUCTION 13I-4(facingpage).As a model photogra-
pher, your job is to create images that
will grab the viewer’s attention and get
them to hire the model.
As a fashion
photographer, you are
a problem solver.