At some point in my life I started to get a bit overwhelmed with requests about photoshoots, specifically test shoots. At first it was extremely flattering to be approached by complete strangers about shooting but after awhile, as the number of requests multiplied, it just became stressful, not to mention time-consuming.
Over the years I have tried various ways to systematize the process and in 2010 I decided to REALLY work on a solution. I created a form on my website (details on setting it up are later in this post) which allowed me to do a couple things easily.
- Collect ALL the information I needed without back and forth emails.
- Keep all the applicants in one place for easy reference (as opposed to checking email, facebook, myspace, modelmayhem etc. etc.)
- With a simple disclaimer I let everyone know that I’d only be contacting them if they were selected, saving me from writing a half dozen emails a week explaining my limited time… which EVERYONE takes the wrong way, by the way.
My current system has been active since April of 2010, with a 3.5 month hiatus from October 2010 to January 2011. I’ve had amazing applicants and even though I still get the random (rather annoying) message about how to apply it has dramatically cut down on the time it takes me to sort through the requests.
Fun Facts (May 2010 to March 2011)
- Approximate days the current application has been online: 225
- Number of applications received: 277
- Average number of applications received per day: 1.21
- Number of applicants selected for a test shoot since May 2010: 16*
- Percentage chance of being selected: 6.8%*
*These represent best guesses, since I easily could have missed a few here and there.
Here’s how I set it up.
I have an account at Aweber so people can sign up for my FREE email list (which I also use at http://www.garnmuirhead.com) and the cool thing about Aweber is it allows you to create multiple lists and create custom forms for people to fill out to be on the list… so, I simply created a new email list and new form for the model application.
Here’s the form I created for my website.
You can try a $1 trial by visiting jakegarn.aweber.com. It might seem a bit complex to set up but once you get the hang of it it’s quite simple really. Once it was set up I didn’t have to touch it again.
Side note: I also use ConstantContacts for email marketing other businesses which is about the same cost, but it doesn’t allow custom forms. Both cost about the same… but I prefer aweber for my photography site.
When someone fills out the application two things happen.
- I get an email and Gmail is set-up to automatically sort the applications into one folder
- The applicant gets a confirmation email with instructions on how to complete the application. The instructions include a request for them to email photos of themselves and answer some simple YES or NO questions on their availability (schedule and posing).
So why the second email?
As I mentioned this is not the only system I’ve tried, and I find that having a two-step process cuts out people that aren’t all that serious about it, which has enabled me to schedule shoots with the most responsible models cutting my flakes down to nearly zero.
So does the system work?
If nobody ever filled out an application ever again I would still consider it to be a huge success. Here are just a couple reasons why. 
Demi filled out an application on August 31st 2010.
Jillian filled out an application on September 4th, 2010.
Additional Marketing Advantage
As someone with a marketing background I can tell you that collecting information from people specifically interested in your services is invaluable. I don’t shoot for a living so I don’t really have plans to do this but how cool would it be to send out an email to the 200+ people that have filled out a form over the last couple hundred days offering them a discounted photoshoot for a limited time.
It would probably be a quick way to pick up a few paying clients rather quickly and since these are people that willingly gave you their information because they are interested in your work and Aweber AUTOMATICALLY lets anyone unsubsribe from your email list at any time it doesn’t count as spam!
Disclaimer: I do get an incentive if you sign up for Aweber using the link I provided, I would recommend them without the incentive but since they offer it I’d be silly not to use it. I’ve been paying for the service for almost a year and I have no complaints so it definitely gets my seal of approval! 
At some point in my life I started to get a bit overwhelmed with requests about photoshoots, specifically test shoots. At first it was extremely flattering to be approached by complete strangers about shooting but after awhile, as the number of requests multiplied, it just became stressful, not to mention time-consuming.
Over the years I have tried various ways to systematize the process and in 2010 I decided to REALLY work on a solution. I created a form on my website (details on setting it up are later in this post) which allowed me to do a couple things easily.
- Collect ALL the information I needed without back and forth emails.
- Keep all the applicants in one place for easy reference (as opposed to checking email, facebook, myspace, modelmayhem etc. etc.)
- With a simple disclaimer I let everyone know that I’d only be contacting them if they were selected, saving me from writing a half dozen emails a week explaining my limited time… which EVERYONE takes the wrong way, by the way.
My current system has been active since April of 2010, with a 3.5 month hiatus from October 2010 to January 2011. I’ve had amazing applicants and even though I still get the random (rather annoying) message about how to apply it has dramatically cut down on the time it takes me to sort through the requests.
