© 2011 256Studio - 1

256Studio

Oct 2011

256Studio presents: Danielle Alexis

Shooting Guide

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ContentsCover.............................................................................................................1

Content..........................................................................................................2

How to get started?...................................................................................3,4

Danielle Alexis...........................................................................................5,6

What you need to work on?.............................................................7,8,9,10

How to prep your self before a shoot?…………..………..………………..11

What you can expect after a photo shoot?………………………..………12

Credits……...…………………………………………………………………….13

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How do I get started?The first thing to realize is that you have almost NO hope of becoming a top mainstreammodel by hanging around the Internet. While many of the top agencies have a web pres-ence, none of them actively recruit from it. Also, forget about modeling schools. Manyagencies do not consider people who admit to have gone to a modeling school. They (theagencies) feel that they will need to spend too much time retraining the model to botherwith them. If you already have gone to modeling school, then never admit to an agencythat you have. To get into modeling, you have to approach an agency and present yourselfto them.

First, research what agencies handle the type of work you want to do. Most of the topagencies have divisions that handle fashion, catalog, editorial and parts. Many do not han-dle glamour models. Try to see what models they are currently handling, and see whatthey look like. Many agencies have a “signature look” that they try to keep. You’ll have abetter shot of getting into an agency that is looking for people like you.

The next step is crucial. While some people have walked into an agency with just a snapshot of them self and gottensigned, a more realistic approach is to have some professionally produced images to show when you get there. Do nothave the guy down the street who has a new camera, the guy who took your school picture or the glamour place at themall produce these pictures. Find a studio with a photographer who has extensive experience in taking portfolio pic-tures to do them. Go to his studio and look at his prior work. Ask for references. Find someone else and do the same. Do

* Basic headshot* Full body shot* 3/4 body shot* 1/2 body shot* Full body in swimwear* Half body in swimwear* Wearing a black cocktail dress (formal pose)* Wearing jeans (casual pose)* One or two shots of what you would like to specialize in

The headshot and full body shot are required. Then pick any other 3. You want them printed as 9₺x12₺ (the internationalstandard), not 8₺x10₺. You also want to hire a professional makeup artist and hair‐dresser for this shoot. You want to produce professional looking images, and nomatter how good you do makeup, it’s not going to look as good as when a pro doesit. “Ditto for hair”. Your shoot should cost somewhere between $500-$1000 for thephotographer, with the makeup artist and hairdresser costing about $100-$200each. If you think this is a lot, then consider that your chances of getting work aremuch improved with high quality prints, over cutting costs and ending up with not-so-great pictures.

Now that you have your pictures in hand, find a good reproduction company(not that 24 hour one). Take your five prints and tell them you want a“composite” (also called a “zed” card) made up. Your headshot will go on onehalf of one side, and the other 4 will be displayed on the other, along withyour contact information and your personal statistics. The difference betweenfull color and black in white is not great, so get it done in color! The contactinformation should include a mailing address and phone

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number. Rent a post office box and get either an answering service or another voice mail system. You don’t know who’sgoing to be seeing these cards, so you don’t really want to put your home address and phone number on them. The per-sonal statistics should include your age, height, weight, body measurements, hair color and length, eye color, dress sizeand shoe size.

Get a list of addresses of the top agencies (a link to some are included HERE). If you don’t happen to live near wherethey are located, address a card to each one, and mail it out. A day or two later, send a cover letter introducing yourself,the type of modeling you are interested in, and attach another zed card. If you don’t hear anything back in a month,send a second letter asking if they had received your original letter. Make sure you attach a zed card to this, too. Mostagencies will at least respond within a month. Be prepared. It’s more than likely going to be a ' sorry, but…’ letter. Infact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you only get rejection letters. Don’t worry – try again in 6 months. The agency’s needchange from time to time and what may not be what they want this month, may be what they need next. Just keep fol-

lowing up with postcards every 4-6 months. You may be surprised.

Now, if you DO get a positive response, it will probably be in the form of an offer to go out to their office and speak withsomeone. Plan a couple of days for this. As long as you’re there, you will want to stop into the offices of EVERY agencyyou’ve written to, on the pretext that you were in town and just wanted to say ‘hello’ to whoever sent that rejection let-ter. Appropriate wear for this event will be jeans, t-shirt and little to no makeup. They want to see the ‘natural you’. Al-so, remember that you aren’t “signed” yet. They are at least interested, but want to see you in person first.

Now, you’ve just come back from the ‘Big City’ and you’re still not signed. Is this the end of the road? Not at all. Just setyour sights a bit lower, and go through this same process again with the smaller regional agencies. Try this after the firstmonth of sending to big agencies. The good news is, it will be easier to ‘drop’ in on them once you’ve sent out your cardand cover letters. Again, jeans, t-shirt and no makeup when you go to visit.

