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We’ve discussed at length the importance of being prepared as you go into a shooting. Of course, you need to know where you’re going to shoot and have the appropriate permissions. If the plan is to shoot outside, do you need a Plan B because of weather? Do you have the proper equipment, does it work and have you tested it?

Are you certain the model knows where to go, what time to arrive, what she is expected to provide besides herself? Are there other people involved in the shooting—assistant, makeup artist, etc. and do they know what you want from them? How about wardrobe? Do you have enough variety? Remember, sometimes things you thought would look good don’t. Does your model know what’s expected of her in terms of nudity? Do you have a release for her to sign?

I could go on and on because there always seems as if there is an endless number of details to which to attend. However, now you are on set or location; the model is in front of the camera. It’s time to make some magic. This is the moment when you have to push everything else out of your mind and concentrate on what you’re seeing in your viewfinder.

There are basically two ways for you to work at this point. You can be the director and tell your model what you want.

Tilt your head a little.” “Move your hand to your waist.” “Turn your body away from the camera just a little.” “It’s not working. Let’s try another pose.”

The late Dwight Hooker was one of the best “director” photographers I ever worked with. He had an inexhaustible supply of poses in his head and he never tired of moving the model into the pose he wanted.

The other approach is what I call the voyeur photographer. Richard Fegley almost never told a model what he wanted her to do. He let her look for the pose and when she found something that worked for him, he would say “That’s it. That’s perfect.” And then he’d shoot away like mad.

There’s no right or wrong approach. It’s whatever works best for you, what you’re most comfortable with. The important thing is to recognize, to see when something is really working in front of the camera. That’s when you have to seize the moment. Too often, we forget to observe what’s really happening, when that moment is there and we let it pass without capitalizing on it.

I can recall editing so many shootings at Playboy. Roll after roll (all film in those days) of ok images, and some not ok images. And then all the stars would align. The girl would exude something intimate, something real. Her pose and expression were perfect. The light would fall just right. There it was–the magic that we all work to achieve.

About Gary Cole

I’ve seen shootings that lasted three days but only had five or ten minutes of magic. However, that might be enough to create a memorable image that would save an entire pictorial.

Make certain when magic happens in front of your camera that you’re ready for it, that you capture it—sort of like grabbing the genie and putting him in the bottle.

~Gary Cole

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