Grammar of Model Portfolios
Afew days ago, a young aspiring model dropped in to my studio with her portfolio. She carried along with her a set of about 18 enlargements in an album. The pictures were nice aesthetically as well as technically and prima facie, there appeared nothing wrong with the photographer or the model. The portfolio had both indoor and outdoor pictures. She eagerly asked me how I found her portfolio. I replied that the pictures were very nice. I then asked her to shortlist the 3 best pictures from the portfolio. She marked exactly the ones which I had liked. I then told her to forget for some time that these are her pictures, and if I were to ‘give’ her 3 questions, in which serial order would she place them while viewing those 3 pictures. 1. ‘Hey, from where did you get that dress? Is it yours?’ 2.‘ Who is this girl? Is she a professional model?’ 3. ‘ Where did you shoot this? Which location?’ She waited for a moment and innocently answered, that she would first ask the question # 3 (“Where it was shot?”), then ask question #1, and later, question # 2, enquiring who the girl in the pic was, and if she was a pro model. Hearing this, I smiled and asked her, “Tell me, how do you find the success of your portfolio?” She quickly realized that the location and the dress had overpowered her face!
In this case all her pics were nice but the portfolio was not!
There are no hard and fast rules in shooting a model portfolio. This is the very reason you may find many beginners shooting portfolios at throwaway prices, and the models cannot understand in what way they have benefited through such shoots. I personally follow the thought process and the teachings of an advertising guru, David Ogilvy. He shows the difference in two Greek orators, “When Aeschines spoke, they said how well he speaks; but when Demosthenes spoke, they said let us march against Phillip. When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it ‘creative.’ I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.” Here, in this case, I have to sell the face of the model; I have to bring out the talents the model possesses, and her ability to pose confidently in front of the camera. I ‘sectionize’ the process of shooting a good portfolio in 3 parts
1) Technique of handling a fresh model and learning to study a face in an unbiased way - This starts with the analysis of her face, features, hair, bone and body structure (entire anatomy), etc. Please remember that a face is a ‘design’ in itself. Everyone has eyes, nose, ears, lips in the same place, yet we find billions of faces. So the question arises, how do you make ‘that face’ whose portfolio you are shooting ‘stand out’ from the rest? First, learn to see beauty in a face; learn to observe glamour in
any ‘simple Jane’ next door; learn to express that beauty through words. This will always build her confidence. But at the same time, if any aspiring model ‘pretends’ to be what she is ‘just not’, then put your foot down and explain in simple language, that she certainly looks good, but her beauty is of a different kind; tell her that all fruits taste sweet, but the sweetness differs, like the sweetness of honey and chocolates is distinctly different. She should not dress, style or pose what she cannot carry off, or else she may end up looking funny. Search for the hidden characteristics of a face. Analyze whether she would be better in western outfits or ethnic wear. Concentrate on what she looks best in, but don’t neglect the other possibilities. You are here to sell her face, not your photography. This is a model portfolio and not a photographer’s portfolio. Learn to hide her defects; learn how to communicate that ‘the glass is not half empty but is half filled’. Be optimistic, and for that I would like to give you a good example of marketing- A salesman who was sent by a sports shoe company to an island, met the tribals and their king there. He reported back that ‘no one was using any shoes here’, so there was no market for the same. Another company who sent their salesman gave a report that ‘No one had any sports shoes here’, and hence there was a lot of scope for business. In our country the concept of “fair & lovely” is deeprooted, hence dusky and dark beauties are less welcome; but in the US the black models are paid very high. Hence we can never know who will click where, and for what assignment.
I remember a leading shirting brand was looking out for a good male model who would represent a ‘Gentleman’. The coordinators showed many options but all had a good built; the company and the agency had a point that a ‘Gentleman’ need not have those muscles. Now, here was an excellent chance for someone who had a lean body, but the mannerisms, the body language and the face personified a ‘Gentleman’ in the true sense.
2) Makeup, hairdressing, styling, lighting, and posing – Makeup man, hairdresser and the stylist are your three musketeers. Prefer to work with a makeup man who is good in ‘corrective makeup’. (Corrective makeup is not just the polishing of the face, but changing the cuts of the face slightly, by shading and other makeup techniques). Hair plays a major role, so prefer to work with a hairstylist who gives her own inputs, and not just copies a reference. She, through her experience, should be able to guide you as to what would suit the model’s face. Examining the model’s hair, the texture and density, she should be in a position to tell you whether curls, straights, back-combed, or gelled-back look would look smart on the model, and with which costume. Coming to a stylist, the role is to accessorise the model with the right jewelry – props like clutches, scarves, sunglasses etc. A stylist should have a good sense of colour and a strong basic instinct to judge what best would suit the model’s skin tone. A stylist should have an innovative mind and should be willing to experiment the way you wish. Your makeup table should never have the normal filament bulbs – they heat up a lot – instead, always use FLC lights.
A point which many miss out is that the makeup is usually done in yellow light surrounding the mirror, while you happen to shoot in strobes, i.e. white light, and with white balance on ‘sunlight’ setting. Hence it is always safe to ‘okay’ the makeup after taking the test shot; the shades of lipstick and eye shadows are bound to look different when viewed in yellow light and then shot in white light. If there are budget constraints then drop the stylist, but never sacrifice on makeup and hair. It is good to have some knowledge of all these three fields. Coming to lighting, you will find that a majority of faces are asymmetric, hence you have to be very careful in positioning your first light – the key source. The face may look different if the main light is shifted from left to right. In case of double chins, keep it a bit toppish, and avoid low angles. In case of models interested in acting, it is important to capture the right expressions of the model, and a variety of moods. A portfolio has to be a good blend of close-ups, mid shots and a few full lengths. 3) Post production - Use this to smoothen the skin tones further, but without making the face look ‘too plastic’. Don’t over-do post-production; it should not happen that the model gets selected from your pictures, but is rejected on-the-spot when seen in person. You can use post-production to give a good look to the picture. Black and white looks good, but never shoot the entire portfolio that way – it doesn’t indicate the actual skin tone of the model. A few such snaps are fine.