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What You Need to Work On?If I am doing a shoot for a client I can choose to pull someone off the street who looks right for the job and normally notpay much money or I can hire a skilled professional model and pay a lot more money. The reason I would opt for payingmore for a professional model is that a shoot will go quicker and have a better chance for success with a pro then some-one off the street. So a professional model can actually save client’s money by shortening a shoot and the quality of the

images will be better (better usually meaning more sales). So what does a profes-sional model bring to a shoot that someone off the street does not, professional at-titude and the “model’s tool kit.” The “model’s tool kit” is the ability to express andpose and knowledge of make-up, hairstyling and wardrobe. This package of skill iswhat makes a model worth their fees.Working on Expression and PoseIn the old days of melodrama and vaudeville they made a science out of communi-cating with facial expression or body position. They exaggerated and standardizedevery emotion that one might want to express. They produced books showing thesestandard expressions and poses and when you studied theatrics this was part ofwhat you learned. All of this early work was a bit over exaggerated and through theyears has gone through a lot of refinement. When photographs began replacingdrawings in fashion magazines the photo fashion industry came up with their ownset of expressions and poses. These expressions and poses usually communicatedbeauty and grace. A model would learn a standard set of poses that told where thefeet, hands, torso, and head would be positioned. One would work on one’s cheerysmile or surprise facial expression. By the early sixties it had become pretty regi-mented. But just as all the rules for being a model were set, along came the late six-ties and a time for breaking all of the rules. It has been a muddled mess since.Today there are no set rules for models except all of the old rules still can apply ex-

cept we want to break them all the time. The modeling schools say they will teach you the standard modeling poses butthe agencies and fashion industry say that there are no standard poses; everything is creative and you either have it oryou don’t and we decide who has it.As a working photographer I think it is great to have both. I like it when I can tell a model to look sad and she has prac-ticed that look in the mirror and can do it on cue. I also like when we can play sad music or tell a side story and get anhonest sad expression. I like when shooting a simple fashion shot and I ask the model to go through her short or longgroup of poses and she has a set routine that we can shoot through. I like it when we need something very different fora shot and I can tell the model how to stretch, twist, and reach and she is aware of her/his body and can do it. I thinkyou should know the rules so you can break them. You should know your body so you are aware of how it moves, whatlines it forms, and how it can be coached into different positions. I think you should know yourself and your emotions soyou can show these to the camera and feel confident in what you are showing.So how do you work on expressions and posing?One good way to start is doing activities that teach you how to move your body gracefully. For this I like dance andrhythmic gymnastics. Dancers and gymnasts move great in front of the camera. They know how to create a long sweep-ing line with their bodies. Other sports can help with kinesthetic knowledge and are good for conditioning but I favordance to teach how to move and communicate with your body. Of course for expression theater is a great teacher. Thatis part of what an actor must do at times – communicate without words. If you have an opportunity take a class or par-ticipate in these activities, I encourage you to do so.You can work on facial expressions by practicing them in a mirror. What do I mean by facial expressions? We are all ca-pable of showing various emotions on our face. Most emotions that you can think of can show on your face. Hate, love,sadness, longing, happy, and more can be expressed on your face. What you should do is make a list of all key emotionalwords you can think of (run through the dictionary) and practice those expressions in front of a mirror. After you havepracticed for a while, try them on a friend and see if they can tell what emotion you are conveying. The idea is thatwhen you are in front of the camera and the photographer wants you to look longingly into the distance you know howto do that.

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More on PosingWhen you are in front of my camera lens your body and how it is positioned become a critical element in making myphotograph successful. Learning how to move in front of the camera begins with some basic principles.Basic PrinciplesLines of Force – There are certain principles of design that apply to any visual art. With a model in a photograph your

body works as a compositional element. All the basic rules of designapply to how you position your body. Learning basic design rules canhelp you understand why arm should go one way and a leg the otherway. And why when the rules are broken a whole different messageis given.Non-verbal communication – Years ago when I started in college Imajored in communication. One of the first classes I took was onnon-verbal communication. As may be no surprise curtain body posi-tions communicate different messages. By learning these body posi-tions and recreating them in front of the camera you cancommunicate a powerful message.Symbolism – This is a refinement of understanding of non-verbalcommunication. This is the old nature verses nurture debate. Thereare curtain body positions that have specific meaning with in a cul-ture context. There can be body position that will mean somethingin one culture or for one group of people and mean nothing to an-other. With the global economy and the whole planet reach of theInternet it becomes more important to understand what is mankinduniversal mind or world view and what is a cultural aberration.

