I want to be a model!! What does it take??



Model: Lindsay Post

 Disclaimer: The picture above is inserted for page appeal only. No comments or opinions shared in this blog are related to any particular model. This article is simply a generic viewpoint of what I feel separates a good model from a bad one.

    " I want to get into modeling, what do you look for when choosing for a project"?  This is a question I have been asked MANY times, so I felt this would be a good subject matter for this segment. For starters I will simply state: It takes more than just a pretty face! The client/magazine many times wants a certain look, and of course my personal concept images require specifics as well. Since this is my article, my opinions are based on my shoot style and the realization that some types of modeling do not apply. But we are going to attack this subject in a general way with principals for ALL models.

   As we all know, there are many levels of modeling from TFP portfolio building on up to the almighty tear sheet or paid shoot. I feel that experience is key! Practice makes perfect right? Yes... but only if you are learning and evolving through your journey. Does it take a pretty/marketable look? YES! Does it take perfection? NO!  Let's not forget... a good shooter will make you look even better.

   Confidence:  A good model will be confident and outgoing. She should already know what she has committed to shoot and be 100% comfy doing it. That means outfit as well as location. There is no time or place for shy when it is shoot time.  Let's face it... a stiff and timid model will project it through her images, and a photographer can only capture what is there! A reputable photog is NOT interested in seeing you in a sexy outfit, but is moreso after a pic that captivates an audience inspiring multiple views. (Be choosy with your photogs... there are alot of dirtbags out there!)

   Presentation: A good model KNOWS her strengths and weaknesses. Since nobodys perfect.... work what you've got! The way you "present" for the camera can greatly decide how good you'll look in the final outcome, especially if the shooter uses angles that will help you. Here's an example: Some gals look best from a profile with their body because their hips may be wide but their back side is lifted nicely. Then there's the size differences up top. What's your best quality? Use it?

   Posing: Don't be afraid to move around! With good photographer direction, you can move around and still present your best for the camera. Stiff and straight equals boring and bland! You need a variety of poses standing, crouching, leaning, laying, crawling etc. Spend time in front of a large mirror practicing even if it feels silly. A photographer shouldn't have to instruct you through every pose, but simply give input and moderate direction. Again.... no straight limbs or hidden limbs if possible. Use those arms, touch your hair, face and hips for that "complete" look in your photo. This takes confidence to do effectively. I once had a "model" chosen by the client show up for a shoot. She had a very pretty face, but the first thing she asked after discussing the shot was: "So, how do you want me?" That's the last thing an experienced model asks. Sadly, her images didn't reach their full potential. Work your environment, and your shooter will automatically offer direction.

   Prepare personally: There aren't always hair and makeup artists available, so you need to be savvy putting yourself together at times. Read magazines and pay attention to the latest looks. You can learn much from studying various magazines, advertisements and images. Experiment with makeup! Practice makes perfect right? Think about details... even the little ones. 99% of the time fake eyelashes look best to draw attention to the eyes in my opinion. Accessorizing is also a must. Think about a complete look including neck, ears, wrist and nails. It's not fun or easy having to paint nails with photoshop because they weren't addressed LOL.

    Discipline:  " I look fat in my pictures"! Yep, I've heard that one before. Don't forget, a photographer can only do so much, the rest is up to you! If you want lean lines, prep for your shoot a month out with proper diet and exercise. You will only get from your shoot what you put in. In professional settings I have seen models sent home for showing up 10 lbs heavier than what they advertise themselves at. But hey...variety is an awesome thing! If your look is more curvy and your good with that, so am I! Just don't complain later haha.

   Expressions: Again...variety. The "deer in the headlights" look just isn't marketable. Don't end up with a portfolio full of different outfits but same faces. Practice with turned heads, eyes on camera, looking away, closed eyes, happy face, angry face, sultry face etc. You get the idea.

   Well there it is, a basic rundown from my personal point of view and shoot style. I'm fully aware that private sessions with new or non-models require lots of input from me. I certainly enjoy that aspect of private shoots, so don't let this write up place unnecessary pressure on you. But if you wish to pursue modeling.... these are common subjects shared by the pro's.

   Thanks for stopping by! And until next time....
~Tommy Post

  

Skin editing like the pro's!

