On 27 April 2012 22:21, Walt Gilbert <[email protected]> wrote: > On 4/27/2012 7:15 AM, Bruce Walker wrote: >> >> On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 9:12 PM, Walt Gilbert<[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> On 4/26/2012 7:23 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: >>>> >>>> Practicing my retouching. Getting quicker now ... >>>> >>>> http://www.flickr.com/bruce_m_walker/7116760695/lightbox/ >>>> >>>> K20D, DA* 50-135/2.8 @ 50mm, f/8, 125th, ISO 100 >>>> Two Elinchrom BX500 RI strobes with 24” softboxes >>>> >>>> Model: Katelin Popiel >>>> >>>> -- >>>> -bmw >>>> >>> Rawrrrr indeed! >>> >>> Great shot, Bruce! >>> >>> I know a young lady who's the spitting image of that model, and I've been >>> pestering her to let me take photos of her for about a year now. She's >>> only >>> 19 and gets hit on a lot by older men, so I figure that's the biggest >>> obstacle I have to overcome aside from the fact that I suspect she >>> doesn't >>> really know how serious a pursuit photography is for me. >>> >>> Maybe in a couple of years. >>> >>> -- Walt >> >> Thank you! >> >> >> Walt, my advice fwiw: don't expend energy trying to persuade reluctant >> folks to sit for you. Once you discover that there are people who will >> crawl over broken glass to have you photograph them, you'll forget all >> about the reticent ones. >> >> Even if you manage to sweet talk or bribe a reluctant or shy person >> into posing, unless you are lucky (or very skilled) their discomfort, >> even mild, will show in the pictures you get. >> >> Put the word out through your family and friends that you're looking >> for willing portraiture subjects, and that you'll give them shots in >> return. Tell them to ask their friends and family. Mention that you >> need help and practice -- people like to help. >> >> Walt, what city are you in? I can do a quick search on Model Mayhem for >> you. >> >> Once you have a bit of a portfolio, show that to people. You'll get >> more positive responses once you can actually show folks what you can >> do. >> >> -- >> -bmw >> > Thanks, Bruce -- for the advice and the offer to help out in finding models. > > I'm in a bit of a sticky situation in that regard, living in a town of about > 350 people, and the biggest town within reasonable driving distance being > about 35,000 (Paducah, Kentucky). Though, despite the lack of a big > population center, I don't really have that much trouble finding people to > pose for me. In fact, I constantly have people asking me if I'll take > pictures of their daughters/sons/grandkids, etc. The biggest challenge is > getting people to follow up after they ask me. I've come to the conclusion > that, for a lot of people, when they find out you're a photographer, they > just like to say things like that as a means of small-talk. > > Normally, when someone asks me to do something like that, I stipulate that > I'm not by any means a pro photographer with a studio and lighting and > backdrops. At that point, they say, "Oh, I don't care about that! I'm sure > you'd do a great job!" Then, they never bother contacting me about it. > > Which is really OK with me, to be honest. Whenever I try to talk someone > into posing for me (like the young lady I mentioned), I'm looking to take > very casual portraits. I manage to get decent results whenever I do it > completely impromptu -- even when they're shy or reluctant. I just try to > catch them in unguarded moments. (I'm not quite sure I'd be all that > comfortable in a formal "sitting" situation, myself.) > > I guess my approach could be best described as getting someone to simply be > somewhere (or tell me where they're going to be), let them just do what they > do and be who they are, and tell them to just try to ignore me -- or at > least pretend I'm not there. That's why I like to shoot at gatherings and > events. I just love capturing candid moments, and I'm pretty good at putting > people at ease once I've had a chance to mingle and blend in.
Your comfort in working with people on "formal" shoots will only come with practice. I used to be a nervous wreck, now, not so much. I suggest instead of waiting for people to get in touch with you, you get their details when they say they're interested & follow up. DS -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