Acting vs. ReactingIn working with a model can get the pose I need in one of two waysby acting or reacting.Acting or directional modeling – With this type of modeling a sceneis set, direction on what is needed from the model for expression,look and pose given, the model must pull from themselves what isneeded. On a set a model that can accomplish this is very valuable. I

am able to tightly control the communication message and be able to achieve it very quickly.Reactive modeling – With this type of approach an environment is created, or external forces are applied and the modelreacts to the situation. This is where the models personality comes through, improvisational, spontaneity. With somemodels and some situations this can work very well (more the exception then the rule). In others it is a salvable tech-nique (it is like using the squeaky toy with a baby). A shoot will general take longer and communication objective can beharder to reach. Because of the greater time it takes get acceptable results a model of this type would be of less value.An Observation on Posing StylesIn moving away from principles and more into what is out there I find four general style of posing based on industries.1) Classic Fashion – these are poses that were developed up to the 60s. These follow good compositional design andfunction to make one look attractive. These became so standardized they were thought of a mannequins. This is thestyle most used in catalog modeling.2) Anti-Classic or High Fashion – A rebellion against the classic posing started with the 60s rebellion to look unique. Thishas intern become its own stylized look that is seen mostly in fashion editorial. This style breaks compositional lines andgoes for distorted, awkward, deformed and yes ugliness.3) Commercial print/Acting – Most often the pose is tied to direct non-verbal communication. An ad has an advertisingmessage that need to be stated and how the model is positions carries the statement.4) Glamour – This area has its own unique set of poses. It is built on Classic fashion and good design but emphasize thesensual and sexy.

How can you learn to pose?

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I have not seen any good source for learning these principles or for just how do you position your body. Modeling booksmight have a few basic body positions and tips. Modeling schools do about the same but neither builds on a foundationof principles. The best suggestion I have is work on posing by practicing in front of a full-length mirror and doing testshoots. To figure out what to practice look at the fashion magazine to see how to stand but most of the poses are break-ing the rule and at this point you need to be learning the rules. You may want to look at fashion catalogs for poses. You

would need to pay attention to tilt of the head, position of thehand, and turn of the ankle. These little things can make a big dif-ference. Just as with facial expressions your body posture can re-late to an emotional word or phrase. Body posing is easy to showsomeone but it is hard to put in words.

With both expressions and with posing it is also good to practicewith props, products and wardrobe. Props might be a floppy hat, along shawl, a beach ball. You want to practice reacting to the propand using the prop. Since the reason for doing these photographsis to sell something, it is good to practice with a product thatmight be sold. Practice holding the product so it shows well andyou don’t cover the label. With fashion you are selling the clothes,practice showing important features. Show off pockets, collar,belt, how the garment moves, whatever makes the garment inter-esting you want to call attention to it.

Make-upMake-up is an art. I took my make-up classes from a lady who as-sisted on the movie Little Big Man. In that movie they took DustinHoffman from being a young teenager to a 100 year old man.What she could do with make-up was amazing. If a shoot has abudget for a make-up artist and a good one is available then wejust sit back and let him do his magic. But on a shoot without abudget for a make-up artist or in some smaller towns where one isnot available, it may well fall upon the model to do her own make-up. Even when you have a make-up artist it is necessary that youknow of any corrective make-up you may need.

For learning make-up there are some great books available. You may also find theatrical make-up classes taught at somecommunity college. The cosmetologist at the local department store may be fine giving some pointers for your streetmake-up, but make-up for photography can be quite different. This is especially true for B&W photos. A big part oflearning make-up is just trying it in front of a mirror. Study something in a book or magazine then try it in front of a mir-ror. Eventually, you have to get in front of the camera with your make up on and see how it looks.Make-up for black and white photography gets weird. Color no longer matters. It is only the lightness and darkness thatmatters. I guess it is a kind of a gothic thing. It takes some getting used to. You must ignore the color and only see themake-up in terms of black, white and grays.

Hair StylingBeing able to do things with your hair can be a great help when photographing. Of course it is great when you have aprofessional hair stylist who can do some fabulous looks and keep every hair in place, but there may not be a budget fora hair stylist. So again it may fall to the model to be able to do her own hair. I have always thought shoulder length hairwas the most versatile. You can put it up, pull it back, comb it to one side, fluff it, curl it, or just leave it natural. Shorthair locks you into one look, end of story. Long hair can be fun to work with but not quite as flexible. Being able to re-style your hair can be very helpful on a shoot. You can check various magazines to see what they are doing and practicein a mirror. For most modeling purposes you don’t need to be incredibly creative with your hair – just so you can redo itto offer several different looks.Wardrobe

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In a secondary market, on a lower budget shoot, for your own composite and portfolio you will need a basic workingwardrobe. When I was starting in photography the modeling books would list the basic wardrobe a model should have.This, of course, was where the simple black dress came from. I am not sure what should be in one’s closet today, but arange of basics would be good. You must have a business suit for interviews, cold calls, and modeling. I am always grate-ful when a model has a formal dress. The formal is best for the super dress-up shot. You may have to wait till you get

going and call on a few photographers to see what you might want in a basic wardrobe.

