on non model models.

when i first started shooting I worked with regular people. Friends, neighbours, girls i was dating and found the results pretty much showed that. while i miss working with continuous light i don’t miss the awkward over modelling most non models do. It’s and odd fact that non models generally model more when they pose for you than more experienced models. the finer the model, the less she relies on dramatics, more on subtle variation.

So I went to see Miss Singer dance the succubus at Conventia De Mentia a few weeks ago, got loaded up on jack daniels and pilsner and acted like a total rockstar asshole sending people off to bring me one of the dancers that caught my eye. Fortunately I had enough jack in me to pull off the swagger, and probably more fortunate I had doug’s (my new assistant :P) iphone to show her my work. I’ve learnt if the work is good enough you can probably get away with more than you should. so we exchanged contact info.

we set up our first shoot and when she got there it was strange to see her not covered in makeup and feathers and tribal dancing in the dark but I still had the sense it would work out. your gut can screw you or save you and without realizing it you refine your eye over time for what sorts of people can pull off your mood. this new girl, nikki, might not be a conventional beauty in the high fashion sense of the term, but she’s got a very open energy and moves with some grace. That often can be far more important than entirely perfect beauty.

we all have oddities in our physical makeup. my lower jaw is way too big for my face, and almost every model I’ve worked with (being mostly amateur models) has something thats not quite there. thats the difference between photos and video work I think. We can shoot around small flaws. light them, frame them, or abstract them out of the way. Video makes that much harder to do.

But, then, really I’ve never been much about perfection or conventional beauty anyways. I think every woman has beauty in her given the patience to wait for her to trust you with it.

so we had our first shoot and surprisingly it took very little time to get into a flow. My intuition about her movement paid off in getting poses from her (Sometimes mid movement) that i’m unable to get from more established models. I’m concerned this success may turn me into creeper guy in the bar handing out cards and “talent” scouting but I will try to keep that under control as best I can. It would be nice to break out of the modelling scene with all it’s politics and dramas and there are so many fantastically beautiful women out there..

if there’s a moral to the story, and i hate morals, it’s to trust your gut and take some chances. sometimes it works out for you, and when it doesn’t.. well, you lose a few hours of your life. big deal.