Fun Facts (May 2010 to March 2011)
- Approximate days the current application has been online: 225
- Number of applications received: 277
- Average number of applications received per day: 1.21
- Number of applicants selected for a test shoot since May 2010: 16*
- Percentage chance of being selected: 6.8%*
*These represent best guesses, since I easily could have missed a few here and there.
Here’s how I set it up.
I have an account at Aweber so people can sign up for my FREE email list (which I also use at http://www.garnmuirhead.com) and the cool thing about Aweber is it allows you to create multiple lists and create custom forms for people to fill out to be on the list… so, I simply created a new email list and new form for the model application.
Here’s the form I created for my website.
You can try a $1 trial by visiting jakegarn.aweber.com. It might seem a bit complex to set up but once you get the hang of it it’s quite simple really. Once it was set up I didn’t have to touch it again.
Side note: I also use ConstantContacts for email marketing other businesses which is about the same cost, but it doesn’t allow custom forms. Both cost about the same… but I prefer aweber for my photography site.
When someone fills out the application two things happen.
- I get an email and Gmail is set-up to automatically sort the applications into one folder
- The applicant gets a confirmation email with instructions on how to complete the application. The instructions include a request for them to email photos of themselves and answer some simple YES or NO questions on their availability (schedule and posing).
So why the second email?
As I mentioned this is not the only system I’ve tried, and I find that having a two-step process cuts out people that aren’t all that serious about it, which has enabled me to schedule shoots with the most responsible models cutting my flakes down to nearly zero.
So does the system work?
If nobody ever filled out an application ever again I would still consider it to be a huge success. Here are just a couple reasons why.
Demi filled out an application on August 31st 2010.
Jillian filled out an application on September 4th, 2010.
Additional Marketing Advantage
As someone with a marketing background I can tell you that collecting information from people specifically interested in your services is invaluable. I don’t shoot for a living so I don’t really have plans to do this but how cool would it be to send out an email to the 200+ people that have filled out a form over the last couple hundred days offering them a discounted photoshoot for a limited time.
It would probably be a quick way to pick up a few paying clients rather quickly and since these are people that willingly gave you their information because they are interested in your work and Aweber AUTOMATICALLY lets anyone unsubsribe from your email list at any time it doesn’t count as spam!
Disclaimer: I do get an incentive if you sign up for Aweber using the link I provided, I would recommend them without the incentive but since they offer it I’d be silly not to use it. I’ve been paying for the service for almost a year and I have no complaints so it definitely gets my seal of approval! 
A couple weeks ago I talked about The Art of the Pose where I discussed three styles of directing models.
Well within those styles are techniques, some simple and some complex. Over the years I have developed a lot of techniques to get the look I want on a shoot. Here’s one of my favorites!
How to Steal an Expression
Expression stealing is a term I came up with to describe the technique of making a model make a certain expression, without specifically asking him/her to do it. In other words it’s always better to make a model smile, rather than ask her to smile.
Take this image for instance:
This is an amazing expression from Sarah
Sarah’s expression is a unique and complex blend of disdain & joy, boredom & fascination, pity & fear… if I wanted to get this look from Sarah again I could tell her those descriptions but she would have no idea what I was talking about. There simply is no good way I can think of to tell a model to do this… but I have a thousand ways to make her spontaneously give me a look similar to this!
You can’t describe your way to this expression… you have to steal it.
If I want a laugh I don’t tell a model to laugh, I make her laugh… and not with a lame joke either, that’s not a real laugh. For instance, the best laugh you can make is that one of slight embarrassment, so to get one I’ll tell a model to smile [take a picture] then frown [take a picture] then smile again. At first I slowly take pictures, waiting for her expression to catch up… then I go faster, and faster until she starts feeling so ridiculous at how how odd it feels that she just can’t help but laugh out loud! In other words, I spend ten frames shooting something I’ll never use in order to get a true laugh out.
You, as the director, have to figure out a way to authentically make the model make a true expression and at the exact right second snatch it away! That’s what I call Expression Stealing!
Any model that shoots with me knows that I usually talk to them throughout the entire shoot, I ask a lot of questions. Little do they know that I’m silently, usually sub-conciously, noticing their reactions. I don’t even really care a whole lot about most the questions I ask or the answers I receive (in fact I usually forget about what they say immediately) but what I am remembering is what their reactions are like.
