A Model Assignment

A couple of weeks ago, before my Ottawa 67′s workshop with Harry Nowell, Harry sent out a request for models for one of his other photography classes. Luckily the requirements were minimal – human and breathing were the essentials – so I thought I might volunteer. It would give me a chance to meet Harry before my workshop, and get a feel for what he was teaching his students. It would also give me some appreciation for what models actually have to go through. This, of course, is a topic worthy of its own web site, but I figured I might learn from the students – either how to properly “engage” the model, or perhaps how not to do so. Anyways, worst-case scenario is that  I would likely get some photographs that I could use for my web sites, since sitting in front of my own camera and doing self-portraits isn’t really my style.

So off I went on a Sunday afternoon to the National Gallery in Ottawa, which would provide sufficiently interesting backdrops for a range of pictures. There were four sets of models – two couples (one of them with changes of clothing and everything), one family (mom, dad, and THREE kids under 6), and me. There were three pairs of photographer-students, and one single. The idea was that each photographer set would have a  half-hour session with each model set. The photographers were told to break the ice with conversation about what kind of photograph I was looking for, and then to engage in small talk to relax me and make the session easier on everyone. With all three pairs of photographers, there was a dominant one, and most of them did a reasonable job of quizzing me and making small talk without it sounding too much like small talk. All the photographers did a reasonable job with basic positioning and posing, but none of them moved much past that. In fact, I did most of the work for one couple. Since it was an available light exercise, the photographers needed to be able to position me so that the light was reasonably correct, at least avoiding obvious dark spots and shadows. They all needed to pay more attention to this, as many of the pictures were flawed with poor lighting. In their defense, this is what they were supposed to be learning, of course, and part of the learning process is to make mistakes, see them, and fix them. Taking portraits like we did is a HUGE challenge, since the photographer needs to direct the model, watch the light, and get the pictures. It can be (and was) overwhelming for some.

When I received the images from the shoot, it was interesting to review the presentation package. There were no specific rules to follow, but the deal was that I would get some photos for my time. Most of the photographers processed their images and gave me the best of  their work, in various sizes of JPG’s on a CD. One CD, however, contained over 100 raw images – basically a camera dump containing every shot – bad ones and all. At the other end of the scale, one CD was imprinted with one of the photos – a very nice touch – and had a nice handwritten thank-you note on the sleeve. When you see something like that, you just know you are going to like the photos.

So all in all, it was a very interesting experience. I learned a lot about how photographers should (and should not) treat models. And I got some very nice photos in return. Thanks to Harry and all the photographers for their efforts.