Today’s Post by Joe Farace
There is more to photographing models than just taking pictures. There’s a whole lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes and for the next few weeks—on weekends—I’ll be sharing some of the realities of photographing models with the hopes that some of the information gleaned from these posts will help make your next shoot more pleasant. Lets start with what, for some of us, is one of the most contentious issues…
…chaperones, escorts, & other hangers on. I’ve found that having extraneous people at a model shoot can be a problem especially when dealing with new or models found through the Internet. But I’ve also encountered it with models who were referred to me by other photographers and never bothered to mention these unexpected guests but maybe it never happened to them.
When initially communicating with a new model, I always ask them to check my references with other models I’ve worked with before. I understand having someone accompany them to the session may provide an element of security but if the models do their homework there is nothing to be concerned about.
The bottom line is that every time I’ve had a model bring an escort to a shoot, the images created are mostly useless because, with rare exceptions, the models play to that person and not the photographer. If the photographs are going to suck, why even bother to have a shoot? The answer to that question is coming up in the next part of this series but here’s a hint: For far too many models don’t care what the pictures will look like, other than those of Benjamin Franklin.
About this Photograph: Truly professional models, such as Pam Simpson, do their homework before shooting with a new photographer, They check his/her bonifides with other models, look at the shooter’s website—for some reason many models never do this—and check around the Web for any comments about the photographer. These models don’t bring a chaperone because they know that adding another person to the shoot changes the dynamics between photographer and the model and having that additional person on site always produces inferior photographs, which is something they don’t want.
Photographers that have standalone studios seem to have a better arrangement when it comes to escorts. They can have the chaperone sit in a waiting room reading People or watching Oprah. I have a home studio and have had an escort get into a physical altercation with the model with her throwing things at him (not me) and in the process destroying a coffee table in my living room. It was a paid shoot but what they paid me did not cover the cost of replacing the furniture. My wife was not amused. And it’s not just boyfriends. I had another model get into a fight with her girlfriend and they rolled around on the floor kicking and punching one another. She later sent me an e-mail apologizing but the shoot was a train wreck as you might imagine.
When I worked with agencies in the past, the models sent usually would not bring an escort but it happens. One model brought her brother and another her Mom and yet another her boyfriend and none of those shoots produced a single usable photograph. At a shoot with a model who was recommended to me by another photographer, the model brought her sister, her mother along her father and his new wife. All of these people jammed themselves into my 11×15-foot studio and all of them were talking to the model at the same time while I was trying to photograph her. My requests for them to be quiet were ignored. The pictures weren’t horrible but they were not as good as they might have been.
What Have We Learned Today: All of the above experiences have taught me why I think it’s important for photographers to establish their own chaperone policy and stick with it, keeping in mind that a “no escorts” rule could mean fewer available models. For me, the question of bringing an escort is a deal breaker but you have to make your own decision.
Every model shoot is different and the conditions they’re made under can have an effect on whether escorts and even a model’s pets might be allowed or not. Yes, one model wanted to bring her cats along with her, yes “cats” plural. Don’t let anybody change your mind about what you might think is right on this issue because everybody’s circumstances are different and what’s right for me, might not work for you.
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My book Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography with new copies available from Amazon for $34.95, as I write this. Used copies are starting at the hard-to-beat price price around nine bucks and the Kindle version is $19.99 for those who prefer a digital format.