So I thought I’d do a little exercise to illustrate this idea… Without either of them knowing anything about my experiment (at the time) I put the model (Sarah) on the phone with Ryan Muirhead in the middle of a test shoot last week… I gave them no explanation as to why they were talking, I just told them they had to keep talking. Sarah was able to stay on the phone for over a FULL minute before ending the conversation and passing me back the phone.
The whole time they were talking I was busy stealing genuine expressions. All in 70 seconds.
(CLICK IT FOR A BIGGER SIZE)
By the way, expression stealing is much more than just saying something and capturing the reaction, sometimes the reactions build and build on each other… the more complex the reactions get the better the expression.
The ironic thing is that I love shooting models in a nearly expressionless state. When I think about it I realize there is a genuine reason for why I love shooting blank expressions so much.
“It’s easy to make someone laugh…”
It’s easy to make someone laugh but making a model ignore every care in the world and completely relax? That’s a bit more tough. Not only do I love the challenge but I love the idea of blank…
Once you’ve removed expression you are left with a blank stare, and isn’t it interesting how hypnotizing a blank stare can be.
“Isn’t it interesting how hypnotizing a blank stare can be.”
Go ahead, take a few seconds longer than normal and look at the image below… notice how, with a little imagination, it makes you feel like you’re looking into yourself. Like it’s a mirror reflecting back the emotions that are currently on the edge of your mind?
Or is that just me?
Equipment used to achieve these images
Links take you to B&H with additional specs and current prices.
Posing is hard!
If anyone tells you otherwise then they are a bona fide genius or they don’t realize how bad they are at either directing the action or being a model.
Some models are simply born with the ability to move freely in front of the camera, some are not. Either way it is the job of the photographer to direct the shoot with just the right amount of attention. Too much or too little are equally bad, and the tricky part is every shoot is different.
Over the years I have had a lot of experience working with models, in all that time I’ve learned a lot of tricks for directing the action. How to make someone smile naturally, how to make someone laugh, how to make someone feel comfortable and how to start ordinary people on the path to being great models! As always this process takes two people. A director that knows their stuff and a model with enough talent and passion to actually make the shoot better.
Here is my single best piece of advice for working with new models.
Adapt (and use) these three styles of of directing
And know which one is best for the particular shoot and the particular model
1. Meticulously guide the action
Many photographers shy away from this technique, either they lack the confidence or on the opposite extreme they proudly wear the badge of honor that “I do not pose the model, it’s too contrived and I want PURITY in my photos.” I’ve got news for everyone, the photos you see in magazines in advertising and editorials? Lots of those are meticulously directed to look like they weren’t directed. It is a rare combination for the model and photographer to be so in synch that absolutely no direction is necessary… though it does happen.
Personally I find myself using this style most when I’m doing conceptual shoots, close-ups and beauty head shots. I also revert to this style when the model is unexperienced or unconfident in her actions and just needs the extra help.
2. Shut up and Shoot
Sometimes a model knows his/her craft so well that any advice you give them couldn’t possibly make things better. Just watch and move your camera/lights accordingly.
3. Inspire and Suggest
My favorite style! I work with a lot of brand new models, a majority of them have never even posed before. This style is a great way to give the model confidence enough to experiment with posing, in doing so you can mentally assess their modeling talent and create a collaboration worth documenting.
Here’s how you know when you’re doing it right!
Brynlee is not a professional model. A month or so ago Ryan Muirhead and I went in to get a quick bite to eat on a lazy saturday afternoon, as we walked into the fast food restaurant we both spotted her. She stopped us both in our tracks, literally, and Ryan and I exchanged a look.
She was beautiful.
So I did something I rarely do, only the second time in as long as I can remember I wrote a note on the back of a contest entry form they had at the front register. It said simply:
“My name is Jake Garn, I am a photographer and I’d love to photograph you. No charge. Check out my work and email me if you’re interested.”
I left my website at the bottom, I only had to wait a day or two for an email.
Since then I’ve photographed Brynlee a couple of times, the images at top are from her third photoshoot. I gently guided her to play with her dress, shake her hair, stand on tip-toes, and just play around. Then I just shut-up and watched, click… click…. click…
According to the time-stamps on these images we started shooting this look at 7:13 exactly. The last frame from this look was clicked at 7:18 and 6 seconds.
5 minutes and 6 seconds. I think I may make a habit out of doing the five minute modeling challenge in the future… if you’d like to see future 9-image collages like this one leave a comment and let me know!
Equipment used to achieve these images
Classic lighting from both sides, put the softboxes as close as you can to the model and expose accordingly. For this one I put the left-strobe slightly behind the model and the right-strobe slightly in front of her, the ratio of each strobe is about 1:1.