    At some point EVERY photographer browses around for tips and ideas for better skin editing. We all know that nobody is perfect, and we also realize that certain types of lighting can exaggerate imperfections in the skin. To really make your images stand out, good skin editing is an absolute MUST. Of course like all things... there's more than one way to "skin a cat" LOL, but the same goal is shared by all for skin perfection especially in magazine/commercial imagery. Today... I'm sharing my way ;)

    To begin with, even mid level editing programs can accomplish the task as long as layers are used properly. This image was done with an old version of Photoshop Elements 7. LAYERS ARE THE LAW... so practice using them daily so that you are comfortable with them and their capabilities. For me, I am after smooth skin with no wrinkles, crows feet or large blemishes. There's a fine line that's easy to cross when editing that yields fake looking results... so don't over do it! Over doing it with the blur or liquify tools can make plastic looking results that are not always the most marketable, so I try to maintain realism when editing.

    The first thing I do is grab my "clone stamp" tool and set it with a small soft brush. I usually set the strength somewhere around 65% and go looking for large moles, birth marks, blemishes and dark circles etc. Sample the skin very close to the repair spots to maintain tonality and contour. Small blemishes are easy to cover, but be careful around the eyes! It's cool to lighten the lower lids, but don't fully remove them. If too much is removed, the face will end up all the same skin tone and end up looking like a flat china mask face. The same principal applies to the cheek bones! The face is 3 dimensional and the only thing that reflects that in an image is shadows and highlights.... so preserve those contours.

    After I have achieved a good "base canvas", I make a duplicate layer of the subject. Now that you have 2 layers, shut off visibility on the top copy and select the lower copy. Here's where it gets tricky and requires finesse. Select "gaussian blur" for your lower layer and apply.  The goal is to look at your preview window when deciding how much blur to apply. Watch the areas of the face like cheek bones and eyes and increase blur ONLY until the cracks and wrinkles fully smooth, but not so much that the shadows and highlights melt together and flatten out. YOU must decide how much.... but for me it's usually around 2.2-3.5 %!  Wait a minute.... all the pores are gone and the skin looks plastic! No worries... pores can be created! Now select "add noise" and apply a small percentage of digital noise to that layer. Basically you end up with a blurry image with little tiny dots all over it. Ready for the final step?

    Now make the un-blurred top layer visible! Your image is back to normal crows feet and all... and now it's time to go for the gold. Select your eraser tool with a soft brush and set it around 75%. You'll need your brush size to be about the size of a dime on the face but being careful not to touch things like eyes or hair edges. Now start to erase parts of the face on that top layer, revealing the blurred and spotted layer below. GO SLOW and do a little at a time only where you need it! That lower layer bleeding through will look like flawless skin with pores and all. Make sure you use that soft brush though because you want a gradual blend of skin!

     Well there it basically is.... skin editing like the pro's do! What are you waiting for, get busy experimenting! Practice makes perfect ;) Until next time, keep on shooting!

~Tommy Post
tommypost@yahoo.com

The "good's and bad's" for manual camera adjustments!

Model: Lindsay Post

    Have you ever taken a photo in Manual Mode just to have it turn out too dark... too bright.... or motion blurred? Hmmmm.... can it be fixed? How does one camera adjustment affect another, and how can I use these effects to my advantage?

     Shooting in Manual Mode can sometimes be an intimidating thing to someone new to the art because the settings you choose must be specific to what you're trying to capture in your image. Let's see... there's "Aperture", "White Balance", "ISO" and "Shutter Speed". That's only four adjustments, how hard can it be? It is indeed only four settings, but the tough part is that each time you change an adjustment it will affect another element of your image, and may very well need to be compensated for through yet another adjustment. Yes it's a very delicate balancing act to not only make your Manual settings achieve correct exposure, but also to capture things like depth of field or motion.

    There is no secret formula for a perfect photo because so many factors are present in each scenario. Basically... no two shoots are the same more or less. I know I know... studio shoots at your local department store are all the same, but let's forget about that for now and talk about real world location shooting.  Many photographers have their own way of deciding what settings they will choose for the shot, and today I will be sharing mine as well as outlining how each adjustment can affect another in Manual Mode shooting.

    The very first thing I do is set my White Balance. I can play around with many different settings for different results but do NOT want to end up with a poorly color tinted image.
    The second adjustment I make is ISO. Whether I'm shooting with strobes or natural light, my goal is to shoot with the lowest ISO setting my scenario will allow.
    The third and fourth things are tied for importance. Aperture may be the priority or shutter speed may be the priority. My shoot decides which is the most important in my Manual camera adjustment. Obviously the lesser is last on my list for adjustment priority. In all fairness, sometimes I set my baseline adjustments but still have to revisit something after my shoot begins.

    As I mentioned, there's no secret formula... so here's my personal take on the "good's and bad's" of each Manual Camera Adjustment. Hopefully it will shed light on how each adjustment can affect another.

White Balance -  There is no BAD. Pick the right one and the shot will be colored correctly.

