What I learnt from 100 Test Shoots
You’re not really interested in why I did this. You’d ask me, that’s the truth.
You just want to know, how I did it, and what I learnt, I’ll try to make this easy!
I want you to know, I want you to learn, I want you to work with me as well, I give this away in the hope that it not only helps you, but that you’ll refer me, tell people about my work, and maybe even message me.
My list of lessons:
Organisation
I’ll start by saying it’s about being organised. You need to know who you’re shooting, or have a general idea at least a fortnight in advance, you should have a back up plan, your make up artist should be free, your model should know when and where you’re meeting, and how long they’re all needed. If they’re busy till X date, let them know you’ll contact them a week before, and see how they’re going. Always plan the follow up.
Write a brief
Briefs are paramount to success, start creating them, put everything a model, and make up artist, agency, needs in it, that includes directions, transport options, wet weather plan etc.
This could come under organising but I just think they’re the best, and they make things so much easier for everyone involved, even if you’re disorganised like I am, they make you look like you’re on top of it.
Approaching Models
The easiest way to line up a model is to talk directly to agencies, but I’ll leave that for later. Often you won’t get an answer from an agency or they’ll want something different, or they won’t want to give you high end talent. The list goes on. If you’re shooting 100 tests, you have to keep the momentum going.
Instagram has become a pretty decent tool to find models, but there are good ways and bad ways with doing this. I’m not a perfect example, I would say I’m able to organise a shoot from every 12 messages I send. Whether it’s scheduling, or what they want to do, or they never reply, it can be tough.
The tried and tested method is to find someone who I would be interested in working with, engage with their content, and then just write “I would love to work with you 🌈”. Why the rainbow you might ask, I just wanted something different, that’s not aggressive or thirsty. My work is often sexy but it’s not my primary objective with my work.
If you send a direct message, I say keep it brief, don’t tell them your life story, don’t say too much, in summary just say you want to work with them, and to let you know if they’re free, and you’ll send them some ideas.
Developing Relationships
Your models will come and go, I don’t mean that some you won’t with again, or that they’re expendable, but if you’re planning on doing 100 shoots, you need to talk to agencies, in Sydney there are quite a number, I worked with these ones this year:
Azalea
Bella
Chadwicks
FiveTwenty
IMG Mens
Kult
MGMT
Priscillas
Viviens
I also asked my MUA’s, friends, and fellow photographers if there’s anyone I should contact as well. And if/when they do help, let them know you appreciate that, something I still need to improve (thank you everyone ❤️).
Flexibility
You can’t be too picky, you need to have a broad amount of inspiration and references to pull from. If the weather turns, have a back up plan, if a model cancels, see if someone else you’ve been trying to tee up is free, if your make up artist calls in sick, see if your model is comfortable shooting without one. Find a way to make it work, the best way to do that, is to set creative constraints, for me those were doing most of my shoots from home. Here’s a short TED talk that talks about creative constraints.
Keep it simple
You shouldn’t need more than two lights, if you’re on location pick the time of day that’s optimum lighting, focus on the nuances of your technique, don’t try to fix everything at once.
If you struggle with lighting, switch to one light, if you’re focusing just on poses, keep the location bare, and make it about your subject, if you have a complex idea, set it aside for the end or set expectations.
Basically keep the stress to a minimum, and focus on what’s in front of you.
Communication
This is more than just giving encouragement, it’s finding ways to connect, common ground, and above all understanding what it is they are trying to achieve with the work, and working with them to get that.
Giving Direction
I was fortunate to work with Rosie Daly a number of times this year, Rosie is a scout and an editor for Models.com. Working with models, or potential models when it’s their first shoot can be fairly difficult. They don’t necessarily know what to do.
What I would recommend is showing some BTS videos, or casting videos of models posing in front of the camera. Stuff that’s bare bones, and simple. As well as a few poses you can show models.
It’s going to change as well, get to know the model you’re working with, and what they want, and being able to work with them to achieve that will mean you’ll both get better images. Lean into that. I have found a few times that they’re not sure what it is they want either, which makes it difficult to figure out as well, give them time to figure that out, talk about different images, and maybe take a break. Many of my shoots have begun with a 20 minute chat, and a coffee.
Editing
This is a tough one, because I learnt a lot, I would say invest a good amount of time into refining your shots based on your shoots inspiration. That can be broken down into two parts: colour and retouching. I would ask for help, I would look for it too. This year I purchased a few really great courses from RGG EDU and watched countless hours of things like F Stoppers, and Marcin Mirkus, and PiXimperfect.
Duty of Care
Duty of care when I hadn’t met or worked with models before helps build trust, and lets them set their own boundaries. I think right now it’s extremely important, allow them space, time, privacy and the option to bring a friend, and let them know that before you shoot. The unfortunate reality is many models have had bad experiences with photographers. No one is going to assume you’re a good one unless you make it clear that they are in control.
