+ INTRO: So, you just did a photo shoot and you don’t like any of the photos from the shoot! Sounds bummer. We can blame the photographer’s experience, maybe it was his camera, or I know… the lighting was bad huh? Or was it that you weren’t Model Ready?!

Did you just come to your shoot and you wasn’t ready?
When you understand that modeling is more than just showing up and taking pictures, you will fully understand what modeling is about. Remember these key points: you’re about to do a photo shoot with a high quality camera and bright lights… there’s no room for error on your part.

The funniest thing to a photographer, is when models think photoshop makes everything better.
If things don’t come out right they blame the photographer, listen… you can have the most expensive and the highest quality equipment but the reality is all that can’t alter reality! Your first mistake was depending on photoshop for your look. I personally feel that photoshop killed the modeling game. It produced a toxic sea of wack models. No one wants to take time to create a scene and a look, they think all they have to do is get a green screen and have a “guy with a camera” photoshop them into an exotic island (LOL).

Majority of these guys over-saturate the photo with filters and touch ups, throwing the whole vibe of the photo off. The worst part is when you see the “model” out in public and they look nothing like their portfolio because the filter is off.

So before you come shoot with me… are you Model Ready?
As a photographer my job is to capture the moment, even though we can make magic;
I’M NOT A MAGICIAN.

It’s the simple things that you can do before you show up to a photo shoot that will make your photos come out better…

Your skin is the most important part of your body as a model.

A lot of models depend on make-up to define their look but your look start with a fresh face. You will book a lot more gigs when you go to a go-see natural instead of already being made up. You will kill a sexy photo shoot by having the best looking make-up, a sexy lingerie piece but your skin is ashy.

Lotion or oil is key to a photo shoot because you will be surprise how vividly dry skin show up in photos. Ashy feet is the worst, especially when you have your toes painted a bright color and if you’re posing against a white background lighter models tend to fade into the background instead of standing out. When your skin is hydrated during a shoot it creates a glow on your skin that attracts the flash and helps you stand out from the background. This is very helpful when its time to go into editing because I’m able to capture the full color of the skin in the photo so you get a better result in the end.

Chipped finger or toes nails can kill a close up photos.

You can not use a photo for a high end fashion ad when the model isn’t looking up to part. It will repeal customers and will attract the wrong attention… especially when your  potential consumer most likely will be in a hair or nail shop when they see your ad. It takes less effort for the model to simply remover her old nail polish the night before instead of a photographer spending all night retouching your nails in every photo. I really feel some models are scared to go natural. Instead of showing up to the shoot with old weave, take it out wash and blow dry your then put it into a pony tail or bun, it’s a more cleaner look also its great for if you’re shooting outside when the wind is blowing.

FYI: when you see a model on a magazine cover and her hair is perfectly blowing in the wind, keep in mind they used a big ass fan and a hair stylist is constantly styling the hair after every shot.

The last thing that I would like to speak on is your mentality going into the photo shoot. Leave all stress and negativity at the door. It breaks my heart as photographer and as a Man when a model’s boyfriend/husband/baby daddy is so jealous he wont let her focus on her career.

I remember doing a shoot and model’s boyfriend wouldn’t stop calling her while we were shooting. It totally killed the shoot… every 5 shots her phone would ring and she would jump up and grab the phone. Then she would come back to set after crying and arguing with dude and we really didn’t get any good shots because mentally she wasn’t there. But now… she’s killing the game with the potential I’ve seen long ago!

I see it a lot of photos where you can tell that a model isn’t comfortable with the photographer or isn’t in good spirits in the photo. Your face tells everything. When you’re doing a head shot, you can posing your neck, eyes, lips and posture… but what sells the photo or kills it is you’re overall facial expression. Its good to know how to do body posing like: different lips poses, different eye poses, if you have dimples you should know how hard to smile to make them show as well as know how to give more or to give less with your face. During wardrobe changes you should be practicing poses in the mirror before you come back on set.

I will leave you with this and it is very important…

Don’t let your misconceptions elevate your expectations so high that the fall of disappointment hurts too bad. When you want to recreate a shot that you seen in a magazine or IG, the best thing to do is to contact that photographer and either work with them or ask them for some shooting tips or notes. It is very frustrating when a model want to recreate a look and don’t know how to create the look or not even willing to put in the work just to get the shot done.

I take nothing against the photoshop photographers because their creativity is amazing but it’s a higher level to photography and that is what gets my highest respect.

So shout out to the photographers that take an hour just to set up for one scene. Salute to the photographer that stayed up all night creating a set just to have a model flake on you in the morning.

Shout out to the model that comes to the shoot Model Ready! Salute to the model that goes the extra mile for the shot, greatness is within you! * : : . .

“When you
stay ready,
you don’t have
to get ready!”