High ISO -  Good's:  High ISO can increase the camera's ability to shoot in low light.
                   Bad's: Higher ISO settings can result in digital noise (grainey image) or over exposure.
                   Alternative:  A slower shutter speed will brighten the image correcting under
                   exposure.
                   A lower (f-stop) Aperture can brighten the image correcting under
                   exposure.
    
Low ISO -  Good's: Low ISO will yield a crisper image if your shutter speed is fast enough.
                   Bad's: Low ISO may result in an under exposed image in low light and a fast shutter.
                   Compensation: A slower shutter speed will brighten the image correcting  under exposure.                     A lower f-stop will brighten the image correcting under exposure.

High F-Stop - Good's: More elements of your photo will be in focus for a sharp subject and background.
                      Bad's: A high f-stop may result in a darker under exposed image (can be used to reduce
                      exposure).
                      Compensation: A slower shutter speed will brighten the image correcting  under exposure.
                      A higher ISO will brighten the image correcting  under exposure.

Low f-stop - Good's: Will provide blurred backgrounds and will brighten an image in lower light.
                     Bad's: May over expose your image or reduce detail in your backgrounds.
                     Compensation: A lower ISO will darken  the image correcting  over exposure.
                     A faster shutter speed will darken the image correcting  over exposure.

Slow Shutter Speed - Good's: A slow shutter will allow more light for the  image in a dark shoot scenario.
                                  Bad's: A slow shutter will cause a motion blur for any movement in the image.
                                  Compensation: Raise ISO to allow for a faster shutter speed. Lower your f-stop to
                                  allow for a faster shutter speed.

Fast Shutter Speed - Good's: Will capture motion in your photo providing a crisp image.
                                 Bad's: May result in a darker under exposed image.
                                 Compensation: Raise ISO or lower Aperture (f-stop)  for lighter exposure.

  The scenarios for Manual camera shooting are endless. I realize that there are still many factors that I haven't touched on, but at least you can grasp the basics from what I have outlined here.  The best advice I can give is....EXPERIMENT! That is how you will learn the most! Oh... and keep a log book documenting your settings. That way you will have a reference for future shoots.

   Post your questions below if you have them. Until next time....keep on shooting!!

~Tommy Post

Readers submission. What settings did he use?

Photographer: Mike Barker

    Geed evening everybody! Tonight I'm going to break away from the intensive training articles and take a moment to feature one of my readers submitted photos. Now the deal is.... I have to guess what camera settings he used for the shot! Do I expect to get it 100% correct? Probably not, but I expect to be close LOL!  Even if I am not dead on, my guess WILL produce this effect. But before I begin.... an introduction.
     The photographer that sent this in is named Mike Barker, and he is based in Greenwood, Indiana. Mike has been shooting for about 22 years and absolutely loves what he does. I have been acquainted with Mike for maybe a year now and I am compelled to give him a personal honorable mention on his work. When I went back to look at his portfolio recently, I couldn't help but notice big improvement in his imagery. Mike has always been capable of delivering a good shot, but I just felt like there is a little extra something in his latest work.
     The image above has something that many want in their shots... a blurred background. This technique is used when the photographer wishes for ALL the attention to go to the subject. In some cases the blurring can be even more dramatic making the background entirely unimportant (except for color). We will discuss this further when I go deeper into "aperture" and it's effects.
   Time to put it on the line and go for it. Mike.... I won't mind a bit if you comment below and reveal your settings for everyone. Let's do it...
     Based in the depth of field (blur in back and in front).... I'm going with a super low f-stop! My guess is a nifty 50 f1.4 or f1.8 lense. The distance from her face to her feet (which are blurred) is only a few feet, so I know that a f/3.5 kit lense won't do it. I'm going with an f/1.8!
    Next.... based on the crispness of the shot, the shutter speed I'm guessing is 1/125 to 1/200. She is holding her pose so technically you could go a bit slower with the shutter especially if using a tripod. Slower shutter speeds however will detect ANY movement with the model or the photographer, resulting in a slightly motion blurred image.
    I'm guessing an ISO of  400. I was going to guess a higher ISO but I noticed the background is a bit darker.  Now there's lighting. Based on the side lighting of the face, I have to figure that all lighting was produced off camera. Not 100% certain about the source, but I'm not feeling that a flash was used but rather something continuous like a lamp.
    That's it Mike.... how close did I get?
Thank you all for joining me for a little fun tonight. In a day or two, I will be outlining the "goods and bads" for each manual camera adjustment... and will be describing how each one affects another. Until then KEEP SHOOTING!

