Need Help!!! Oh and I'm back I guess!

[Canon Fan]

Wow I haven't been here in awhile! Sorry been REALLY busy.

It's kind of alot, and fairly vague but please bear with me. There is a girl that works at the same company as I do and she posted an ad on our internal want-ads for a photographer. She is looking to get into modeling as a second job. Mainly just local small-ish type stuff, but does not have (or ever had or done) a portfolio and many of the businesses are asking to see it. So far she has only done very small promo work on location (like an assistant for selling products and trial handouts ect.) and has absolutely NO EXPERIENCE with any other type of modeling. I offered to make the trade deal with her (I'll shoot for free if I can use the pics in my portfolio as well) and obviously she greatfully accepted. The other problem though is that she is relly not sure what type of modeling she will be looking for. Basically I guess she will take whatever she can get. Here are some of the things I first noticed . . .

1. Her physique is somewhat plump. I DO NOT mean fat, just a little more round-ish and very top-heavy (trying not to offend here) and not a twig. Fairly proportionate otherwise, though a little short.

2. Almost pastey complextion with LOTS of small freckles and a red chin( Make-up and lighting I would assume are critical to helping this) Pretty good facial symmetry otherwise.

3. Nice dark brown eyes but overshadowed by highlight/streaks in her hair (brown hair/very bright almost white highlights with redish tint streaks) Obviously that can change also.

4. Has very little idea of what she needs or wants so long as the end results look professional.

My questions . . .

1. Where is a good place to start with this? She did manage to state that she would like some headshots as well as full body. Normal portrait type as well as possibly some Glamour type.

2. Is there any one certain thing that this (albiet very vague) body type is well suited for?

3. Should I simply try to emulate some advertising that I have seen and/or advise her to look for examples of the same as a starting point?

4. If the pictures are copyrighted by me, and then I grant her rights to show them in a portfolio will this cause conflicts?

5. Are outdoor shots OK for this or will it need to be strictly indoors in a controlled environment?

All of the pics will be from my Canon 10D. I do not have a lighting rig or lighting equip other than my external flash (Quantaray QTB-7500A which by the way for some reason does not work TTL with the 10D) and various "home made" tungsten lights. I can get reflectors and scrims pretty easy but have no $$$ for new studio lights or flashes right now. I have crummy lenses (Canon 80-200mm EF f:4.5-5.6 II and a Sigma 24-70mm f:3.5-5.6 HF Aspherical) I will have a Canon 50 1.4 Prime by then but I don't really think it would work well for this (am I wrong?)

Any direction in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance - Ben

 

[LizM]

Hiya Canon!

Ok, I can speak on the "plump" thing as I'm not exactly a twig myself.

Shoot her at a slight angle. NO direct front or complete side shots! And clothing should be fitted. Believe it or not loose floppy clothing makes things MUCH worse! Almost sleeveless shirts tend to flatter and help even out the figure too.

Try B&W for the complexion and use a filter to soften. Indirect light can be a big help too, anything to soften the features. Set her next to a window and cover the window with a cheap white window shade. On the makeup, that's her call but she'll have to figure that out eventually anyway if she wants to model.

Outdoors is fine but do some indoors too. If there is a botanical gardens near you that is a great location shoot!

On the rights just grant her the rights to use them for publicity of herself but not the right to duplicate them. Not really a big deal.

Hope that made some sense!!!

~LizM

 

[rangefinder]

I'd also suggest some natural outdoor portraiture. You can get the head shots this way and hopefully with a minimum of equipment. You can also get some full length. Now you have something you both can look at and evaluate before making big promises that maybe neither of you can deliver.

Equipment wise you should be OK. You need some shots of her to determine if she is going to be pleased with the results. If the results show promise then press on.

Side note here: I needed to do some quick product shots. I didn't have lights so I decided to do them outside on a sunny day. Nope, that didn't work, light was too harsh.

My wife suggested a bed sheet. So we got a fitted white twin sheet and I made a PVC frame to fit. A bit crude but it worked. When done the bed sheet was folded and the PVC frame was taken appart. 10 minutes to set up and take down. I've even used it for some outdoor portraits and it works fine.

 

[Galaxy_Stranger]

I would go to whomever she's giving these fotos to and find out from them EXACTLY what it is they want. There are industry standards for thier needs. The last thing you want is to shoot a bunch of material to find out they don't want it.

You can also rent lighting equipment for studio work. I might even check around for any books on this particular subject. But make sure of the subject of the book before you spend cash on it. I once bought a book on glamor photography. I learned TONS from it, but it wasn't what I had expected. It wasn't a HOW-TO book; it was more to get into the photographer's head on what was being accomplished with a few technical notes.

 

[Canon Fan]

Thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated. On the "fitted sheet" note, heh! I consider myself a guru of "what works" and that sounds like an excelent idea. I mean it's like 25$ compared to a couple hundred $$$ for something I may not use for several years again!

I'll have to keep the idea of the "angles" in the front of my mind on this.

Thanks again everyone - Ben

 

[LizM]

Hey Canon,
I was hunting a new image hosting site and came across several "model portfolios". Thought they might give you some ideas.

http://www.dpportfolio.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=photo&file=index