Photography 101 - Approaching Models (Patreon)

Last week we covered how to find models, along with some of the major pitfalls to watch out for when shooting nude photography. This week, I’m going to talk about how to approach models in different settings for boudoir or nude work.

In Person

Be very aware of your self-image when approaching someone in person. It is important that you are clean, polite, and that you maintain a proper personal space bubble when speaking to someone and asking them about nude modeling. Here is how a typical conversation should go:

“Excuse me” (wait for their response) “I’m a photographer and I am always on the lookout for new people to work with. I was wondering if you might be interested in modeling for me sometime? I’d love to show you some of my work and see if it’s for you!”

If they say no thank you or any form of no, DROP IT IMMEDIATELY. Thank them for their time, and walk away. Do not ever push someone to shoot if they do not say yes. You are wasting both your time and theirs, and are probably really creeping them out.

If they agree, show them your work, it is best to show them work that is similar to what you are hoping to shoot. If you are showing them nude work, let them know before showing them that it is nude before showing them and ask them if that is alright. You never want to wind up on a sex offender registry just because you wanted to ask someone an innocent question.

Once they have had a chance to have a look, ask them if they would want to shoot something similar and make sure you say that nudity will be involved. In person, you can expect one of three things to happen.

• You will get an enthusiastic yes! Ask them for their social media handle, and then expect there is a decent possibility you will be blocked because they felt pressured to be polite and said yes out of embarrassment. On the other hand, they may come work with you, awesome, well done! Be sure when you get this response to play it cool; remember that to you this should be an everyday occurrence to you, and if you act surprised it may seem that you are too excited to see them nude.
• You will get a “not for me” type of answer. At this point, thank them for their time and walk away.
• You will get a “maybe, let me think about it.” The vast majority of the time, this is basically “no.” It is common in western society to be polite rather than give someone an honest answer if it’s a negative. Just say thank you, get their information, but don’t get your hopes up.

What not to do. The number one thing you should never do when approaching someone, in person or online, is to start a normal conversation. You absolutely positively should not make any form of smalltalk. This is essentially a form of deception by hiding your ultimate goal and you’ll find you waste both of your times far more often than actually lulling someone into a sense of security with normal conversation. Just don’t do it. Walk up, state your intention up front, and see how things go. Expect a lot of no’s, and just practice asking anyone who is not a captive audience. This means no cashiers, or any employee who is being forced to interact with you.

On Model Mayhem

Model Mayhem is a platform dedicated to modeling. Basically everyone who is there as a model is there to model and you can skip many of the explanative steps. Simply state your name, when you are looking to shoot, and refer them to some work that is similar to what you are trying to achieve. You’ll either need to have a VIP account to message people, or you will need to add them as a friend and wait for them to accept. Do not try reaching out to people through tags or comments. It is spammy and unprofessional. Models on here will often be more understanding of beginners, so if you don’t know what something means that they are asking you, don’t be afraid to admit it.

On social media - facebook, instagram, twitter, etc.

Once you are established, this method will be your best bet. Many people who are somewhat new to modeling, but wanting to model more will be eager to shoot, and will not yet have modelmayhem accounts. Just write something similar to the original message in “Finding Models Pt. 1”

“Hi [Model Name], I’m [your name] and I’m a [type of photography] photographer and I was wondering if you would be interested in working with me? You can see my previous work here: [link to previous work]”

You can approach anyone with this, many people will tell you they aren’t models or that they don’t know how to model, or that they’ve never modeled before. These people are often interested, you just need to let them know that you understand and are comfortable with directing people how to model. In these cases it will be up to you to handle all of the details. Clothes, makeup, poses, expressions. It is a lot more work to shoot with an amateur, but if you become skilled at it, it can be a very rewarding experience. 

Remember you can apply these skills in approaching people to any situation you find yourself in. Just do not to bother people who do not wish to be bothered. This would be people working out in gyms, cashiers, and any captive audience.