~Tommy Post

White balance? Why are my pictures orange??

   Welcome back everyone for my final segment on basic manual camera adjustments. We have covered the vitals in my previous posts leaving a real easy one.... White Balance.
    Have you ever snapped the perfect picture set, and then got home to see it big on your computer only to realize.... crap, they are all orange (or another shade)?? The problem had a very easy solution... set your white balance! White balance is much like being colored blind! The camera isn't as complex as the human eye, so we must tell it what proper color is.
    Light has many temperature levels ranging from cool to hot. If the camera is set for a cool range when the pic is intended to be warm... well... you get what you get! Everything is hinging upon what light source you are using to illuminate your subject. Let's see, you have direct sun light, shade, cloud cover, tungsten bulbs indoor (good ol' fashioned Thomas Edison bulbs), fluorescent lights (like an industrial building or garage) and FLASH.
     Look on the back of your camera for a button labeled WB. In any manual mode or priority mode you can push this and adjust for your lighting. Did you push it? You will see the light scenarios that I mentioned above as well as AWB and Custom WB. We won't talk about custom White Balance just yet, but we will, I promise.
     The idea when choosing the correct White Balance is just what it sounds like... to tell the camera what true white is, so that the rest of the colors in your picture have the correct hue to them. Gray Scale is another way to check/set correct color....but we will stick to white which is all that's necessary in my opinion.
   Here's an example... when shooting in warm sunlight and the WB is set to Flash, you will get an orange picture because the camera (set to flash) is trying to warm up your image even more because using a flash strips the shot of color because the light is so stark. Or you're shooting with your flash heads and your WB is set to Sunny.... you lose alot of color. That's because the camera assumes there's plenty of warm sunlight (because that's how it was set) for the pic.... but in fact, the flash heads stripped the shot of color. So... a colorless picture. The same principals apply for indoor lighting with certain bulb types. Fluorescent lights can turn your picture green if I recall.
    There's the AWB button! Automatic White Balance. It does work, somewhat.... but not perfect! So get in the habit of using and experimenting with the other settings. Photoshop offers SOME correction for a bad white balance selection much like the gels that some use on their lights. Gels cast a hue into the light changing the color temperature. If you throw a blue hue on an orange picture in Photoshop it may indeed "cool" the picture. Problem is... not all colors react well to the hue being added. It will correct SOME of the picture.... but not ALL!! Thats why you can add blue to yellow and get green, but adding blue to an off  shaded red will yield purple rather than giving the correct red that was used in the shot.
     So experiment! Try different WB settings for different light scenarios. That is a simple setting to use that gives a correctly color balanced image prior to post editing.
     Simple I know.... but here's what I use:
 Strobe flashes.... always the "flash" WB ( I will reasonably correct any of the background with PS if needed.. but my subject needs to be correct.
 Outdoors in the sun or shade.... yep... I use AWB.
 No flashes indoor with regular bulbs....tungsten.
I try not to shoot fluorescent with available room light LOL. But the setting works!
And off camera flashes (or on).... Flash setting indicated by a lightning bolt/arrow symbol.
   Stay tuned, we are just getting into the meat of things! Next up will be a segment discussing a readers submitted image and then a "goods and bads" for each manual camera adjustment.

Until next time ;)
~Tommy Post
Tommy Post Photography

Why does my camera have ISO, and what is it's purpose?