As part of wardrobe and clothing I would also encourage learning about fashion. Thirty years ago most women hadsome experience in sewing. From that experience they had an understanding of what different fabrics were like, whatstandard cuts of skirts were different types of collars, different types of pockets, and many more variations that couldmake up a garment. All of this is still important today when modeling clothes. It helps to know how a fabric will drape ormove when you are modeling it. It helps to know if a pocket is deep cut or shallow cut so you can show that. It is veryimportant to know what the lines are of a garment so you can accentuate them and not break the line of movement.Fashion history and how the fashion industry works may be fun to learn, also, but I think it is more important to under-stand the garment itself.

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How to prepare yourself before a shoot? Basic preparations are essential for getting good pictures or a great look. I(the photographer) will do my very best to get the best out of a shoot andmost of our shoots have taken very long time to plan, so don’t show up allhung-over or looking like a mess. Here is how to be just so beautiful on theday of the event.Certain elements are out of the photographers reach to influence, and are upto you. These elements that are listed below are things that people take forgranted but nevertheless almost always forget. Therefore, take them seriouslyif you want a good result. If you are a model and have been asked to read this,It is absolutely necessary to follow every aspect.Don’ts

1. Do not tan yourself for three days before the shoot; your skin will be slight-ly red.

2. Do not clean or scrub your face AT ALL on the day of the shoot. If you feellike cleaning your skin on the day of the shoot this should be done extreme-

ly gentle and “almost” without water.3. Do not scratch or irritate any impurities in the days before the shoot.

4. Do not try out a new hairstyle that you are unsure of before theshoot. Go safe – always.5. Don’t party or drink the night before.

6. Follow the instructions giving by our stylist just before the shoot.If you have any questions about what clothes to bring, then call her.Generally you should always bring a “lot” of clothes.

7. If you plan on shooting swim wear or less. Please wear a loose fittingbra and pants. To keep the red lines from showing during the shoot.

1. Bring food for yourself (a must have), water and a warm set ofclothes. We will normally have food for you at the set, but bring a snackanyway.2. Wash your face a little roughly (exfoliate your skin) just before yougo to bed the night before a session. (Gentlemen: Please do this too)3. Be shaved where appropriate. Girls: Legs and under your arms aswell as forearms (Yes… Forearms too). Guys: Be shaved nicely unlessyou have been instructed not to.4. Clean your nails. (Everyone forgets this, and it cannot be effectivelyretouched afterwards)5. Have your eyebrows plucked, boys too.6. Get enough sleep. At least two hours more then you normallywould. It’s best to get up later than normal instead of getting to bedearlier. Our shoots don’t start that early so spend your time sleeping

instead of other things.7. Please do your nails and toe nails with a basic color. If need be please ask the photographer what

color!!

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WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AFTER A PHOTO SHOOT?

Often within a couple days after a shoot I will sort your photos based on different looks & poses and thencompile a CD of proofs to send you. Although proofs CDs are typically sent out within a few days after ashoot, I reserve the right to take up to 2 weeks to do so (unless otherwise arranged). This is occasionallynecessary during extreme circumstances, such as hectic scheduling or business travel.Because I know how anxious people are to get their photos, I will often try to pick out a number of them that Iconsider to be the highlights and will then scale these down to a size manageable for e-mail and send them toyou.

Upon receiving CD of proofs, it is up to you toreview the photos and then indicate to me whichones you like the best. I will then “process” thesephotos to make them look as good possible andthen send you the final high-res images (via emailand/or CDs). “Processing” can include coloradjustments, cropping, blemish removal, etc. Thenumber of photos I will process for free isprearranged based on your photo shoot packageand additional photos may be processed uponrequest at the going rate.Although I typically process photos within a fewdays after I have been notified of the specificphotos to process, I reserve the right to take up to 2

weeks to complete this work (unless otherwise arranged).Processed photos are then either placed on a CD or mailed to you or they are placed online for you to downloaddirectly (your choice). Although the files are generally very large, most people prefer the instant gratification ofbeing able to download their photos directly from the internet.Although I do not provide photo prints as a standard part of my photo shoot packages, quality photo prints canthen be generated from the digital prints for the cost of supplies or my going rate.

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Credits

I would like to take this time to thank each and everyone who I have shot with over the years with!

All Images and Articles are © 2011 copyrighted by 256Studio and ModelCrowd.

I would like to take this time for my client who posed for this shooting guide.

Danielle Alexis without her I would not be able to Create such a useful guide to future clients.

Thank you !

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