Videos

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.

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.

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.

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.

Peter Coulson and model Beck act out three complaints models raise most at workshops: a photographer giving no feedback or mood, one barking hold and don't move while fiddling with fingertips and arms, and the creep angling for nudity. He favours a neutral, positive cool over sexy or hot.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lindsay Adler lights a fuller-figured subject with a diffused umbrella offset for sculpting shadow and fixes her flat-footed stance: turned to the side, weight on the back hip, knees together, lower back arched and chest leaning to camera. An apple box brings the face closer and the hips away.