Working with Models

Building rapport with 15-year-old Georgina, a model with a few test shoots, the photographer spends 45 minutes talking before shooting: looking at her pictures and his work, learning her hopes and her family's feelings, then agreeing boundaries. Respect, honesty and humour make the set comfortable and free up creativity.

John Sansom shares test-shoot tips for agency models: treat them like a paid commission, with call sheets, hire a makeup artist to cut retouching, manage the agency's expectations, send a mood board and pin it on set, and give the model a character and backstory rather than rigid poses.

Manny Ortiz and his wife, model Diana, give both sides of working with models: offer positive feedback, show the model good frames, play music she likes on a JBL speaker, direct rather than pose her, never touch without permission, communicate the vision and never put her in harm's way.

Anita Sadowska shoots a model test by a studio window, dressing Krystal in neutral black so clothes don't distract, oiling her skin for sheen and working at f/2.2, 1/320s and ISO 250. Flags deepen shadows, a white board bounces backlight, and she shoots half and full-length frames agencies want.

Tatiana Kurnosova explains what a model's book contains, from natural headshot to tests, editorials and tear sheets, and how to organise a first test shoot without an agency. She warns against stacking similar images from one shoot, recommending a headshot, three-quarter and full-length, simple styling and varied locations.

Bianca Koyabe explains how to start a modelling portfolio: find a test-shoot photographer, negotiating rates, keep first images natural with fresh skin, cover active, swimwear or lingerie and glam editorial looks, check how photographers retouch similar skin tones, then pick three headshots, mid shots and full-body images.

Tatiana Kurnosova lists portfolio mistakes: a book should show the ability to sell products rather than the model, the first page should be a headshot or strong close-up, near-identical frames from one shoot or repeated poses should be kept apart, and too many swimsuit pictures suggest a one-trick model.

Gavin Hoey works with new model Cherry and traces the planning behind it: a Pinterest mood board, paying for an experienced model found through an Instagram story, and agreeing location and wardrobe beforehand. On set he lets the model model, guides rather than directs, and keeps every comment positive.

Peter Coulson trains model Abbey on an implied-topless mood board she chose. He covers hands flattening wide, elbows as blockers and touching lightly to avoid reshaping, drops an outfit that felt claustrophobic, then switches to a sheet lit by octabox and bounce board as her comfort transforms the pictures.

Peter Coulson photographs Layla, Abbey's sister, on her first ever shoot, tethered to a MacBook Pro. He deliberately shows how silence leaves a model insecure, then talks constantly, teaches a look-away-and-reset rhythm, stresses expressive eyes, swaps her into more comfortable clothing and lets her demand the shutter press.