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Features

The Difference Between a Model and a “Good Looking Face”

Chris Gampat
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01/08/2020
2 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Tamron 45mm f1.8 other review images extras (2 of 2)ISO 1001-800 sec at f - 1.8

Just because someone is good looking doesn’t mean they’ll make a great model.

The woman in the photo above is an agency model, and on a Tamron press outing years ago did a great job working with a number of journalists. But, it brings up something very important in the industry: photographers need to understand that someone being good looking doesn’t mean they’d be a great model. This advice is more so targeted to novice photographers. While it may be nice to ask someone you met on Instagram to pose for you, that doesn’t guarantee a great encounter. Much of this is evident in the images in a portfolio.

Higher shoulder towards a wall. Have the body bear most of the contact on the bicep. Pivot the subject 30 degrees backward. Bring the hair to the opposite side. Bring the arms along the body to give a more natural appearance, or bring them up to flatten the profile a bit. And again, watch the nose.

Samantha (in the image above) wasn’t always such a great model, but genuinely wanted to do it. Part of this required more work while on set. As always, photographers should openly communicate with their subjects. So, what makes for a great model to work with?

  • Awareness of their own body in different lighting
  • Communication with the model to show them their framing in the scene
  • A good selection of clothing and makeup
  • A specific mentality that shows in how they carry themselves
  • Actors and actresses can do a great job because they’re used to being put into different roles psychologically

The man in the image above was POSITIVELY FANTASTIC TO WORK WITH. The reason why is because I was able to talk with him and have him channel a specific feeling and persona that came through in the images. Combine this with his fantastic wardrobe and overall look and you’ve got a winner. To be a model, you’re doing a 24/7 job that is all about ensuring your look is great. It takes sacrifice or else your job suffers.

Can you get a great image from a person with just a pretty face? Sure. But your keeper rate when working with people who holistically commit to being models goes up much more. In the end, it’s about making better pictures. Plus, the worst thing to be called is the friend with the camera. Don’t keep your “pretty friends” around just because they’re pretty.

body communication mind set model photographer
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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