Pixiq

When it come to photographing glamour models there is no one way, or “my way or the highway” approach.

It's all about Communication, really. Communicating with your models is the single most important aspect of glamour photography. That must be why the first question photographers ask me about working with nude models is how to talk to them. These shooters want to know the best way to communicate honestly and effectively so that the models will pose comfortably and with assurance.

I once participated in a shoot alongside two famous glamour photographers and was struck by the differences between how each of us worked and our approach to working with the model during the session. One guy talked to the model before they did anything but once they started shooting never said another word. Since he had already told her what he wanted, after each exposure, he made a small grunting sound that was her signal to move onto the next pose they had pre-planned. The other photographer was a deliberate shooter who, during the shoot, gave her specific directions to the quarter-of-an-inch of a pinkie pose placement (say that fast three times) and wouldn’t make any image until he thought his composition and her pose was perfect.

If there is any one secret to how to talk to a naked model, it’s to listen to their suggestions although you don’t have to take them but always stay in control of the shoot. If the model takes over the shoot, no matter how well intentioned they may be, it’s no longer your session. Glamour photography is collaborative. You need to take the best of your talents and the best of hers have them form a synergy that makes the sum greater than the parts. The most important thing to remember during the entire process is to treat models with the highest ethical and professional standards. It will make your photographs better and your legal bills non-existent. To do that you need to be polite, friendly, fun and above all respectful and ethical in everything you do.

I talk to every model differently. It’s our job as photographers to find the best way of working with the model that makes her comfortable. Sometimes I’m a goofball—OK, maybe a lot of the time—and other times, depending on the specific model’s experience level, I’m quiet and just shoot.

She Didn’t Break my Heart but I Broke my Lens. I was using two camera bodies while photographing a model on a movie set in Arizona,. A Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN had a Canon EF 28-105mm zoom attached mounted, while a EOS D60 (not a 60D) has a EF 135 f/2.8 soft focus lens attached. I set the D60 down on a table behind me and while composing the below image. While moving backwards, I backed into the table, knocking the camera onto the hardwood floor. All I heard was the sound of breaking glass and assumed I‘d knocked one of the ceramic figurine om the table onto the floor. I turned around to see the camera and lens on the floor. The lens remained mounted to the camera but was broken in three places like a twig. Believe it or not, I later sold the broken lens, as-is, on eBay.

Joe is author of the new book, "Joe Farace's Glamour Photography" published by  Amherst Media and available from many bookstores including Amazon.com.