   Welcome everybody! Ready for the next step in knowing your camera and the components needed to create an image? Ready to take that thing off of "auto pilot" and grab the controls in "manual mode"? ALMOST! I know.... I have some seasoned shooters following who already are shooting manual who are probably just waiting to see if I can explain how without confusing people completely. At the bottom of each article, there's a place where you can post a question. If you don't fully grasp the message.... don't be shy and ask.
   ISO.... you've all seen it and heard of it probably. I should have taken a minute to look up on Google what "I.S.O." stands for, but these segments are being composed off the top of my head without borrowing others info. First one to comment the answer, gets a prize:)  I would guess "Image Sensor Output", but regardless... ISO is all you need to know.
    Back to the human eye... and NO I'm not an eye specialist. So if YOU are, please don't try to teach me anatomy LOL. What ISO means to me is "Optic nerve". ISO refers to the sensitivity level of your camera's sensor, which is where all the light let in through the lense gets collected. The ISO button is on the back of your camera, and if you push it in any of the manual modes (above the green rectangle on your selection dial) you will see numbers come up on your screen starting at 100 and going much higher such as 100-5600 (or higher). You can thumb your arrows left and right to highlight the ISO you want, and hit "set" in the center to save your selection.
     The numbers on the ISO chart indicate the sensitivity level of your camera's sensor as I mentioned. The low number is the least sensitive and the high numbers are most sensitive. Why?  It's obvious... if you have less light, you can compensate for it by increasing your ISO resulting in a brighter image because the sensitivity of your image sensor is now higher. If there's plenty of light for your image, you can easily go with the lowest ISO setting. The sensor doesn't need to be so sensitive if there's a reasonable amount of light hitting it.
     So... ISO can make the picture brighter or darker. Isn't that the same thing shutter speed does? Isn't that the same thing aperture changes do? Yep.... but NO!!!!!!! As I mentioned before in the aperture article, there are bi-products that are good or bad with each camera adjustment you make. With ISO, it's digital noise! The higher you go, the more noise (grainey) the picture will become. My personal goal is to use the lowest ISO setting I can get away with keeping my images crisp.
    Confusing... I know it is. But to shoot in manual mode, you MUST know what each of your settings do.
Here's an example of high ISO noise: Go into a dim room (not dark/blackened) with a cell phone that has NO flash. Just rely on the lights in the room and take a pic of yourself. Looks good on the phone, yes? Put it on the computer and look at it bigger. You will see a grainey image that really looks pretty crappy. Because there was no flash to assist, the room was not bright and the phone shoots in auto mode.... it automatically chose the ISO option to correct the low light condition. Your phone chose a high ISO which did allow an image to be captured, but it's grainey!
     90% of the time I am shooting a human subject rather than landscapes. I personally RARELY shoot higher than ISO 200. I prefer to keep the ISO lower resulting in a bit darker image sometimes... and bringing in the off-camera lighting to get my subject lit up. Photoshop (even the basic cheap programs) offers solutions that will brighten your background to a more appropriate level. I can live with a little "noise" in the background, but NOT on my model.
     Fear not!!! Soon we will be discussing everything that you'll need to know to do it like the pro's. In a couple of days I will recap all of the manual settings that we have discussed. But even better, I will list how each setting affects another as well as the "good's" and "bad's" that happen with each. But before that.... one last thing....White Balance. No worries.... that's an easy one ;)

~Tommy Post
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What is aperture? I want blurry backgrounds!

    Welcome back everybody! I took a few days off from my blog to attend to a photoshoot with a lovely young lady...for a really cool clubwear company. The project went very well, and the editing process is underway. But  I'm glad to be back here, and ready to move another step towards our goal to have you shooting in "Manual Mode"! Here we go....
    You've all heard the terms "f-stop" and "aperture" right? When I first started, I had no idea what either of those even meant! Remember how we talked about the human eye? OK.... here goes.... For starters, f-stop and aperture are one in the same, more or less. The aperture that you have your lense set at is referred to as the f-stop. Aperture is much like the dialation of your pupil! When you're in the dark, your eyes automatically dialate very large. Why? To let in as much light as possible. In bright light, your pupils are very small to let less light in so you don't damage your optic nerve. Get the idea?
     Wrap your head around this.... The larger your lense is dialated, the lower your f-stop is, and the smaller it is dialated the higher your f-stop is. Seems backwards I know, but for now just go with it. Here's a good example: When shooting indoors with average light and you don't want to use a flash, you need a very low f-stop! Somewhere between f/2.2 and f/3.5 are decent f-stop starting points for this scenario. Outdoors is quite different because there's tons of sunlight, so maybe around f/16 to f/22 are better choices.
   There are however bi-products of your aperture settings that go beyond exposure. It's called "depth of field". The more advanced shooters are ready for this, but for the beginners.... don't worry, we will be doing an exercise that will help demonstrate this effect soon. When the f-stop is very low (big dialation), the differences in depth are far more exaggerated and things in front of the subject and behind the subject may become blurred! When the f-stop is very high (small dialation), there is much better chance to have everything in the picture in relative focus regardless of depth. Either technique can produce an awesome image... just depends on what you want from the shot.
    That is quite enough to ponder and think about for now, as this is one of the more confusing subjects and most important! Your camera has a button probably on the back, and most likely labeled "AV". If you push it and hold it (in manual mode) and scroll the dial by the shutter button.... you will see this number go up and down  on your screen depending on which way you scroll the dial. Most kit lenses will show a low f-stop of 3.5, and the high f-stop is variable. Also, on your selectian dial for picture taking (where the green rectangle is) there is a setting labeled "AV". This is aperture priority mode. We will get into that soon enough. For now, just pound the info into your head so you are at least fimiliar with the terms and general effects.

       That's your lesson for today, and be sure to check in tomorrow for another tid bit ;)

~Tommy Post